Business Leads:

Using Social Networking for Business Marketing

Harnessing the power to generate leads

The New “Socially-Acceptable” Business

TO TWEET OR NOT TO TWEET? – THAT IS THE QUESTION asked these days
by businesses of all sizes and types regarding social networking. Should this
uncensored, viral form of communication established seemingly for Millennials
and college kids be part of the business environment? Is it proper business
practice and etiquette to take advantage of online social media by incorporating
it into a company advertising or PR plan?
Not only is social media becoming part of everyday business and deemed
acceptable by analysts and organizations around the world, it is possibly the
most important and effective means of lead generation since the creation
of the Yellow Pages. We can no longer look at social media as “those online
connections of friends and chatter,” it’s now a crucial marketing tool that
deserves attention. We need to embrace it as a new revolution in consumer
behavior.
Pick up the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek or virtually any business pub
these days and you will see Twitter, Facebook, Friendster, MySpace and a
host of others headlined across the page causing eye-openers about social
networking and how it’s transforming the way we do businesses. The reality of it
is unmistakable when we learn that businesses such as Ford, Office Depot and
Dell have not only embraced social networking as a new marketing mantra, they
have found ways to build their brand, learn from customers, and make money
from it.
Our premise, as put forth in this report, is that social media can and should be
used as an effective tool for lead generation and brand development. To that
end, we also contend that the success of social media is shaped by two distinct
factors – technology and trust. Technology is the enabler that conveniently
connects the consumer to businesses, research, friends and family, while trust
is the driver behind why they look to their friends first when considering a
business, product or service . . . over 2 billion connections just last month in fact,
according to Compete.com.1

Berry Network White Paper Business Leads: Social Networking for Business 
 The New “It’s
All About Me”
Consumer
CONSUMERS ARE REJECTING
ADS PUSHED TO THEM – they want
choice. Push-based information,
such as emails, pop-up Internet ads,
TV and radio . . . they are all quickly
giving way to pull-based information
served up to the consumer when
and where he/she chooses. In other
words, as described by Calisto, a
how social networking is enabling Calisto Communications also says
global technology communica-
it, and how you can tap into those that people are “placing greater
tions firm, “customers are rejecting
mega-numbers to help drive traffic to credibility on social media and user-
obsolete interruptive advertising and
your business. generated content than profession-
moving to interactive engagement
marketing.”2 ally written editorial reviews and
The Social Media Factor
information.” The assertion is that
Nielsen Online, the interactive divi-
Many marketing authorities believe friends and family provide unbiased
sion of the world’s leading marketing
that broadcast advertising is in fact and real customer experiences,
and media information company,
already obsolete and that consumer- particularly if they are negative or
recently reported “Growth in social
driven “choice” marketing has taken unsatisfactory, whereas professional
media is the single most significant
charge. Television advertisers for reviews and business themselves will
story in the online media space today.
instance are gearing up to deliver avoid them.
Social networking sites have eclipsed
topic-specific commercials based
personal email in global reach.3” Nielsen states that “recommenda-
on personal profiles just as Internet
ads are currently delivered based on tions from personal acquaintances
The question then begs to be
online activity and buying behavior. or opinions posted by consumers
answered . . . why is this form of
online are the most trusted forms
mass media taking off in an era when
In the same way that permission- of advertising.” Nielsen also cites
people scream about information
based marketing is affecting out- that, “Ninety percent of consum-
overload? The answer is in realizing
bound advertising, it is shaping lead ers surveyed noted that they trust
that consumers don’t want just in-
generation programs as well. When recommendations from people they
formation, they want honest, trusted
putting together a lead generation know.”
answers about any given topic and
program, you must first understand
that social networking has created
what drives the consumer behavior,
the perfect forum for this dialog to
take place – quickly, conveniently and
among friends.

Berry Network White Paper Business Leads: Social Networking for Business 
 Companies Look Behind the Ad Curtain

CREATE A BUZZ IN SOCIAL NETWORKING AND YOU is about innovation and spotting new business opportuni-
MAY GET A SWARM, at least that is what Ford Motor ties before they go mainstream. For instance, readers
Company noticed when they generated 4.6 million posts flooded IdeaStorm with suggestions and proposals when
on social networking sites by launching a campaign for the Dell began exploring the desktop Linux market and again
2011 Ford Fiesta in Europe4. The plan involved hooking up when Dell was re-introducing Windows XP preloads as an
a few “socially vibrant” applicants to drive the new Fiesta alternative to Windows Vista.
around to geocache (an outdoor treasure hunting game in
which users use GPS devices to find containers and trea-
sure) cities and take interesting videos along the way. They
would then post the videos and commentary about their
experiences on social networking sites (Twitter, Facebook,
YouTube) as they go. The Fiesta is not set to launch in the
U.S. until next year, but with all the buzz surrounding it
already, it is sure to have plenty of mind share at the time
of launch. Mission accomplished.

