Like most merchants, Trainer’s Warehouse has found that some social media tactics work better than others. So what’s been successful for the training materials cataloger? LinkedIn, according to president Susan Landay.
Speaking at the NEMOA fall conference in Newport, RI, on Sept. 15, Landay said Trainer’s Warehouse uses LinkedIn to share effective and fun training techniques. Hot topics generate lots of feedback, which helps the business-to-business mailer learn more about its customers’ needs and interests.
“Some LinkedIn discussions have 200 to 300 responses,” Landay noted. So how does the company capitalize on this interest?
With one active thread on the topic of “what to do in the first hour of a soft-skill training program,” she synthesized the content into a report, which the company used its e-newsletter and also as value-added content on its site.
YouTube is another great medium for Trainer’s Warehouse to highlight its products, Landay said. The company has been experimenting with do-it-yourself video created with inexpensive camera that takes video and free Windows Movie Editor software.
Trainer’s Warehouse is also creating QR codes, or two-dimensional barcodes that can be read with a smart phone to direct the user to a mobile site. The merchant hasn’t actually used a QR code yet, she admitted, “but we’re going to.”