Having watched, observed and implemented many of the current social media tools, I felt I was in fairly good shape toward the end of 2011.  I got a little confused by Google+, but it went in OK, although very few people seem to be using it.  Then came Pinterest.  Again, installation was easy, but for me and many of our clients, its applicability to hi-tech B2B is unclear.

2012 has brought a new wave of applications and platforms which, along with the push toward using video and mobile applications, has me wondering if social media is the next bubble.  It is unclear where to put scarce resources, especially since the return on existing tools has a limited track record, with one blogger reporting that only 13% of B2B companies drive leads with social media.  Should I chase after Highlight, Glancee, Banjo, Chime.In, Scrolldit and others?

As with everything related to consumers and businesses, the competitive arena will thin out over time, but backing the wrong horse early can be costly.  Imagine believing that the Stanley Steamer was the car of the future, that DC current was the form electricity to use, or that MySpace was the way to reach your buyers.  In the past, reasonable people chose all these options.

Another element contributing to my fatigue is that “expert” advice is conflicting.  One group urges companies to get involved in social media as quickly as possible, and to engage with the customers and buyers immediately.  But another group of “experts” strongly suggests that you do everything right, that an error resulting in negative customer perception is very difficult to overcome, in short be like Zappos out of the gate.

Sifting through this overload of choices and advice, I am urging our B2B clients to do the following, once their strategy and objectives are in place:

1.      Today, before they begin working with you buyers know about your product and services.  Recognizing this, allocating resources to your web site and establishing industry thought leadership is job one.  To generate leads, one must cover all aspects of SEO, along with developing integrated marketing campaigns that nurture leads, while maintaining brand and position.  To obtain thought leadership, blogging, speaking, writing articles and commenting on applicable groups is mandatory.  These elements must be covered both well and completely before any diversion into social media.

2.      Find out which social media tool the bulk of your buyers use, be it Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, etc.

3.      Implement your social media offering on and around that platform. 

4.      Ensure that the organization is prepared for the commitment, in time and resources, to meet the needs/demands of your involvement regarding both the website and social media platform.

5.      Measure your results at 3, 6 and 12 month intervals.

6.      Ignore, for the present, the buzz surrounding the “next best thing” in the social media space.  There will be major and niche players that may or may not be useful to you.  In the short term, let them establish themselves and let the dust settle before allocating resources to them.

Dealing with social media is difficult and time/resource consuming.  If you are not careful, it can cause you to lose focus on what is really important, which is generating leads and promoting your brand.  The path to success lies on keeping your social media efforts simple, and measuring your progress on a regular basis.

How tired are you when it comes to social media?

RHM  3/27/2012

In January the Corporate Executive Board presented the findings of a survey:

We recently surveyed over 1900 customers to uncover insight regarding B2B purchasing behavior.  The survey results were surprising:  On average (and with little variation among industries) customers will contact a Sales rep when they independently completed about 60% of the purchasing decision process.

They go on to define the “60% purchasing decision process” as a gap in the middle of the sales funnel, caused by buyers gaining their own information about a product/service.  Where do customers get information?  Your web site, user groups, trade shows, word-of-mouth, past experiences and impressions, etc.

The concern for the B2B CMO is managing and controlling this information.  First, is control possible?  The answer is YES.  Is it possible to the extent that you would like…probably NO.

Acknowledging that the power has shifted to the buyer, the B2B CMO has to ensure the following:

·  That the corporate messaging is clear.

·  That for each product/service the significant differentiators  (value propositions) are clear and unambiguous.

·  That it is easy for a potential buyer to “position” the company’s product/service in the competitive array.

·  That the reputation of the company conveys:

o   Easy to work with

o   Above board

o   Meets commitments

Achieving these goals is a consuming task, requiring a continual review of internal and external communications, as well as “listening” and responding to comments made on social media. It also requires a unified approach across the company, from the management level to each and every person having contact with a customer.

In short, today’s B2B CMO is more like an orchestra conductor than an out-in-front platoon leader.  He/she is coordinating the different sections of the orchestra to play the same tune, at the same rhythm, focusing the music on the customer (audience) so that is both pleasing and enticing.  In addition, he/she must incorporate new “instruments” like LinkedIn, twitter, Facebook, Pinterest into the established orchestra of direct mail, trade shows and other outbound programs.

Failing to achieve coordination, the music (and message) will strike a sour note…suggesting to the buyer that he/she should move on to a more “harmonious” company.

In the slow growth out of the Great Recession many B2B buyers are moving with caution in making investment decisions.  Firms that project and convey harmony are well received.  Those that appear discordant are dismissed.

Is everyone in your organization singing the same tune?  When was the last time you checked?  Did you check by asking your customers and/or through lost sales reports?

RHM 2/28/2012

The social media press has been having a field day with the NY Times revelation that J. C. Penny used questionable tactics to boost their recent Google ratings.  See http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/business/13search.html for the details.

This news led me to think more about the necessity and value for a B2B company to be ranked first in Google search.  Is it worth the time, effort and expense?  There is little doubt about the value of a number one ranking (http://insights.chitika.com/2010/the-value-of-google-result-positioning/) but much of this data is driven by consumer, not B2B products.  Nor is there any doubt that B2B buyers are searching for vendors, reflecting the shift in power created by the Internet.  But, if there is a motivated buyer, won’t he/she examine the first page of findings?  What is the probability that he/she will stop after looking at #1?

A Google search titled “value of Google ranking #1 for B2B” turned up 392,000 responses.  While I didn’t examine each one, most were articles or blogs on how to achieve a number one ranking.  What I would like to see is a balanced A/B test, showing the ROI for Company A, who achieved a number 1 ranking and Company B, who was listed last on the first page.  I don’t think it exists…yet.