Office Depot is another company that has figured out

how to hop on to the social networking bandwagon to
create a stur about their products. According to a Forbes
article,5 they use a “channel advertising” product called
BrandVoice which allows Office Depot suppliers like
Kingston (memory-product maker) to publish customer Figure 1: Dell’s social networking site, IdeaStorm

reviews on Office Depot.com. Office Depot gets free,

authentic product reviews and Kingston pays for—and
benefits from—the extra exposure. A month after Kingston
launched BrandVoice’s reviews on OfficeDepot.com, the
retailer saw a 10-fold increase in the number of reviews of
Kingston products. More importantly, the reviews translat-
ed into more sales at Office Depot where sales of reviewed
Kingston products nearly doubled. Even sales of Kingston
products that hadn’t been reviewed grew 35%. Another
mission accomplished.
Dell Computers is taking advantage of the viral power of
social networking with its IdeaStorm site – an online forum
where readers can suggest new business ideas, vote for
their favorite submissions and interact with Dell. The site is
so popular that other vendors (such as Canonical, an open
source advocate) are now copying the concept. IdeaStorm
Clearly though, there is no mainstream advertising model
that works on social networking sites. In fact, it is contrary
to the unbiased, free-speech concept of social networking
– which leaves many marketers pondering about how to
make money from social media or even get the budget to
attempt it. Consequently, less than 1 percent of all digital
advertising budgets currently flow to social media, accord-
ing to social-advertising company BuddyMedia.6 But as
you’ve learned here, companies like Ford, Office Depot
and Dell have looked behind the ad curtain to figure out
how this new media can be harnessed to create buzz and
enhance their businesses.

