In the past three years, the average budget spent on social media marketing has grown 133%. In an effort to transform social media from a promotion and engagement tool to one more focused on lead generation and closing, HubSpot and HootSuite have joined forces to “close the loop” on social media marketing efforts.
The partnership is focused on a central idea that, “they should make it easier for marketers to generate, nurture, and manage leads via social media, so they can finally “close the loop” on their social media marketing efforts (what they’re calling ‘closed-loop social’ for short)”.
At the heart of the partnership is an app which allows integration into the HootSuite app directory. It automatically puts HubSpot lead and keyword data into HootSuite. The beta app allows users to monitor their leads’ tweets in HootSuite to identify opportunities to follow up on their leads with a tweet back. Using the app to monitor their best-performing keywords in HubSpot, users can identify leads through relevant conversations.
It may sound complex in theory, but through what could be the worlds largest webinar, and a series of ebooks to go along with their closing the loop initiative, it’s easy to start making their partnership work for you.
Also, HootSuite will present at HubSpot’s three-day marketing conference in Boston running from August 27th through the 30th entitled, Inbound 2012. You can download the beta app. and take advantage of a series of educational resources by following this link. Take a look at the tools available to guide you:
* A white paper on closing the loop for social leads. Download now.
* A HootSuite University Lecture Series led by HubSpot Social Media Scientist about the Science of Social Media, Dan Zarrella. Watch today.
* The Science of Inbound Marketing – A world-record breaking webinar hosted by HootSuite and HubSpot. Register here!
Ryan Holmes, CEO of HootSuite Media, Inc. comments on the sheer utility of partnering with HubSpot:
“Social media spending is on the rise. We watch as companies invest significant dollars into driving marketing campaigns using social networks as the next marketing platform,”
“Through this partnership, the professional marketer can finally follow up with social media leads, nurture relationships in real time, and close deals easier than ever before.”
Brian Halligan, CEO of HubSpot comments on the power of partnering with HootSuite Media:
“We built HubSpot software to make marketing easier, and then expanded it by launching the world’s largest marketing software marketplace just under a year ago,”
“Of 60+ apps we’ve seen, HootSuite is building one of the most exciting. Plugging social media management into HubSpot’s end-to-end marketing software makes social accountable for generating leads, customers and true ROI.”
4 Ways to Use Closed-Loop Social Media to Improve Your Marketing:
1). Monitor key terms in social media as proactive prospecting.
With closed-loop social, you can monitor the keywords and phrases that your best leads are using in social media. This enables you to identify opportunities to jump into the conversation and interact with your potential customers. The key here is to avoid being overly forward or “salesy.” Rather, be natural and add value where it makes sense. Offer your best content, be helpful, and eventually the people you’re tweeting with could convert into customers.
2). Consider using social media instead of the typical email follow up.
Traditionally, the playbook has been to exclusively nurture leads further down the sales funnel using email. But you don’t have to limit lead nurturing to email. There are certainly other ways to connect and communicate with leads one-on-one, and social media is one of them. Why not send a tweet to leads asking how they enjoyed their product trial or a recent demo they attended? They just might appreciate the follow up.
3). Increase the likelihood for sales by nurturing leads through multiple channels.
Some folks prefer certain forms of communication over others, so consider the fact that your leads might rather receive a tweet from your business than an email. Nurturing your leads via multiple channels lets your leads choose how they want to interact with you. By monitoring your leads’ behaviors, you’ll be able to engage with your prospects through their channels of choice, making for a much more personalized lead nurturing experience.
4). Create advanced filters to catch “buying signals” from your leads.
Imagine this: You’re monitoring social media and you see one of your recent leads tweeting, “I’m considering buying X product. Anyone have any experience with it?” Here’s your golden opportunity to say thank you for considering your product, and perhaps even forward one of your company’s customer success stories! To do this using closed-loop social, all you’d have to do when you start monitoring social posts from your leads is to set up specific filters for keywords like your company name, product name, industry keywords, etc. This way, you’re much more likely to catch a sales opportunity like this and follow up in a timely manner.
So if you’re serious about taking full advantage of social media and want to make it a vital component of your marketing efforts you owe it to yourself to investigate what this partnership between HootSuite and HubSpot has to offer. Sign up for the webinar, download the app. and start connecting with your potential customers on a more informed level.