This interview is with Dave Gowel, who has been recognized as a “LinkedIn Jedi” by Inc.com and The Boston Globe. He is the CEO of RockTech and the author of “The Power in a Link: Open Doors, Close Deals, and Change the Way You Do Business Using LinkedIn” (Wiley, December 2011). Gowel co-founded RockTech with Mark Rockefeller to build software that helps corporations increase productivity through quicker adoption of underutilized technology. The interview has been edited for clarity.

A lot of people see LinkedIn as a recruiting or job hunting network. What are some of the other ways professionals can put LinkedIn to work, once they’ve landed that dream job?

I think one of the key ways to think about it is really a relationship filter, that when you put in all the relationships that you already have, it allows you to see the ones that you could have more easily, or get information about potential ones. That’s the real element of LinkedIn that I think is not really utilized as well by primarily senior executives still looking to figure it out, as well as either sales or marketing-minded folks who are outwardly looking: Trying to have that differentiable element that gets them to the person they want to get to.

How I can I turn second- and third-degree connections into valuable first-degree ties?

Well it all starts with your first-degree connections and the quality of them. So we recommend that people create a litmus test and think actively about who they’re connecting to — because then those second- and third-degree connections actually mean something. If you, say, connect to 5,000 people or you just connect to anyone for no reason, then what that does is it might increase your ability to have e-mail address for those people you connect to, but then it doesn’t accurately reflect who those second- and third-degree connections are. So the way to convert them is to start with a really high quality first-degree connection pool that fits your litmus test. The one I generally use is: I’m confident that if I reach out to them, they would either respond to me via e-mail or phone and then they can help progress my business goal.

Where [LinkedIn] really gets useful is thinking about what your business goal is, in terms of who you’re looking to meet, and then you create your advance searches and save them, which basically automates the. So then the search engine automatically looks through those second- or third-degree connections without you even being in LinkedIn and sends you an e-mail with the people you want to get to.

What makes a great LinkedIn status update? How is it different from a great update on Facebook or Twitter or some other social network?

I think every social network has a target audience and people know the dynamics are different for different networks. Twitter is not necessarily mutual acceptance; Facebook is much more social, perhaps more fun. In my mind, in LinkedIn people generally have one key professional focus … and therefore I think it makes sense to think about, before you send a status update, a couple of things. One: Who are you connected to and who do you want to actually see your status update? And also, what you’d want them to do? … And then, the frequency which would be overwhelming to those people — because a lot of time people get excited with that ability to send lots of status updates. But it’s really [important] that you don’t overwhelm them, because LinkedIn does have the ability to hide status updates.

How much does an employee’s profile reflect on their employer’s brand? Are there ways companies can use their employees LinkedIn presence to improve the way a brand is perceived?

That depends on the kind of business. So a consulting firm may have more person-to-person interaction with clients and employees whereas other businesses may have less interaction. But, in general, what we’re seeing is that the customer of any … product or service has more access to see who’s actually responsible for building or delivering that. So without a doubt, if somebody wants to do business with a company, they’re going to look at the company page, which has a lot of information about that company, but what’s even more valuable are the people that are in there. …

In terms of how a company can use the individuals’ profile pages, I think it’s important that companies recognize that the individual owns their LinkedIn profile. If any company tries to infringe on that, then that starts messing with the dynamic of who people will connect to and how they’ll use it or how they won’t use it. … Don’t send out a boilerplate thing that’s impersonal — because this is still a socially inclined network — but provide some guidance. ‘To be consistent with the message that we want to project as a company, to align us all, we’d appreciate these keywords, these messages.’ Maybe give recommendations for your peers or request recommendations from your clients.

What’s the biggest mistake you see people making on LinkedIn?

Depends on the person. Generally, I think it’s over-excitement about the potential. And either trying to say too much and including way too much information in a profile that’s overwhelming, or doing too many status updates or group postings too often. Or not thinking about who their target market is and what they’re trying to accomplish.

I think it’s important to think of LinkedIn as a business tool that is going to accomplish a goal for you. Now, that goal can change throughout the lifetime of your career. So for instance, if you’re job searching now and you get that job and you become a salesperson, well then you want to … use LinkedIn in a way that’s going to help you do lots of sales. And now, leading a bunch of sales people, you have to think as a leader hiring other people.

Is there a big difference, in terms of best practices, in terms of how job seekers use LinkedIn and sales professionals use it?

