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Talking Twitter
Our most recent survey of SMB marketers, on Twitter, received more responses than any previous survey – Twitter is
still hot! Out of 61 respondents, 17 are currently using Twitter to engage with small and medium businesses. Here's their take on Twitter:
- Great expectations. The first question asked respondents to rate their Twitter program goals, on a scale of one (not important) to five (very important). "Providing noteworthy content" is the most important goal, with 14 high (four or five) ratings. Monitoring Twitter for what is being said about their brand, and generating a large number of "retweets," were the next most important, with 13 apiece. Next were responding to customer concerns / complaints, and gaining a large number of followers, each with 11. Announcing company news was close behind, with 10. The least important goal? Providing special offers and discounts. Even though this tactic has generated $3 million in sales for Dell, only five respondents rated it as an important goal.
- Mixed results. The second question asked how well Twitter has performed against goals, on a one (not effective) to five (very effective) scale. Ten respondents rated Twitter highly (four or five) for "monitoring what is being said about our brand and offerings." Nine rated it highly for announcing company news, and seven rated it highly for responding to customer concerns and complaints. Six rated it highly for linking to noteworthy content. No other goal received more than three high ratings.
- Strong by comparison. The third question asked how well Twitter performs relative to other online marketing tactics. In short: pretty well. The top-rated online SMB marketing tactic is an educational site / resource center, with nine top-two ratings. Twitter and blogs tied for second, with eight. Email newsletters were close behind, with seven; banner ads and forums were tied with six. Social networks? Marketers say meh. YouTube got four top-two ratings; LinkedIn and Facebook, two each; MySpace, one; MeetUp, none.
Of those who are not currently using Twitter, 28 plan to launch an SMB-specific Twitter program in the next six to 12 months. Of the 18 not planning to launch a Twitter program, the reasons vary: 10 said payback is uncertain or likely to be low, seven lack resources to develop content, and six don't see its value as a B2B marketing tool (multiple responses were allowed).
Email us for the full survey results – including an overview of Twitter and links to Twitter programs for SMBs – and to learn how we can help you engage effectively with SMBs via Twitter.
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>> Intuit Tweets Town Hall Meeting
Intuit hosted a virtual town hall meeting to educate small businesses on obtaining credit and building relationships with their banks. In another initiative, Intuit joined forces with VerticalResponse to make it easier for QuickBook customers to launch email and direct mail campaigns and surveys through the VerticalResponse for Intuit Workplace.
>> The Hartford Debuts Retirement Plan
The Hartford Financial Services Group introduced a retirement program for small businesses. The AviatorSM Cash Balance Program is meant to complement a 401(k) plan, allowing small businesses and professional entities to enhance their retirement benefits while potentially reducing their taxable income.
>> Initiative Helps Women Entrepreneurs
The Make Mine a Million $ Business initiative named 27 participants who grew their operations past the $1 million revenue level in 2008. The initiative is sponsored by American Express OPEN and Count Me In for Women's Economic Independence.
>> HP Videos Share Tech Tips
HP released a new online five-part video series, Insights from the Experts: Technology Tips for Small Business. Experts discuss topics ranging from greening your business to backing up data. HP also announced the expansion of its HP Access program, which helps small businesses manage and protect their businesses.
>> NetBooks Changes Name, Releases WorkingPoint
NetBooks Inc. changed its name to WorkingPoint and introduced WorkingPointTM, a new cloud application with software solutions for small businesses, including bookkeeping, contact management, inventory management, invoicing and billing.
>> ChannelWeb Starts Channel Voice
ChannelWeb unveiled SMB Channel Voice, a community site to help small and midsize businesses learn best practices, business strategies and technology solutions. HP and Intel are initial sponsors.
>> Dell Unveils New Virtualization Systems
Dell launched a portfolio geared to make virtualization more affordable and efficient for small and midsize businesses. The new systems include storage virtualization capabilities, thin provisioning and management features that integrate into existing networks.
>> Office Depot, Concentric Release Backup Services
Office Depot is targeting small businesses in need of data recovery through an exclusive agreement with DriveSavers. Customers can take their equipment to an Office Depot retail location to recover critical documents from damaged devices. Separately, Concentric unveiled a new system that provides small and midsize businesses with an affordable and scalable data backup and recovery solution. Concentric Managed Backup is a hosted service using proprietary technology to optimize performance and decrease a company’s storage footprint.
Send us your news.
>> Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index: Despite working longer and harder, 69 percent of small business owners are satisfied with the balance they strike between their work and personal lives.
>> SBA Lending Report: Small business loans under $100K have increased 300% since 1995, mostly driven by credit cards, but loans to small businesses have decreased as a percent of total lending.
>> SurePayroll: Optimism, hiring up slightly (except in the West); average salaries down slightly.
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Virtualization Explained
For a leading software vendor, BBI developed white papers to educate business and IT decision-makers on the benefits and ROI of virtualization. Contact us to discuss how BBI can develop high-quality custom content to achieve your goals for SMB lead generation and nurture, and customer retention and upsell.
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