Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Videos
    • Podcasts
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Notable Leaders in Sustainability
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics Caps + Closures: A Global Online Event
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Bioplastics Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • PFAS Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Resin Prices Overview
    • Commodity Thermoplastics
    • High Temperature Thermoplastics
    • Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Thermosets
    • Europe - Virgin
    • Europe - Recycled
    • Europe - Feedstock
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. The Plastics Blog
June 28, 2011 02:00 AM

What can you learn from the social marketing experts in plastics?

Don Loepp
Editor
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    A few weeks ago I asked Plastics Blog readers who had tried their hands in social marketing to share their best experiences. Since then, I've been following those companies, and I've been quite impressed with their efforts. I had promised to give away copies of Eric Schwartzman's book, "Social Marketing to the Business Customer," to the best three ideas. Today I'll share the winning ideas, along with a bit more information about the companies. First up is John Spevacek, author of the "It's the Rheo Thing" blog, which I started following after his post. John writes about a wide variety of topics -- sometimes fun, sometimes technical, always with an authoritative voice and just enough of his personal opinion and experience. I highly recommend his work. John shared this about his social marketing efforts:

    Anytime I create a new post on my blog, I immediately go to Twitter and send a tweet. I know it directs more traffic to the site, and certain readers look first at the Twitter feed before going to the site. I know there are utilities that will allow for crossposting the Twitter feed to Facebook, but I haven't set that up yet. Ditto for LinkedIn. Also, every once in a while I write a post that I consider pretty good and interesting. When that happens, I make sure (via a friend) that it is submitted to reddit. That really drives the traffic over.
    Next up is Jennifer from ABC Plastics Inc., a plastic spool supplier in Lodi, Ohio. She's involved in the company's extremely active Facebook and Twitter pages -- follow them if you want frequent updates -- and a LinkedIn page with 120 connections. Here's what Jennifer had to share:
    We are using social media, but we haven't had our a-ha moment yet and come up with something imaginative, so I will use something I saw someone else do that I thought was pretty creative. Last week there was a company trying to get to 3,000 fans on Facebook, so they promised a free t-shirt to the 3,000th fan. The number went up really fast until 2,998...it took a couple of minutes for someone to click "like" knowing they were about to let someone else win. Now they have 3,057 fans and one of them has a new t-shirt. I did not know of this company before this and I did not actually find them on Facebook. They tweeted about the give-away and someone I follow on Twitter re-tweeted it. It did lead me to their Facebook page and I was too late for the t-shirt, but I am now a fan of a company I didn't even know existed. The hype over the t-shirt was enough to draw people to their page and see what they're all about.
    Since her post, I've noted quite a few plastics companies using the "help us reach our goal" to win new followers, often with quick results. Finally, there's Pam Aungst Teubner from E&T Plastics, a distributor and manufacturer that was established in 1946. But don't let that fool you -- E&T may be an older company by plastics industry standards, but it's a leader in the newfangled world of social marketing. E&T Plastics has a colorful, frequently updated blog, a very interactive Twitter feed, and a fun Facebook page. Here's what Pam shared about her social marketing efforts:
    Hubspot and MarketingProf are considered to be the two of the best examples of effective B2B social media. Their strategy is quite simple. They write whitepapers and host webinars and online virtual conferences that help their potential customers do their jobs. The information distributed is genuinely useful and valuable to the participants, even if the participant doesn't sign up for any of the hosting firm's services at the end. This content-distribution strategy may not result in immediate acquisition of new customers, but it will develop a reputation for the hosting firm as an authority in its industry. Therefore, when a company does come across a need for a related service, the firm that established itself as an authority on the matter will come to mind first, and will be quite likely to get the sale in the end. This strategy also works well for lead generation, as the participants need to give their contact information in order to sign up. Again, even if that doesn't result in an immediate sale, the opportunity to make initial contact and a personal introduction from a salesperson could turn out to be profitable later on. This strategy can be adopted to any industry with a little creativity. For example, Quicken Loans uses social media to distribute a steady stream of valuable information on how people can better manage their money. This increases satisfaction and retention among existing customers and attracts potential new customers. The most effective part of this strategy is frequency. A steady stream of genuinely useful information, distributed via the company's website, blog, and all social media channels, is essential for establishing credibility in the eyes of the potential customer. If a prospect is visiting your website, blog, or social profile for the very first time, they will be much more likely to engage with you if they can scroll through a history of posts that are chock full of information useful to them. Only then will they click "like" or "follow" or "sign up for our webinar here", and those clicks are the meat and potatoes of your B2B social media success. One individual brilliantly creative and imaginative B2B social media campaign may immediately increase a company's number of followers; however, those followers will not stay engaged unless they are being supplied with a steady flow of information that is useful to them. Therefore, I believe it to be more effective for the B2B marketer to focus their energy on their pipeline of useful content rather than searching for that one big-bang campaign idea.
    Congratulations to John, Jennifer and Pam, and thanks for sharing your ideas with all the Plastics Blog readers. I encourage everyone to click on their links and learn more about their efforts.
    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Redesigned resin prices page gives PN readers more information
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    An 8,000-ton dream for Milacron, 20/20 Custom Molded Plastics
    2
    Proposed tax on single-use virgin plastic resurfaces in Congress
    3
    Is the market getting serious about using recycled plastics?
    4
    Feedstock costs continue pushing up PET bottle resin prices
    5
    Reduced supply, rising oil costs lead to boost in recycled PET resin prices
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Find more newsletters at plasticsnews.com/newsletters.

    You can unsubscribe at any time through links in these emails. For more information, see our Privacy Policy.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Notable Leaders in Sustainability
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Videos
      • Podcasts
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics Caps + Closures: A Global Online Event
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Bioplastics Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • PFAS Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Resin Prices Overview
      • Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temperature Thermoplastics
      • Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Recycled Plastics
      • Thermosets
      • Europe - Virgin
      • Europe - Recycled
      • Europe - Feedstock
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified