Rachel Foster is with us today for the Business 2 Community Expert Interview series, and we’re excited to have her here to talk social media!
Rachel is the CEO of Fresh Perspective Copywriting, where she helps B2B marketers improve their response rates, clearly communicate complex messages and generate high-quality leads. Rachel shares her insights on B2B marketing in her articles for The Content Marketing Institute, Business 2 Community and her Fresh Marketing Blog.
7 Questions on Social Media With Rachel Foster
1. How did you get your start in the industry?
I left my job to go out on my own as a freelance copywriter in September 2008 – right when the stock market crashed. However, I was lucky to receive a business start-up grant from the Ontario Self Employment Benefits (OSEB) program, where I learned how to run a business and the important “Stop selling. Start helping.” concept that I’m going to discuss later in this interview and in greater detail during my session.
2. What is the biggest challenge facing your industry?
B2B technology companies are always concerned with generating more leads. With the rise of content marketing, many are now struggling with creating the kind of content that attracts leads and engages them throughout the lengthy B2B sales cycle.
3. What is the method to your blogging success? What inspires your blogs?
I try to provide content that engages my target audience. Some of my posts are a hit and some are a miss, but over time, I’ve gotten better at identifying what works and what doesn’t. It’s always a work in progress!
Lately, I’ve been inspired by questions people ask me. Every time someone – such as a client, lead or social connection – asks me a question, I will add it to a “Questions I Can Answer” list and refer to it when I need a blog topic. This makes blogging easier, as the hardest part for me is coming up with a good topic.
I also like to attend events and webcasts that I think my clients would be interested in and summarize them on my blog. My most popular post was a write-up of an event that I posted to a relevant LinkedIn group. Six months later, people are still commenting on it.
4. What do you think is the future of social media?
I’d like to think that B2B companies will make more of an effort with social media. I saw a stat claiming that over 90% of B2B companies are social but I question whether this includes companies that have profiles but never update them.
LinkedIn has transformed into the No. 1 social network for B2B. A HubSpot survey revealed that LinkedIn’s visitor-to-lead conversion rate is 277% higher than Twitter or Facebook, while the B2B Content Marketing Report 2013 Survey Results stated that 85% of technology marketers believe LinkedIn is the most effective social network for distributing their content. With statistics like this, I think B2B technology marketers will spend more time on LinkedIn doing things such as creating company profiles, building groups, connecting with customers, sharing content, using LinkedIn’s paid advertising features and more.
5. What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out?
Before you create content, you have to spend time getting to know your target audience. You can connect with them on social media and engage in discussions. You can also subscribe to the same blogs and trade journals that they read to learn more about their key issues. Also be sure to create buyer personas and refer to them before you create new content. When you have your audience in mind, your content marketing will yield greater ROI.
6. Where can we find you on the web/on Twitter/Facebook/etc.?
Email: [email protected]
7. What do you think is the most important takeaway from your session?
Stop selling. Start helping.
Many B2B technology marketers are trying to move away from traditional, sales-focused marketing to a content marketing model. However, even the more advanced content marketers may have a hard time getting people within their organization to stop talking about themselves and start talking about their customers’ needs and concerns. My session is going to show B2B technology marketers how to create content that is customer-focused, so they can better engage their target audience and attract more high-quality leads.
You can hear from Rachel and other great presenters at our virtual event from November 11th – 22nd. Please visit the #LEARNDigital page for more information.