Berry Network White Paper Business Leads: Social Networking for Business 
 The Power of
Viral Marketing
IF YOU RAN AN AD ON TWITTER,
AND IT WAS RE-TWEETED 100
TIMES, you might pay $100 CPM
for displaying that ad the first time
because you would have an effective
$1 CPM, right? Unfortunately, adver-
tising is not available on Twitter . . .
but the concept of value for spread-
ing the word is. That is precisely how
any marketing or PR initiative needs
to look at social networking – not as
an advertising sales opportunity, but
as a means for spreading messages
about the organization, its brand and
solutions, and creating lasting rela-
tionships with consumers and media
gatekeepers.
Google ads work because people
are looking for information. They do
a search, and if the advertisement
shows information that helps with the
query, all is well. However, when it
comes to social networking, usage is
quite different. People are not looking
for information about products or
companies directly — they’re looking
to communicate with friends and
others with similar interests. In many
cases, that communication may be
about a product or company, but they
only want feedback from the trusted
friends’ perspective. In that environ-
ment, ads are seen as an intrusion
rather than a welcome addition.
Berry Network White Paper
are now being posted on blogs,
customer surveys are put up on user
networks, job postings are put on
Social networking association networks, and contests
is a “mind-set shift are attached to any number of other
networks. Positive, consistent com-
that will make us munication with consumers will go a
relevant to today’s long way toward strengthening your
consumers...” brand image, improving customer
satisfaction, and increasing leads.
In the words of P&G’s marketing
chief Jim Stengel, “social network-
ing is a mind-set shift that will make
Spread the Word us relevant to today’s consumers; a
mind-set shift from ‘telling and selling’
Social networking is dubbed viral
to building relationships.”
marketing for a good reason . . . it is
easily transferred, it quickly multiplies,
How to Get Started
and it will die out if it doesn’t remain
So, how does a organization get
in contact with people. The difference
started into social networking to drive
is, social networking for business can
new relationships and word-of-mouth
be a positive infection or negative
leads? Contrary to some beliefs, it
one, depending on who starts it and
does not involve buying an applica-
how it is managed. A disgruntled
tion that sits on a social platform and
customer can post comments just
spams messages to others. Rather,
as easily as a satisfied customer, and
it centers around a few individuals
more often is the one who does.
assigned as “buzz masters” to the
However, if your organization is read-
organization – individuals that post
ing and watching, it can be prepared
messages and reply to others on a
with turnaround messaging that
regular basis by providing content
shows the audiences your organi-
valuable to readers. The next section
zation cares enough to listen and
provides details on creating buzz to
respond – even if you can’t resolve
drive leads for your organization.
the problem.
This is the power of social network-
ing. It can control how consumers
look and think about your organiza-
tion and your services. Press releases
Business Leads: Social Networking for Business 
 Creating Buzz for Leads
ONE EVERY SECOND is the rate at which social com-
munity LinkedIn is adding new members.7 307 million
people around the world are now actively using Facebook
and almost half of them are using it every day.8 Twitter has
a current annual growth rate at over 1,300 percent and
almost half of those users are age 35 to 49.9 With statistics
like these, your business can’t afford to have the social
networking train leave the station without you on it. You
need to get on board and use this medium to drive as
many followers as you can to your company Website and
turn them into customers.
For help, we have put together the following steps
to guide you through the use of social networking to
drive leads.
Step 1: Listen.
First and foremost, before posting to social networking
sites or even starting your own, you need to read and listen
to what is currently being said. This will give you great
insights into the tone, attitude and topics being discussed.
Begin by visiting some of the top networking sites, such as
the list compiled by Compete.com. This step will also help
you identify the top bloggers who are influencing your
target audiences.
Figure 2:
Compete.com
social network
ranking
Berry Network White Paper
Step 2: Look for Companion Sites.
Fundamental to member communities and networks is the
ability to give users a sense of association or belonging.
Users join groups where they can freely share like ideas and
learn from others with similar interests. This is where you
need to look next – the communities that purchase or use
your company’s type of products or services.
Suppose you were a car dealer following conversation
on Twitter about car buying and you see reference to the
member community, Carspace.com, which posts advice
and experiences surrounding automobile brands. You can
simply link to that site and start following threads of discus-
sions from those members. The more you link and look
around, the more targeted groups you will find. Other tar-
geted groups range from QuitNet.com a site for those who
want to quit smoking, to PetZume.com for pet enthusiasts,
and everything in between. As your organization becomes
more comfortable with the medium and your social media
strategy evolves, you may find yourself not only participat-
ing in existing communities, but developing communities
of your own.
Figure 3: PetZume social networking site
Business Leads: Social Networking for Business 
 Step 3: Develop a Value Strategy.
For many organizations this step is a simple as reinforcing
the brand and corporate messages. If your organization is
known for exceptional customer service rather than being a
price leader, for instance, your postings and conversations
should reiterate the quality of your customer service. It
also goes without saying, you should respond to customer
comments and postings quickly, with attention to service.
For organizations that want to take social networking to
a higher level, a more thorough strategy is needed. For
example, suppose as the principal of a home remodeling
business, you wanted to tap into a new segment for eco-
friendly construction. Your strategy may involve posting
videos about your “green” materials on environmental
discussion sites or submitting surveys about environmental
building interests in your area.
Step 4: Execute with Diligence.
Like changing your oil, a well-tuned machine will deliver
the greatest performance. The more attention you give to
keeping your content up to date and informative, the more
your discussions will thrive and spread. Mix up your game
to make it interesting. Post video snippets, offer up links to
similar sites, post white papers, create voting polls on your
new products, list job openings, deliver RSS new feeds, or
offer rewards for those that can champion your brand to
other sites.
Once you are underway, you may be surprised how little
time it actually takes to keep a site active. For instance,
Twitter only allows 140 characters per update, or about
one sentence.

If you were part of a wellness center for eating disorders

your strategy may include posting testimonials from
patients that have completed your intervention program.
TIP: Do not post the testimonials directly, simply create and
market the forum for open discussion so that your patients
will post and carry on the discussions themselves. This
way, statements by your patients will be viewed as trusted,
inviting, and unbiased.

Regardless of the approach you choose, keep in mind, the

main objective is to make sure value is delivered in each
Figure 4: Big Green Switch member site on Twitter
and every communication. Value is what drives readership
and the viral spreading of your messages; the more read-
ers trust your information and find it useful, the more they
will follow your postings and recommend you to others. Simply by posting one sentence per day, you give users
a reason to come back each and every day. And, hope-
JetBlue decided to deliver value by inspiring a culture of fully that one sentence leads to a dozen more.
immediate response through open dialogue with their
Additionally, by posting to a site like Twitter, your
customers using social media. By fostering communication
updates can also be automatically sent to Facebook,
of understanding and forgiveness, customers are more
MySpace, LinkedIn and a host of others using applica-
likely to forgive incidents that would put other airlines out
tions like TweetDeck.
of business. As a result, JetBlue has more than 130,000
followers on Twitter—nine times that of Southwest Airlines
and 85 times that of Delta Airlines.10

