Looking for social media information targeted to the unique needs, challenges and audiences of B2B marketers? Just browse through the below information. (And if you are looking for my B2B Mobile Marketing content archive, it's located here.)
Building the B2B Business Case for Social Media: A 10-Benefit Slideshow
In a world brimming with MySpace teens, Facebook fans, Celebrity Twitterers and blogs about cute kittens, it's no wonder that so many B2B marketers view social media, and the Social Web, as strictly a "consumer play."
That mindset, however, is costing B2B companies potential revenues, new customer relationships, unparalleled reach and, quite potentially, their relevance. Even worse when they realize that this opportunity loss isn't something that's being done to them... but something that they're simply not doing. Find out the TOP 10 reasons that Social Media makes for a strong business case for B2B companies through the slideshow right here.
B2B Social Media Marketing: Why Do Business Professionals Use Social Media?
Why do business professionals use social media—what motivates them to engage in the social Web, what needs does it fulfill, which challenges does it solve, and how are their reasons different from consumers' use of Web 2.0 tools and technologies?
The reasons, and their avid rates of social-media usage might surprise you: find out all through the slideshow located here.
Video Clips: Mobile Marketing, Social Media, B2B Strategy
Looking for video clips on mobile marketing, social media and B2B? Look no further! CK conducts presentations, seminars, keynotes, online Webinars and on-site trainings for industry conferences, trade associations, corporate events, executive trainings and university programs. Through her video clips she features short segments of popular speeches across strategy, social media and mobile marketing.
Video clips are available here—and do check back, as this archive is updated frequently.
Slideshow from a keynote presentation given in October 2010 to Rutgers University graduate students and business executives which focuses on how building competencies in emerging technologies—most notably social and mobile media—gives today's executives a competitive advantage... no matter if they're working in the roles of marketing, public relations, management, R&D, recruiting, customer service or technology. After all, these technologies are not isolated to one department or professional competency, as they are core to the way that we all live, work, buy and communicate now.
This presentation explores not only the dramatic changes in emerging technologies... but how these media are drastically changing how we live, work, communicate and buy. And how, in order to succeed, we must change our companies and our own skills. The slideshow is located here.
This slideshow features 20 helpful B2B social media posts, presentations and series to help B2B marketers 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! Access the slideshow and download the slides (PDF) right here.
Step Aside B2Cs, "Social" Media Is BUSINESS MEDIA
In this piece, created for B2B Marketing Online, I address the frequently asked question of “How does social media apply to our target audience of business professionals, and help us achieve our B2B revenue goals?” by examining the prime motivations of business professionals using social-media tools and platforms and tying those back to the B2B benefits.
The post is located here.
Want ROI From Today's Technologies? Don't Just Show Up (participation), Step It Up (innovation).
Many B2B marketers advocate for companies to integrate emerging technologies into the marketing mix, and I count myself among them. But where I diverge from the pack is in what, precisely, I'm advocating of companies: My message isn't limited to participation in today's media, but one far more focused on innovation from today's B2B marketers.
Because it’s not that emerging technologies are innovative—it's what marketers CREATE through these emerging technologies that is the true mark of innovation in this era. And in order to increase ROI through social media and mobile media, marketers must be thinking robust programs (innovation) over simple platforms (participation). B2b examples and further explanation located at this post.
Repurpose, Repackage, Refine: A 3-Point 'Recycling' Framework For B2B Thought Leadership.
Diving into social media and mobile media can be daunting for B2Bs. The tools may be easy, but the environment is complex. But B2Bs have a BIG advantage. It's just a shame that so many marketers have yet to realize it. What B2Bs have—and have TONS of—is thought-leadership content. We need it to move our high-risk, high-ticket offerings.
And the benefit is that all the blood, sweat and bandwidth they've placed into concepting, creating and publishing your past content gives them a huge leg up in the present. This post walks marketers through a 3-point framework intended to help them think differently about the thought leadership you've already created, as well as your efforts going forward. The post is located here.
B2B, Buzz & Brand ROI: Creating Customers That Create (MORE!) Customers.
In this post I leverage findings from a terrific article on WOM and tie the findings to B2B marketing. And I outlay the important distinction between Brand ROI and Buzz (one is an end point, the other a connecting point).
