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B2B Social Media Marketing Collection: A Slideshow Of 20 Helpful Posts, Presentations & Series for B2B Marketers.

As we wrap up this year and gear-up for the next, I've compiled this nifty slideshow featuring 20 helpful B2B social media posts, presentations and series to help B2B marketers start the new year off ready to integrate social media into their marketing mix in a way that helps them transition their marketing (and their mindsets!) to the Web 2.0 environment and works to increase their rates of success within it.

Covering everything from B2B lead-generation opportunities and challenges, how these new-age media serve age-old B2B behaviors, selling B2B social media internally and overcoming the main B2B social media objections... to B2B social media case studies, social media planning checklists, Web 2.0's new marketing rules and many, many more--this is one collection that no modern-day B2B marketer should market without!

Just view the below slideshow (best viewed in FULL-screen format) or download the slides here. And should you have any B2B marketing questions, as always, just leave them in the comments below this post, ask me on twitter or drop me an email.

And now that I've talked marketing, I want to extend a HEAPING BIG Thank YOU to my colleagues, clients and the online marketing community for your smarts, support and generosity all year long. Please know that I never once take it, or each of you, for granted. As I often say, teaching people is just about the nicest (and most advancing) things we humans can do for one another... and I look forward to learning so much more from you throughout 2010.

Here's the slideshow:

B2B SOCIAL MEDIA: A Collection of Posts, Presentations & Series for B2B Marketers

View more presentations from Christina "CK" Kerley.

*B2B Bonus* For a newly released 10-Step Starter Guide on Integrating Mobile Into the B2B Marketing Mix, just go here.

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B2B vs. B2C: Why is Social Media MORE Opportune For B2Bs Than B2Cs? It’s The ENGAGEMENT Level, Stupid.

As a B2B marketer who regularly employs social media in her projects one would naturally argue, “But CK, of course you find social media applicable, profitable and meaningful for B2Bs, as that’s your focus.”

But my professional focus is not the point. 

The point is that while I find social media applicable, profitable and meaningful for many companies—be they focused on consumer or business audiences—I posit that social media represents a veritable goldmine of potential for B2Bs. More to the point, I contend that social media is MORE opportune for B2Bs than B2Cs.

How can I say such a thing? It’s the engagement level, stupid. And for marketers? Engagement is the Holy Grail of marketing: the uber goal, the most critical of critical success factors, the paramount payoff, and the pinnacle benchmark of how well your marketing is performing (or lacking).

Why? Because more than anything, we marketers vie to (1) GRAB our target audiences’ attention and discretionary budget dollars + (2) KEEP our audiences’ attention and keep them spending on our offerings + (3) ENCOURAGE our target audiences to encourage others to spend their attention and dollars on our offerings.

Which is to say, we battle our competitors not only for market share but for share of mind, we burn the midnight oil to build programs that will cut through the clutter produced by the multitude of marketing messages, and we constantly rack our brains in order produce a strong signal for our audiences, not more noise. After all, we want audiences tuned into us, not them. We want audiences focused on “me” not relegating us to a me-too offering. And we want a wide disparity in our audiences' perception of how relevant (and resonant) we are over them.

Thus, we are most intent on engaging and, ergo, maintaining high levels of engagement. But so are B2C marketers. So why do business audiences (B2Bs) qualify as MORE opportune when it comes to social media marketing?

It's the engagement level, stupid. Because business audiences are engaged by virtue of their very livelihoods. How can I say such a thing? Easy! Just look at their drivers and motivators—and how they all stem from protecting and advancing one’s livelihood, to wit:

Hold Up There, Marketers: Before You Leap into 2010, Take A Look Back at 2009.

It’s that time of year when we marketers are knee-deep, up to our eyeballs and heads-down focused in planning for the next year. We're mired in forecasts, predictions, statistics and studies that are a promise of what's to come... not a portrayal of what has been.

Being it's the last month of the last quarter, we’re focused on leaping forward, instead of looking back. After all, the relationships, revenues and ROI that will be generated in 2009 have now past and we need to set our sights on the robust potential and profits of 2010.

But I’m going to ask my fellow marketers to hold up a second. Take a deep breath and a big step back. I’m asking you to reflect on the year that was, not to project on the year that will be.

Why? Because while we marketers are focused on the new vs. the now, we also need to be relentlessly focused on RESULTS. We may be setting forecasts for 2010 but we're now in a position where we have facts from 2009. And while it was one helluva year for the economy (and thus, marketing!), if viewed in this light, 2009 need not only be a year that served us with challenges but one that can serve us going forward.

