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EXECUTIVE REPORT


Specific campaigns can focus on seasonal promotions or particular interest groups.


Don’t be anti-social


Are you making the most of digital marketing? In the first of two articles, Dan Jenkins explains how it can be a low-cost way to generate sales leads and brand awareness, and looks at the potential of social media.


Love it or hate it, social media has transformed our society over the past decade, inserting itself into almost every facet of our daily lives. A recent study by the research institute, ukactive, found that adults spend on average 12 hours per week on social media - a great opportunity to promote your products and services to them.


Some social media platforms are less useful for increasing lead generation and brand awareness than others. Twitter, for example, is associated with politics, campaigns and good causes more than as a place to do business; and while Instagram is growing fast, its core demographic is females aged 15 to 34.


LinkedIn is the pick of the litter when it comes to lead generation. The platform has more than 600 million users worldwide and claims to generate 80% of all B2B leads created by social media. However, most tool hire companies also rely on revenues from consumers, meaning you need a strong B2C platform as well. They don’t come any bigger than Facebook, which has the broadest reach of all. According to recent analysis by Rose McGrory Social Media Ltd, 79% of UK adults have a Facebook account, compared to 33% using LinkedIn.


Organic or paid?


‘Organic’ is the digital marketing term for posts which cost nothing. Any business can set up a page on Facebook or LinkedIn and create posts for free, populating it with your own items. However, your reach is determined by how many people ‘like’ or ‘follow’ your page, as well as by complex algorithmic calculations such as how quickly people interact with your post, and how many people interact.


These algorithms effectively provide a free boost to popular content, meaning that it is seen by more people - the ultimate example being when a post becomes so ubiquitous it is defined as ‘going viral’.


Turbocharge your reach


Conversely, these same algorithms can limit the number of prospective customers who will see a post if it doesn’t garner any likes and comments within a set period of time. If you are struggling to grow your follower base, or your organic posts are only being seen by a fraction of your potential audience, you can turbocharge your reach with advertising, whereby you pay for your advert to automatically appear on pages. These are the sponsored or promoted posts users see in their news feed and usually work on a pay-per-click basis: you only pay when someone clicks through from your post to your website.


One of the key advantages of paid-for posting is the ability to target your content at very specific demographics. Both LinkedIn and Facebook enable you to target by job title, while LinkedIn also drills down further to enable targeting by employer, industry and even skill set. Facebook also provides filters to improve targeting by geographical location, age and gender, as well as hobbies and interests such as DIY or gardening.


Since many people primarily use social media to interact with each other or watch funny cat videos, posts which scream ‘hard sell’ can be a turn-off. ‘Social selling’ is the technique whereby you adopt a more relaxed, friendly and informative approach. For example, a post along the lines of “19ft scissor lifts for hire great service call me NOW” is


Social media helps Smiths Equipment Hire to reach a large cross-section of customers. 11


LinkedIn enables targeting by industry and skill set.


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