UNIVERGE BLUE
Social Media & Email Marketing

Best practices for UNIVERGE BLUE social media promotion and email marketing.

Social MediaEmail Best Practices

Social Media Marketing

Knowing how to leverage these channels to maximize your business is key, and we can help. Here are some tools to help you get started. Download the Social Media recipe card to make sure you have all the ingredients to create brand awareness, customer engagement, and more!

Recipe Card


How to Get Started

  • 1. Post to LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.

    Note: It’s not about how many different social platforms you post on, it’s about the quality, frequency, and resources you have to manage this activity. If posting to only one social platform fits into your social media marketing plan, that’s great, just be consistent with your strategy.

    1. The company page should be used as the starting point
    2. Encourage employees to be social
      1. They can share a company post or create their own post on their personal pages
      2. They can simply comment/like a company post
  • 2. Ideas of content to post

    Note: Keep your social posts entertaining and informative. Your followers will be glad to see your new content in their feeds as well as it keeps you top of mind as they are considering making a purchase,

    1. Products/services
      1. New products
      2. New product features
      3. Service offerings
    2. Customer use cases
    3. Customer case studies and wins
    4. Events
      1. Trade shows you’re participating in
      2. Virtual webinars you’re presenting on
      3. Podcasts you’re speaking on
      4. Community services the company participates in
    5. Holidays, Office closings for holidays
      1. Ex: Wish your customers a “happy new year”
      2. Let your followers know that your offices will be closed during the upcoming holiday (if your customer service is available during that time be sure to mention that too)
    6. Comment and like posts where your customers are posting
      Note: Commenting, answering questions, and providing input on other’s posts can position you as an authority in your field. Additionally, you’ll be seen by the original posters following, extending your reach.
      1. Industry experts’ posts
      2. Partner posts (NECAM for example)
      3. Industry associations’ posts
    7. Use hashtags
      Note: A hashtag is a label used on social media that makes it easier to find information. Hashtags can help you reach your target audience without them being a follower of your page
      1. Create your own hashtags (product names, taglines)
      2. Pick one tag from each of the following
        1. Use NEC hashtags (#univergeblue, #thepowerofblue)
        2. Use industry hashtags (#UCaaS, #CCaaS, #CX)
        3. Use your own company hashtags
      3. Posting 3-5 hashtags per post is ideal. Too many hashtags can confuse the message so keep it simple.
  • 3. Define a schedule or cadence for posting
    1. If posting once a week is all you can manage that’s fine. The idea is just to get in front of your audience as often as feasible. For more information on how often to post please consider referencing Hootsuite
    2. Plan out your posts in advance
      1. Ex: If you’ve signed up for an event, create the content and have it ready for when you want to post it
      2. Assign someone to post the content and monitor the company page
        1. Consumers treat social media as a feedback loop where they can report issues with products, leave a review, or privately message a company so you’ll want to stay on top of answering their questions, replying to their comments, etc.
      3. Employ a social media marketing tool to help with the process
  • 4. Be sure to follow NEC for social content ideas!
    1. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nec-corporation-of-america
    2. Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NECAmerica
    3. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NEC/
    4. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9SJfpNruYsKfotJCDfzRiQ

Is social media marketing necessary?

Yes! And it shouldn’t be seen as an option but rather a requirement as part of your sales and marketing activities. Your social accounts should be used for social selling - a critical part of your sales funnel.

     

Why is it necessary?

It's an essential and cost-effective way to reach your customers, gain valuable insights, and increase brand awareness.

  1. Increase brand awareness
  2. Establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry
  3. Reach target audiences outside your following
  4. Stay in front of your target audience
  5. Drive traffic to your website
  6. Generate new leads to boost sales

Increase brand awareness

Think people only connect with brands they already know on social media? Consider that 83 percent of Instagram users say they discover new products on the platform.

Stay in front of your target audience

79% of social media users log into their accounts at least once per day, according to a 2021 study by Pew Research Center, and many people (49 percent!) admit to checking social multiple times per day.

Boost sales

As the number of people using social media continues to grow and social sales tools evolve, social networks will become increasingly important for product/service search. The time is right to align your social marketing efforts with sales goals.

Email Campaign Best Practices

Steps to running UNIVERGE BLUE Campaigns

  1. Apply your logo, company name, contact information, and website URL to the emails and content assets within
  2. Host the assets on your website or send them as email attachments
  3. Use an automated system or regular email to trigger and execute the emails
  4. Track your engagement and follow up with customers who download assets
  5. Use the assets in your conversations with your customers

Download Guide on the Best Marketing Automation Tools

When to send emails

Emails sent on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 6am, 10am, 2pm, or 8pm typically have the highest open rates.

  • Our recommendation is Tuesday at 10am or 2pm

What to look for with open rates:

20% open rate is considered industry-standard – don’t worry if your emails don’t get 20% open at first, test different times and/or days

How often to send:

Try to send emails on a consistent cadence

  • Our recommendation is one email each week

Always rinse and repeat your campaign

Identify the people who didn’t open your emails in the first campaign and schedule them for round two in weeks 4, 5, and 6.

  • Try a different day or time & try adjusting the subject line

Use segmented lists and be sure to review the data for accuracy before sending

  • Start out with a smaller list (under 400 contacts), this makes engagement-tracking easier and follow-up more manageable
  • Review the data in your target list before launching campaign. Confirm the contact’s First/Last Name matches the Email Address and that the Company Name matches Email Domain (contactemail@emaildomain.com)

Target Audience

Companies matching one or more of the following criteria could be a good candidate for UNIVERGE BLUE CLOUD SERVICES

  • Looking for an easy to use cloud-based phone system, contact center, or backup services
  • Current phone system is on-premises (especially if current system is nearing end of life)
  • Has multiple offices in different locations and remote workers
  • Using different cloud vendors for multiple services: messaging, video collaboration, file sharing, webinars, contact center, etc
  • Needs advanced applications to work more efficiently from anywhere, at any time

Personas

  • Primary: IT managers
  • Secondary: Operations and finance managers

Pain points

  • Frustrated with how cumbersome their current solution is - takes up a lot of IT’s time & resources
  • Hard to manage their growing workforce
  • Budget & financial constraints - forced to do a lot with a little
  • Use of free applications create siloed teams & cause security concerns
  • Current solution(s) are hurting productivity