Social Media Program for A B2B Trade Organization
While the details are sometimes sensitive, the picture painted in the following client success stories is one of quantifiable results.
KoMarketing helps TradeWinds disseminate live event information via Twitter through key 30 day period.
The Challenge
An annual mission trip to multiple countries across Asia-Pacific, TradeWinds Asia helps U.S. businesses establish relationships with regional and industry organizations across the region.
The organization was looking for new ways to spread the message about the upcoming TradeWinds conference and mission trip – in a very, very short time frame: 30 days.
This internationally focused program centered around social media marketing and online PR.
Program Implementation
Based on the time frame, KoMarketing recommended that the organization turn to Twitter. Although a TradeWinds profile had been created (with 11 followers), updates were few and far between. Engagement with TradeWinds followers was non-existent.
KoMarketing employed several methods to reach the goals set out for the TradeWinds Twitter program.
Follow the right demographic – KoMarketing placed its focus on connecting with people and organizations immersed in the Asian market. The types of profiles TradeWinds began following included:
- Students studying international trade, economics or business
- Reporters and writers specializing in news on China, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Asia in general – and those who followed them
- Government entities involved in trade
- US – Asian business conferences
- Former and current attendees and partners of TradeWinds Asia
To find these profiles, KoMarketing used various tactics, such as hashtags (e.g. #Japan, #China #internationaltrade and #exports) and follower lists. Follower lists are a prime source of relevant profiles to follow as one good list can deliver a wealth key individuals or organizations within an industry, region, etc.
Share relevant content – The key to building an effective network is sharing high-quality content. For the TradeWinds Asia account, KoMarketing shared resources and information about the conference and mission trip as well as news stories, articles and blog posts relating to Asia, exports, and trade.
While the goal was to spread the word about TradeWinds Asia, it was also important that the organization didn’t come across as over promotional. Thus, KoMarketing kept to the 80/20 rule: 80% of the tweets came from reliable news and governmental sources, such as the Department of Commerce; 20% of tweets promoted TradeWinds Asia.
Results
As a result of this strategic program, TradeWinds Asia saw the following results over the 30-day period:
- A 322% increase in followers (from 11 to 366)
- Resharing of content by notable organizations, such as the U.S. Commercial Service in Thailand, and engagement with prominent government profiles, such as the International Trade Association, the U.S. Embassy Manila, Secretary Sanchez (the Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade), and the United States Trade and Development Agency.
- While driving website traffic wasn’t a main goal, the program did generate 50 referrals to the TradeWinds Asia website. Referrals numbered anywhere from one per day to nine on one particularly good day.
The full case study, which includes graphs and other data metrics, can be downloaded here.
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