Berry Network White Paper Business Leads: Social Networking for Business 
 Step 5: Network software, you should include links This concept of networking your
Your Messages. to those other application vendors message on social networking sites is
This step is often the most misunder- and partners. a crucial to driving traffic to your site.
stood, but is the easiest to execute. The more sites you are listed on, the
Back on your company website you more search engines will find mention
The concept involves building a link
can expand your social network by of you. In turn, the higher ranking you
to additional information anytime
adding links to other social net- will receive and the higher you will be
you post a message. For example,
working sites your organization is placed on the page.
if you posted a comment that your
connected with. This way, users can
company made its projected earn-
choose to follow your topic using the And, finally, the more page views and
ings, you should include a link to a
community site they prefer or use calls you will receive from users look-
press release or annual report on
most often. ing for your products and services.
your company Website that provides
more detail. If you are responding to
customer comments about applica-
tions that work with your company

Case Study: being discussed at the online sites. Promoted the

Information Builders
How can Information Builders, an enterprise software
vendor, generate leads from an industry online group
without appearing to be just “selling?”
Strategy
Use B-to-B social networking sites as a way to provide
relevant content to professionals debating key indus-
try issues. Reach prospects that are early in the prod-
uct research stage (just ’shopping’) and those openly
seeking advice about business information systems.
Solution
Invested time in learning about member interests on
social networking sites. Designed a new white paper
and email discussion group series around the issues
white paper across the network.
Leveraged the different sections of ITToolbox.com to
mine potential prospects: RSS feeds, alerts, blogs,
email newsletters, and discussion groups.
Used a customized registration page to capture lead
qualification information, then added the leads to the
CRM system for sales follow up.
Results
The social networking audience was so receptive to
the white paper offers that the campaign exceeded
its goal for total leads by more than 42 percent. Sales
made as a result of this program delivered a 750 per-
cent return on investment.
Case study from Marketing Sherpa, published in www.
smallcompanybigimage.com 11

Berry Network White Paper Business Leads: Social Networking for Business 
 Step 6: Utilize Technology. Step 7: Measure.
With so much content online, you need to break through One of the challenges with social media is that measure-
the clutter to get noticed. This is accomplished not only ment is often difficult since Internet boundaries are virtually
through interesting and informative content, but through non-existent. However, there are some measurements you
the use of technology as well. Users can browse video clips can perform to get a reasonable sense of how well your
through YouTube, photos through Flickr, and news through social networking campaigns are performing:
Digg, while sites like Facebook and LinkedIn are useful • Follow search ranking results on the major search
for keeping track of contacts and a record of when we last engines: Google, Yahoo!, MSN and Bing
“touched” them.
• Create search phrases that are not used commonly by
In others situations, an application that plugs-n-plays search engine optimization groups and track the
with social networks may be useful for your organization. increase in the terms.
Samples of these include:
• Track increases in unique visitors to your site at the time
Meebo.com – a tool that allows you to install chat capabili- you launch a campaign.
ties that connects to MSN, Yahoo, MySpace, Google Talk
• Compile a list of your brand advocates and influences
and others.
and track their perpetuation of your messages.
Bravisa.com – a solution that aggregates products for
• Track the flavor (positive, negative) of messages being
markup and resale.
posted about your organization.
ReferQuest.com – a site that allows users to earn rewards
• Track user registrations on your site and follow them
for promoting content on behalf of others.
through the sales cycle.
ZenZuu.com – a site that pays users to have their friends
join a member group.
Vocus.com – a site that enables posting, monitoring and
measurement of PR announcements.
Ning.com – a tool that helps users to create their own
social networking site.
Skype.com – a Windows application that allows PC to PC
phone conversation over the Internet.
Newsgator.com – a RSS (Real Simple Syndication) news
feed application that delivers your new updates to others
simultaneously.