That said, what follows is subjective opinion, based on discussions, reading and experience.

• As noted above, power has shifted from the seller to the buyer.  Buyers, both consumer and business, are using the Internet to find out about vendors.
• Most B2B buyers will look for a minimum of three vendors for comparison purposes.  They may have one or two already in mind, and will look for a third (and possibly a fourth) to help create a truly competitive environment.
• B2B buyers have an inclination to purchase locally.  If they can find what they need in their city/state this will tip the scales.  Domestic vendors are preferred to ones offshore, unless the price difference makes up for the shipping costs.
• For the B2B buyer, once a vendor is found via search, the key is web site navigation.  If the buyer is looking for a specific item, he/she doesn’t want to go through 12 clicks to find it.  The landing page MUST BE intuitive to finding product/services.  (In other words, scale back the pretty pictures of people, the mission statement and the latest press release on the landing page.)
• In getting to 3-4 vendors, a motivated business buyer will go through the first, and maybe even the second page, skipping listings that are related but that do not answer his search.

Advice to B2B companies:

• A good web site is mandatory…something well beyond placing your brochure on the web.
• The incremental SEO cost to achieve a number one ranking is probably not worth it…but every effort should be made to ensure placement on the first page.
• Equally important is the navigability of your web site.
• Continually testing of your web site as to ranking and navigability is required, goal is best-in-class.
• Going forward, an analysis of your competitor’s web sites is just as important as an analysis of the product, and how it is different from yours.

Search engine optimization gets a lot of attention, some good and some bad.  For the B2B vendor the focus of SEO should be that they are listed on the first page and that their web site is well constructed.

What have been your experiences?

RHM -  2/24/2011

Below are four recent articles that detail successful social media implementations across a variety of companies:

• 5 Surprising Social Media Success Stories:

http://funlinks4us.com/?p=146

• 5 B2B Social Media Success Stories:

http://blog.marketo.com/blog/2010/05/b2b-social-media-success.html

• Restaurant Owner Increases Sales 110% With Foursquare Swarm Badge Party

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/5697/Restaurant-Owner-Increases-Sales-by-110-with-Foursquare-Swarm-Badge-Party.aspx

• Social Media Success Stories:

http://searchenginewatch.com/3635665

The lessons learned from these articles, and the ones that we pass along to our clients, are:

1. No “one size fits all” when it comes to the use of social media.  The key is to find out what your customers are doing and then use that media.  Twitter may work best for a restaurant, blogs and thought leadership may be more appropriate in some B2B environments.
2. Start by listening to what is going on.  Use free search tools, such as Google Analytics or search on Twitter to find out what people are saying about in your industry and potentially about you.
3. Establish policies and procedures regarding the use of social media that are well understood by everyone in the company.
4. Start slowly and learn as you go.  Don’t expect a significant uptick because you sent out one tweet or blogged for a month.
5. Recognize that the initial main cost of social media is time, not dollars.  Paid advertising, trade shows, buying email lists etc. all require the expenditure of money.  Social media requires time and consistency.  If you don’t have the band-width, don’t do it, because you will do it poorly.
6. Social media is only part of the marketing mix.  The other elements that you have been using successfully should remain, and be adjusted as you learn and grow through the use of social media.  It isn’t an “either/or” proposition, it is what is the right mix of ingredients that leads to success.

Do you have a success story that you can share?

Related posts:

Digital Marketing – What do I Do First?

http://firealarmmarketing.com/2010/04/29/digital-marketing-–-what-do-i-do-first/

Social Networks – Is There Any Consensus?  What Is A Marketer To Do?

http://firealarmmarketing.com/2009/09/21/social-networks-is-there-any-consensus-what-is-a-marketer-to-do/

Social Networking and The Marketing Mix

http://firealarmmarketing.com/2009/07/23/social-networking-and-the-marketing-mix/

RHM 5/26/2010

                                                Comparison for B2C vs. B2B Marketing

A few comments about some of the specific marketing functions.

1- Your audience: Note in B2C the marketing is done “directly” to the end user. In B2B the marketer is often focused on the enterprise who sells to the end user. Therefore the marketer must be aware of two audiences.

2-Distribution channels: while both types of marketing are complex for this function; the B2B has one additional challenge, that of relationship building with the reseller/VAR/etc.. This relationship is needed so one can address items like total life cycle or joint marketing.

3- Sales cycle: In B2C the end user may do some research, but typically one has a need (not necessarily), shops and buys in the same cycle. B2B involves many steps and individuals, thus the marketer must be aware of this and “market” to each phase.

4-In both the B2C and B2B markets, there is a need to “push” and “pull” a product through the distribution channel(s). In the B2B environment, there is generally less “pull”, i.e. end user promotion, due to the technical nature of the product or service and the relatively long selling cycle.

 In summary, as I have said many times, the first and foremost requirement is to have a strategy. Do not proceed to “GO” until you have an overall strategy. Once this is done, there are two critical next steps.  One, understand and analyze what I call the business surrounds; what impacts or influences the business or government buyer that you are marketing to. Examples would be the economy, their suppliers, the market, and any potential technology disruptions. Second and very, very important, look at the derived demand, i.e. what are your targeted businesses end user needs; circumstances like an increase in  the price of gas, which reduces travel, which reduces calls to a call center, that might impact your marketing functions.

Have you reviewed your strategy today?  Does it still relate to the 2010 environment?

RHL 3/23/10