While speaking about the difference between LinkedIn and Facebook, I was happy to learn about a B2C company that realized LinkedIn was a good supplement to its Facebook strategy. This company, like many, realized that, while its consumers were on Facebook, its business partners were on LinkedIn―and these potential business partners are open to being “sold to” as long as you provide them value.

      BACKGROUND

      Kelly Ducey and her husband own the popular and quickly growing Irish Dog Bloody Mary Mix, located in Moline, Illinois. (http://www.drinkirishdog.com) Irish Dog is a gluten-free, secret family recipe that they perfected and made by request for family and friends for years. They discovered there was a wider market for the product, however, so Ducey and her husband went into business 15 months ago, and, in that time, they have sold just over 55,000 bottles and grown from one Hy-Vee food store distributor in Moline to 25 distributors across 17 states. The couple has primarily used progressive and innovative social media marketing efforts to grow the business and pick up new distributors, states, and fans. As part of this strategy, Ducey and her husband have joined groups on LinkedIn and posted newsworthy updates sparking interest from customers and new distributors.

      They made a very conscious choice to concentrate their efforts on LinkedIn rather than solely working with Facebook. “In my experience (of) using both Facebook and LinkedIn, people don’t like to be ‘sold’ on Facebook,” Ducey said. “It’s more of a social interaction site where people like to be a part of something.” That is, people on Facebook like to be updated on company happenings, involved in socializing with others who use a particular product, and kept in the loop on events and promotions, but they aren’t interested in a sales pitch. As a more business-oriented site, LinkedIn is the better place for this type of interaction. In addition, LinkedIn allows business owners to target distributors or people in certain markets within the groups. “Facebook limits you to your already-existing fans unless you want to place an ad, which wasn’t right for us,” Ducey said. “Facebook allows us to target our consumers. However, LinkedIn allows us to target the companies and distributors who would be picking up or wholesaling our product to the consumers.”

      WHAT HAPPENED

      Ducey signed up for several LinkedIn Groups that were specific to her company’s industry or product, such as Beverage Executives USA, Spirits & Liquors, Wine and Spirits Professionals, and F&B Professionals, and posted newsworthy tidbits about Irish Dog. “My initial postings were something like, ‘Quickly growing Bloody Mary company seeking distributors nationwide. Visit www.drinkirishdog.com for more info!’” Ducey said. “I would post and then get several emails from people interested in learning more or wanting to sample or carry our product. I sent out a lot of free product from those postings―and still do―and gained three of our initial distributors that way through LinkedIn for the entire states of Missouri, Texas, and Colorado.”

      Active participation in these LinkedIn Groups also greatly spread awareness about Irish Dog. After the company gained some distributors and started expanding into other states, Ducey posted updates such as, ‘Irish Dog is now in eight states after our first year in business,’ or, ‘Irish Dog is now in 18 states in a year and a half,’ which also got a lot of response. She also posted updates in her typical groups as well as on several beer sites after the company won its first award in September 2010 when it partnered with Budweiser. These posts received several responses as well as interest from distributors who wanted to sample and carry the product. “My postings also generate some online orders from consumers, and many have turned into raving fans that have reordered many times since there are no distributors in their areas yet,” Ducey said.

      After gaining distributors in certain markets, Ducey also joined groups that applied to those markets, such as LinkedAtlanta, and let people know that the award-winning Irish Dog product was now available in their area. “Basically, I just keep people updated with mini press releases each time we have something newsworthy to post,” said Ducey. “Most recently, I posted about our partnership with Brown Dog Foundation and that a portion of each bottle of Irish Dog sold is donated to Brown Dog. I also joined some pet-friendly groups to target those people who would really appreciate our partnership with Brown Dog.”

      SUMMARY

      Ducey and her husband have found that when they are active on LinkedIn, it generates up to 27 percent of their website traffic. More importantly, the distributors they found via LinkedIn currently represent 25 percent of their business.

      Every Employee Can Be a Sales Person

      If you wanted to attend a trade show that was several time zones away, you might not send every person from your sales, marketing, and business development organization because of budgetary concerns. And yet, if you could attend a trade show with all of your staff, wouldn’t that increase your chances of success at the event? With LinkedIn, everybody can join and participate for free. It is this same logic that dictates that every employee with a revenue-generating aspect to their position should be on LinkedIn and utilizing it as a cost-effective marketing tool.

      The way to get your employees on LinkedIn is to lead by example. If the top person in your company organization is not an advocate of LinkedIn, unable to lead by example, or unwilling to educate others on how to utilize it as a tool, it may be a difficult internal sale. It’s also vital that LinkedIn is open and available for your employees to use during business hours. In order to drive home the importance of this business device, share stories with your employees and educate them about how you have closed business deals or received invaluable introductions utilizing LinkedIn. This allows your sales and marketing employees to envision how LinkedIn can be used as a tool in their respective roles.

      It should be in every sales and marketing employee’s best interest to have a LinkedIn membership and be active on the site. However, it is also important to understand the law and how utilizing social media relates to your industry. If your company does not have an internal social media policy, it is best to consult with an employment law firm to understand the potential