Exploring implications on how trust, communities and online recommendations impact the B2B buying process, as well as providing action points that range from being "WOM-Worthy" to why facilitating exchanges between audience members—not just between company and prospect—is the smarter play, the expanded post is located here.
B2B Social Media Lead Generation: 5 Opportunities Meet 5 Challenges.
From new ways to build relationships (that beget revenues) and increasing reach (without incurring expenses), to learning how to deliver value before the sale and grasping how to "sell without selling," the online landscape offers B2B marketers many lead-generation opportunities—along with some mighty challenges. The post is located here.
B2Bs, The Purchasing Patterns of Your Buyers Are Dramatically Changing: Now You Must Change, Too.
Using a recent study's data points as the foundation, in this post I map the vast changes occurring across the B2B business environment and, in particular, to the purchasing patterns of today's business buyers to the marketing implications for today’s B2B companies.
Ranging from the vast changes in how B2B buyers are budgeting for purchases and how they are researching purchase alternatives to the influences (and influencers!) affecting their purchasing decisions, one thing is clear: these dramatic changes are being driven by the impact of social media on business audiences.
And if B2Bs want to maintain market share and relevance amongst these changing B2B Buyers, they too must change. The post is located here.
B2B vs. B2C: It's the Engagement Level, Stupid.
While I find social media applicable, profitable and meaningful for many companies—be they focused on consumer or business audiences—in this post 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). But professional audiences, unlike consumer interests, are engaged by virtue of needing to protect their very livelihoods... and needs always trump interests. Learn all at this post.
Dear B2Bs: I. Told.Ya.So. (In fact, I've told ya many times over.)
Using the newly released (Jan. 2010) findings from the IDC State of Social Business Survey of 4,700+ U.S. workers, I highlight the tremendous potential (and utter necessity!) of B2B companies to leverage social media tools and technologies for internal purposes to improve their productivity and practices... as well as externally to acquire and maintain customers.
With findings showing that social media is already used by over 50% of workers at least once weekly—and now used by Executive Managers in higher levels of authority including purchasing decisions—in this post I implore B2B marketers to take this study's findings and, moreover, the positive implications that these disruptive media have upon their businesses seriously... as their markets of business professionals are already taken very seriously. Find out all at this post.
Age-Old Behaviors + New-Age Media = Business Professionals Using New Media.
When it comes to these new media, not everything is *new.* Why? Because the needs and behaviors of business professionals haven't changed... the media has.
In fact, business professionals leverage the new functions, features, freedoms and access of social media to transform the way that they meet their age-old needs and to perform the tasks that they've been performing for decades. Find out all at the post here.
B2B Marketers: Your Markets Have Changed--Has Your Marketing?
Using a recent new media study as a launching pad, in this post I map 2009 social media B2C trends—ranging adoption rates, media usage, influence, purchasing drivers and preferences—to B2B marketing implications in order to build the case for integrating social media into the B2B marketing mix.
Benefits range higher revenues, new channels for brand engagement and, for really smart companies, gaining competitive advantage. For findings and implications go right here.
B2B Social Media Objections: Meet Fear! Irrelevance! Overwhelm!
When it comes to B2B companies integrating social media into their marketing mix, objections are alive and well. So it's imperative for those of us who have been working and participating in social media for years to take a BIG step back and realize that this space is still very new to most B2B companies... and change takes time (and comes with objections aplenty). That's just the nature of change.
To that very end, this post addresses the 3 main objections I run up against with B2B companies--namely, fear, irrelevance and overwhelm--and provides ideas and advice on how to overcome objections, change minds and ergo, change conversations. The post is located here.
Selling B2B Social Media Internally: 10 Arguments To Win Over The Boardroom (A 2-Part Article)
If yours is a B2B company, 2010 is likely the year that you'll want to start integrating social media into your marketing mix... or have it play a much larger role than it has in the past. But while your eyes are on your market, you must first get past the Executive Committee members, who will have questions, critiques, and objections aplenty.
They'll want social media ROI defined in business language, not newfangled lingo and they'll require statistics, success stories, and common-sense reasons for integrating such uncommon media into the company's strategies and plans.That's exactly why this 2-Part article highlights 10 arguments to help you successfully build a B2B social-media business case for your toughest audience: the one found inside the boardroom.