I would say the basics are generally the same. It’s always important, whenever you’re in a networking situation, you don’t want to be seen as ‘that guy’ who’s just looking to do something for themselves. … Generally, the way I break it down is: Actively look to give before you receive — which I think applies to both. If you can provide some value or some information to a client when you’re selling, that’s equally as valuable as when you’re trying to meet somebody and get an introduction to something that can get you a job, the mutual contact is someone you might want to try to make an introduction for, do something of value for. …

The difference is that when you’re job seeking it’s a lot harder to know who has the relationships that are about to open up a position. There’s a lot of knowledge about those job that are out there now — but the really valuable ones that you can get to are the ones that haven’t been posted, that when someone who you know happens to be like ‘I just talking to my friend and he said that they’re going to be opening up a position. I think you’d be a good fit for’ — obviously the earlier you can get in, the better chance you’ll have of getting an early interview and maybe even getting the job before they post it.

What’s your take on Facebook apps such as BeKnown that are trying to offer a LinkedIn experience within Facebook?

I think it’s still a very much evolving ecosystem. There’s a lot of data out there, there’s a lot of relationships and there’s a lot of motivation for people to use their relationships to help other people find jobs, either because of their job or because they’re friends. So it’s a very interesting market for me, because I think it still has a lot to be proven in terms of how people are going to be most comfortable sharing knowledge, making introductions and referrals, etc. I think it’s important to watch them all if you are a job seeker.

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What are CME Group’s goals for using Twitter?

We started using Twitter early — August 2008. So in terms of a brand using this channel to reach out to our audiences, I think we were an early adopter. As a [business-to-business] company, and in a niche sector of financial services, we primarily use Twitter for relationship building.

This is not an instant sales channel for us, and it was never thought of in that way. For us, building relationships is accomplished by asking and answering questions and posting relevant information. From day one, we knew that Twitter was a tool used to talk with, not talk to, other people. So our overall goal from Twitter is to support our brand attributes and help to not only build advocacy but also help build relationships.

How do you use Twitter? Do you engage with your followers?

We have several guidelines when it comes to using Twitter. I don’t want to reveal too much, but we certainly believe it is a key engagement tool. One of our guidelines is that we post information that is relevant to our audience — not us. I am a believer in the 70/30 rule of content — 70% of the information will be about trends, issues or the economy and is likely to be indirectly about our markets; the other 30% of content will be information about the exchange, such as a big news announcement, an event of ours or something unique that people may find interesting.

We also have created our own interview stream with our partner StockTwits. Every few weeks, we interview live on Twitter someone who would be valued by our audience — a trader, reporter, blogger, investor. The stream is archived here and we have a Twitter list of everyone we’ve interviewed here.

How has CME Group benefited from this channel?

I think it has benefited from an educational standpoint. We’ve been able to help reach a broader audience in the investment community, as well as key influencers who may or may not have written about us. Twitter also gives people instant access to the exchange and they know we’ll respond to their comments and questions. That builds a lot of social currency for us in the short and long term, and it’s the right thing to do.

Twitter was never a one-way communication vehicle for us, and that has made a huge difference in terms of leaving an impression on people who follow the exchange. I would also say that it’s made the people who help me with Twitter smarter about the company and markets, since so much of what we do as an exchange — and Twitter — is tied to news and the global economy. We have to stay aware of what’s going on.

It’s also helped us become better communicators as we have all added social media as part of our strategies and tactics. There’s a lot of excitement and intrigue around the company about social media, and that’s great to see from our perspective internally as we help others understand the benefits.

How did you develop a social-media strategy considerate of legal and regulatory constraints?

That’s a great question and one I get often, considering that we exist in a highly regulated industry and, as a publicly traded company, we are regulated by the [Securities and Exchange Commission]. The key for me and my team in this area has always been about having strong internal relationships. We already enjoy a good relationship with our legal team since we work with them so often on news-related items. Having that trust and respect from the beginning helped.

We have worked closely with our legal team to develop and update our employee disclosure policies to include social media since we started in 2007 with Facebook. And as members of the Social Media Business Council, we added one person from our legal team to the distribution list so they can see the types of questions and discussions from other companies. I would also add that you should not forget to loop in your information-security team. They play a key role in every organization in terms of what comes in and out of the firewall. Because we established a relationship with them early, they have become a great resource for me and my team.

