Next week, I am presenting at Conversion Conference West: the first conference devoted exclusively to online conversion. It will be held on May 4-5 at the luxurious Fairmont Hotel in San Jose.

Whether you are looking for the psychology of persuasion, graphic design, copywriting, usability, landing page testing & tools, or best practices for your specific situation, its all here. Enjoy world-class expert sessions, hands-on live critiques, and no-holds-barred open mic panels. Use promo code "CCW560" when registering at www.ConversionConference.com to save $250 off of a 2-day full conference pass by May 1st!

I am presenting on Wednesday morning at 11:10 am, and my topic is "Social Media for Engagement & Conversion." Full Agenda

I'm putting the finishing touches on my presentation for next week, and thought I'd share with you some highlights in the messaging I plan to use...

As marketers are forced to look at how to best leverage social media to drive the business, some traditional ways of thinking need to be looked at in a new way. For example, companies that are successfully leveraging social media for B2B marketing are finding that social networking has changed the concept of a "lead" and the ability to connect with and establish relationships with key prospects.

"The nice thing about social media is that on social networking sites, we have access to contact information and the ability to reach a target contact very quickly and easily."

What that means for us is that success is now marked by penetrating the noise and establishing a relationship.

A desired action in social media can involve brand awareness and brand building or a more direct action such as a click through (from Twitter, for example) to a web site where a lead is generated or a purchase is made. On top of all of that, social media can help marketers and sales professionals to continue to foster relationships with existing clients - particularly with high-revenue or high margin services or those with a significant project life-span, leading to repeat business.

My presentation will include a brief overview of the major social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, etc.), a list of metrics to focus on for each, best practices for engagement and calls to action, some case studies, and then tips on metrics, reporting and alerts.

Don't forget that you can follow me on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/ErinE.

You can also follow the conference organizer, Tim Ash, at www.Twitter.com/Tim_Ash or follow the hash tag #ConvCon