Can You See the Social Media Storm from Your Office?

Recently we have been feverishly working to get up to speed with social media. Why? After many months of research we have finally come to the conclusion social media is here to stay. In addition we strongly believe industry is rapidly adopting social media as a sales and marketing tool. We aren't sure exactly what the marketing landscape will look like in 5 to 10 years but we are fairly certain it will contain social media as a way to do business.
I know, I know, the material handling industry is still trying to figure out this Internet thing. How can we possibly make such a leap? Well I'm here to tell you that while you are sitting in your safe office waiting for your customers to call, your competitors are eating your lunch. Several material handling companies have already figured this Internet thing out and are making millions of dollars a year as a direct result of their online presence. They are closing deals thousands of miles from their office and three miles from yours because they have embraced this "New Media" and virtually went were the money was. A very small minority of material handling suppliers have found Web 2.0 and are beginning to investigate how to capitalize on it. You should to.
The start of your investigation should be to look into a company blog. Keep in mind that there are many benefits to a blog even if it seems like no one is listening (I'm still not sure if anyone reads mine). In today's marketplace every company should have a blog to distribute information and drive traffic to your website. Look into ways to get your blog out to the public, like Technorati, Buzzlogic and the like. Secondly there should be someone out there on the micro blogs (Twitter, etc.) driving traffic to your blog. You'd be amazed at the free lead generation you can create with a little time.
You should be utilizing an email blast tool like Constant Contact to keep in touch with your customers and to drive traffic to your blog and website.
Each and every employee should at least have a profile on LinkedIn. The profile should be professional with links back to your website and blog. If you're really willing to get out there check out Biznik and Fast Pitch also. These sites are money generators for salespeople. They take prospecting and customer service to a whole new level. On a future blog I will go further into these powerful sales tools.
What is the cost of all this marketing power? Would you be surprised if I said less than $1000 per year? Calculate the ROI on that!
Don't let the social media storm pass you by. It is not a fad, it's not just for kids and if you don't get on, your competitors certainly will.