Want to learn more best practices for social media for financial-services companies? Check out SmartBrief’s next webinar on June 8, Building Equity: Social Media Meets Finance, with industry social-media pioneers including Mark Story from the SEC, Amy Dobra from The Vanguard Group, social-media maven Shiv Singh from Razorfish and Amy Sochard from FINRA.

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He led with stats that got the attention of the 300-plus brand representatives in the room:

• 71% of consumers are giving as much or more now as they were before the economic downturn.
• 87% of consumers would switch brands based on association with a good cause.
• 50% of consumers would pay more for products from brands that support causes.

As a preface to a fascinating discussion with BlogHer founder Jory Des Jardins and Quincy Jones Productions (think “We Are the World”) Vice President Adam Fell, Gilbreath offered this excellent, short list of cause marketing do’s:

1. Create a cause linked to your brand purpose. E.g. Pepsi Refresh Project. Beware of greenwashing, pinkwashing and jumping on irrelevant bandwagons.
2. Make sure it’s meaningful. E.g. the MAC Viva Glam initiative, which gives 100% of all purchases on an annual basis.
3. Invest in it for the long haul. E.g. Yoplait’s Save Lids to Save Lives, which is 11 years strong.
4. Create something employees can get engaged with. E.g. Innocent Brand’s The Big Knit project, which got employees learning knitting from elders and making hats to benefit Help for the Aged.
5. Act quickly. E.g. Tide’s Loads of Hope. Trucks filled with washers were sent to help Hurricane Katrina victims clean up.
6. Something that’s brand-relevant. E.g. Haagen-Dazs Help the Honeybees initiative, which sent lobbyists to Capitol Hill to participate in the honeybee shortage.

Rules to prosper by — and feel good about.

Image credit: DeVries Public Relations

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Marketing is hard work. The HR suppliers that understand this make the right investments in tactics and staffing –- and social networks can give them the edge.

According to a study presented at Harvard University by the Society For New Communications Research, “Professional decision-making is becoming more social … Traditional influence cycles are being disrupted by Social Media as decision makers utilize social networks to inform and validate decision.”

That means the HR industry (and anyone else who is in b-to-b sales) needs to be participating. Fortunately, more of them are investing time and staff in marketing via social networks. Those investments are necessary — social media isn’t free.  Yet measuring direct return via increased sales can be very difficult, which is why the focus should be on relationship building and sharing content.

And herein lies the perpetual marketing conundrum: How is [insert marketing tactic] going to help generate sales?

Not all of marketing works like this, especially social media — it’s more of a cumulative effect. That’s why you should engage in a variety of marketing and PR tactics. This is what companies with the competitive edge do -– from investing in SEO to producing regular best-practices content, direct marketing, media relations, advertising, exhibiting, webcasts, blogging, podcasts and social media marketing via Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and other online HR/recruiting networks.

It works.  I say stop the methodical marketing madness of measurement and start a conversation. Get a little messy. Get the edge.

I’m a big fan of the softer outcomes such as familiarity and trust and sharing our valuable content and that of other influencers, customers and prospects. The more familiarity and trust I build with my customers, prospects and influencers, the more valuable my company becomes to them.

Relationship building helps us grow our company.

Many CEOs and business owners may not be comfortable with these warm and fuzzy concepts, but for those who are, participating in social media is all about:

• Sharing
• Caring
• Listening
• Learning
• Teaching
• Mentoring
• Networking
• Building relationships

Notice I didn’t use the words marketing or selling.  Don’t get me wrong, social media can give you a marketing edge –- albeit one that is more personable, more focused and must involve more listening and TLC than any other marketing activity you engage in.

Social media marketing is all about combining the power of online marketing and social networking so that you converse openly with your buying and influencing universe about anything and everything — good, bad and all in between.

In our latest survey report, when HR buyers were asked what social networking sites they frequent, LinkedIn ranked an overwhelming first (72%), followed by Facebook (51%), SHRM Connect (35%), HR.com (31%), and Twitter (20%).

And participation only continues to grow. An HR supplier who wants to do business with those people must:

• Know where their buyers and influencers participate in social media.
• Listen and join their conversations. Build relationships.
• Share best practice content — and not just their own.
• Integrate social media marketing integrate into their overall strategy.

How are you applying social media marketing to b-to-b sales?

Image credit, mattjeacock, via iStock

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