*Please note: this article was developed for the premium content area for MarketingProfs, a subscription is required to access it. Part 1 is located here, and Part 2 is located here.
Four Case Studies: How Four (Very Different) B2B Organizations are Succeeding With Social Media
Developed especially for B2B marketers, this article provides social-media case studies from companies ranging from industry veterans SAP and BusinessWeek to newer and smaller firms Equation Research and Radian6. As an added bonus, the marketers behind each winning effort share their *key tips* to help other B2B marketers develop successful social-media programs.
*Please note: this article was developed for the premium content area for MarketingProfs, a subscription is required to access it. The article is located here.
The "Share Economy" for B2B Marketers
Racing to define this new era, pundits have been coining catchphrases ranging from the "knowledge economy" and the "innovation era" to the "conversation age". But from where does knowledge, innovation and conversation stem?
The answer rests in sharing: individuals actively and openly sharing information, insights and ideas with others. Thus, the exchanging of ideas—how freely they're traded, how dynamically they spread, and the new ideas they inspire—is most aptly labeled "The Share Economy."
What does this mean for B2B marketers? Web 2.0 is changing the way they do business, because they have new voices in the business process. And while most age-old marketing principles still apply, many of the practices do not. Lots of opportunities and lots of best practices to learn: Download the PDF right here.
Start Smart: Step-by-Step Social Media (Quick) Guide for B2B Marketers
There's no escaping it, marketers: Amid a flurry of headlines, bestsellers, and reports documenting social media's meteoric rise to the mainstream... the future has arrived.
But for a B2B executive tasked with making sense of wikis, WOM, blogs, and buzz, wouldn't it be nice if the future came with a road map? Follow this quick step-by-step guide (approx. 1,000 words) to ensure your social-media program starts smart, launches strong, and enables you to get the most out of these new media.
*Please note: this article was developed for the premium content area for MarketingProfs, a subscription is required to access it. The article is located here.
In Social Media and Mobile Media, your *Goal* with your target audiences is exactly the same: To Get YOUR Brands Into THEIR Worlds. And the way into their worlds--be it online communities (social media) or Web-enabled handheld devices (mobile media)—is through the value you provide.
High levels of value will get you invited, lack thereof will get you ignored. So now the critical success factor becomes that YOUR brands must make THEIR worlds BETTER. Find out more at this post.
There’s a lot to love about marketing in a world where everyone has a voice (Social Media) and everything is accessible from magical little devices that fit in the palms of our hands (Mobile Media).
And marketers who advocate for social or mobile technologies (or both!) are indeed fighting a common mission, which is to say: Integration of these Disruptive Media into the Marketing Mix. But while the mission is the same for these media, the battles (and obstacles!) are quite different. Learn more at the post located here.
10 (Essential!) Rules To Pass the "Web 2.0" Go: A 10-Part Series
Social media (aka "Web 2.0") provides marketers with groundbreaking opportunities amid a groundswell of consumer-empowered trends. It's also changing the way business is done, because now we have new voices in the business process. There is much opportunity and many rewards... but not without their share of new rules for avoiding marketing misfires and unnecessary risks.
In this "monopoly-inspired," 10-post series, I cover 10 (essential!) rules that no B2B or B2C marketer should pass the Web 2.0 Go without with all posts archived here.
Having polled a variety of marketing professionals on the value they receive from blogging, the responses are quite enlightening and range from "connection" and "community" to "idea exchange," innovation" and many, many more.
Find out the myriad value that marketing professionals receive through blogging in this unique collage (PDF version), or go here for the rich media version
Social Media Marketing (Planning) Checklist
There's an extensive amount of work involved in planning, launching and maintaining your social media presence and programs. And the level of upfront work directly affects (and effects) the outcome.
On that note, I've prepared a list of questions, organized by category, that can serve as a helpful guide for companies (both B2B and B2C) when approaching this space. Remember, no one plans to fail but too many companies fail to adequately plan—check out the planning checklist located at this page.
Reasons for A Social Media Presence (A Riddle)
Why oh why should a company (B2B or B2C) have a social media presence... what are the true gains to be gotten in going to the time and trouble of launching and maintaining a social media presence?
There isn’t one answer. There are many. (So it’s a trick riddle.)
The reasons are both vast and varied, and are all illuminated at this post.
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