Berry Network White Paper Business Leads: Social Networking for Business 
 Additional Facts
for Consideration
• Market research firm eMarketer 68.4% vs. 64.8%, in February 2009.
predicts that U.S. advertising And even more significant—in only
spending on social networks will the first few months of 2009—the
exceed $1.6 billion this year (2009) as
the sites and companies that make
applications for them push to harvest
more personal information posted
online, then sell it to advertisers. 12
• Of 103 chief marketing officers
who responded to a survey by
Anderson Analytics asking them
which platform would figure into
their marketing plans the most in the
coming months, 40.8% responded
Twitter, followed by 26.2% saying
Facebook, 16.5% saying LinkedIn,
and 8.7% responding “Other.”13
• A study run by business social
network MeettheBoss.com shows that
executives are spending an extra 11
hours a month online sharing their
professional experiences and learning
from their peers. Over 90% of
respondents said they felt their time
online was ‘very valuable’ to their
daily role.14
Berry Network White Paper
• According to Neilsen Online,
social networking sites eclipsed
personal email in global reach at
reach of these sites is growing at
a brisk pace, faster than any other
online sector. 3
• The average social networker
goes to social sites five days a week
and checks in about four times a day
for a total of an hour each day. Nine-
percent stays logged in all day and
are constantly checking out what’s
new. Anderson Analytics, 2009 14
• LinkedIn claims that the average
household income of its members is
$110,000, 64 percent are male, the
average age is 41, and 49 percent
are decision makers. In contrast, the
average Wall Street Journal reader,
makes $102,000 per household, is
48 years old, and only 40 percent are
business decision makers.
Business Leads: Social Networking for Business 
 Summary

WORD-OF-MOUTH MARKETING THROUGH MULTIMEDIA CHANNELS No longer is the

– better known today as social networking – is a dynamic new medium that marketer or agency
is transforming marketing as we know it. No longer is the marketer or agency in control of
in control of messaging and how it is communicated; the consumer is now
in charge. However, savvy businesses are learning how to adapt to this new
messaging and how
instrument by combining the power of viral marketing and technology to their it is communicated;
advantage. Your job, as an ambassador of your company, is to understand how the consumer is now
to use social networking to drive leads for your business. in charge.
For the Marketing Executive
Spend time listening and joining social networks associated with your line of
business. Keep an eye open for those with high numbers of followers. These are
usually the ones that are providing the most value.
Plan your strategy so that you fit in with the message threads and don’t be
afraid to start new ones.

For the New Business Manager

Join as many social networks as you can. Reach out and connect with those
that have similar interests and work in the same industry. However, avoid listing
yourself as a sales person, readers will think you’re online just to drive business
and they will tend to not trust what you say. Also, use social networks to explore
and find new sales channels and advocates of your brand.

For the C-Level Executive

Use social networks as a powerful marketing and PR vehicle for your
organization. Readers will follow you and respond. Take advantage of the
opportunity.

Berry Network White Paper Business Leads: Social Networking for Business 10
 About Berry Network
Berry Network is an agency specializing in driving local leads from multiple
search platforms (Internet Yellow Pages, print Yellow Pages, local search,
social media etc.). A wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T, Berry Network’s team
has unique insight into how to reach consumers on their terms when they are
ready to buy - anytime, anywhere. We are proud to be working with clients
like Hertz, Meineke, and Rite Aid, just to name a few.

Contact
To learn more about how Berry Network drives local leads, visit our website at
www.berrynetwork.com or call one of our offices listed below. You can also follow
us on Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Berry Network Berry Network

Headquarters West Coast
3100 Kettering Blvd 101 Pacifica, Suite 270
Dayton, OH 45439 Irvine, CA 92618
Tel: 800-366-1264 Tel: 800-544-0334
marketing@berrynetwork.com marketing@berrynetwork.com

Sources:
1. Compete.com, 2009
2. Calisto Communications:“The Changing Role of Marketing and PR in the New
Age of Social Media,” 2009
3. NeilsenOnline, “The Future is Bright for Online Media,” 2009
4. TwinCities.com, “Social Media Spreads the Word for Ford,” July 2009
5. Forbes.com, “Where Social Networking Cashes In,” June 2009
6. TechnologyReview.com, “Making Money from Social Ties,” September 2008
7. AdvertisingAge, “LinkedIn Skyrockets as Job Losses Mount,” March, 2009
8. PC Magazine, “More Americans Go to Facebook than MySpace,” June 2009
9. Nielsen Wire, “Twitter’s Tweet Smell of Success,” March, 2009
10. dna13, Inc., “Social Media: the case for online engagement,” 2009
11. Marketing Sherpa, case study published in www.smallcompanybigimage.com, 2009
12. eMarketer, 2009
13. Anderson Analytics, 2009
14. MeetTheBoss.com, 2009

© Berry Network, Inc. All rights reserved. #3624 10/09

Berry Network White Paper Business Leads: Social Networking for Business 11