So here’s what I’m asking from YOU: What TOP *marketing* lesson, discipline, idea, strategy or best practice did you learn, confirm, debunk, realize or revisit in 2009 that not only served you in this year but will serve your marketing for many years to come? In sum, what did your marketing GAIN from all that you learned, or even lost, this year?

Folks, your answer need not be long, and every answer is 100% correct--because it's YOUR experience. Once I get all your answers I’m going to create something from it for us all to have, perhaps even something from which we can learn. Last time I asked for voice-in from the marketing community I created THIS piece (though what I'm going to create this time won't likely be as elaborate due to the holiday rush!).

I think you'll find it very interesting to see the myriad answers and ideas from your colleagues. And yes, I’ll be adding my own answer to this very question, too.

So please, before you take a leap forward, take a look back... isn't all your marketing time, trouble and the tremendous effort you put forth in 2009 worth at least that much?

And I'd sure appreciate it if you would kindly refer others to this post so they can voice-in, as well. All that said, here's wishing YOU--here's wishing ALL of US--a productive and prosperous 2010!

Age-Old Behaviors + New-Age Media = Business Professionals Using Social Media.

In my last post I discussed the top B2B opportunities and challenges for lead generation through social media. But in this post I want to shift focus from B2B companies to business professionals. Specifically, I want to discuss how, for business professionals, social media boils down to old behaviors + new media.

How can I say such a thing when we’re talking shiny NEW media in an entirely NEW marketing era? Because even in this new age, the behaviors and needs haven’t changed... the media has. And given the new functions, features, freedoms and access of social media, these tools transform the way that professionals meet their age-old needs and how they perform the tasks they've been performing for, well, eons.

Let’s face it, WOM is as old as the hills, we just have highly efficient tools now to spread and amplify WOM further, faster and to far larger groups. Said another way, social networking isn't new, social media is. So on that note, let me support my argument by highlighting several ways that business professionals exhibit age-old behaviors with these new-age media.

B2B Social Media Lead Generation: 5 Opportunities Meet 5 Challenges.

This past week I had a reporter interview me about "lead generation in this new era of marketing," and the reporter was specifically interested in focusing on the (1) opportunities and (2) challenges for companies. (the article is here at Inc. Magazine).

It's a great subject, and an important one for B2Bs who must generate, qualify and close business leads so as to ensure the viability of their companies. And it got me thinking... and inspired this post.

I'm going to run down what I see as the 5 biggest opportunities and 5 biggest challenges for B2B lead generation in a 2.0 world. And then I'd love to know your thoughts. Tell me what I've missed or mistaken; after all, we're here to learn from one another.

Biggest Opportunities:
Through Web 2.0 technologies there are tremendous opportunities for Lead Generation, namely:

#1: A great “leveler.” Through social media, small and medium-sized businesses can now afford the same media used by big companies, so this opens an affordable, effective lead-generation channel for SMBs. But, that being said, all companies need to understand that what they save in dollars they trade-off in time as these media need constant attention and new content. No autopilot here.

#2: Building relationships that beget revenues. Through two-way communications tools that facilitate knowledge sharing, professional networking, and problem solving, companies can leverage social media to build strong relationships--and relationships will always be core to B2B lead generation efforts. And then B2Bs can grow those relationships into revenues for their organizations. 

#3: Efficient way to create leads... who in turn, create more leads. By building relationships with prospects and customers, companies also increase the chance that their target audiences will use these tools to spread/amplify favorable online word-of-mouth (WOM) about their brands. Online WOM is especially critical given that buyers are avidly using social media to research feedback from other professionals before making purchases. And where offline WOM can reach 10 people, online WOM can reach 10,000.

Celebrating the Unsung Heroes of the Internet: Proud To Be A Part of "The Hive Awards"

I'd like to call your attention to a very different Awards Show, of which I'm proud to be a part. And by "a part" I mean it's a labor of love--because I love all it represents and the genius talent it's been created to recognize. They're called The Hive Awards and in the case you've not yet heard about them, I'm featuring information about them in this post, but far more information is located right here.

Why do I like love this set of awards?

Because it celebrates those who do the heavy-lifting, burn some serious midnight oil on a regular basis, roll-up their sleeves and get deep in the trenches to ensure the quality and integrity of the finished product... but rarely receive the praise that comes along with it.

And it's high time these unsung heroes were given the spotlight.

What, exactly, do they mean by "unsung heroes"?

The “unsung heroes” are all the coders, programmers, user-experience designers, information architects, content strategists and the like who do most of the work to build websites and applications but who never seem to get any of the credit.

They’re the real Internet heroes who put in the time, trouble and effort and the show's organizers thought it was high time to recognize them. (I couldn't agree more.)