CK's Blog

B2B Social Media Objections: Meet Fear, Irrelevance and Overwhelm.

Since I've written on building the B2B business case for social media and penned key tips for breaking through the knowledge barrier, it's only fitting that I take a post to focus on the main B2B objections to social media, and some strategies for overcoming them. Because even in this all-digital, always-on world I hear objections a great deal.

And it's imperative that those of us who have been working and participating in social media for years take a BIG step back and remember that this space is still brand new to most B2B companies... and change takes time (and comes with objections aplenty). That's just the nature of change.

While it sounds cliché, each of these objections are an opportunity. Why? Because they invite a conversation. Why's that? Because in voicing their concerns to using social media, executives are not only making a statement about what they're thinking (and feeling), they're seeking reasons to either (a) confirm their viewpoints or (b) change their minds.

These objections have helped me in my own work as they've pushed me to be more objective when nudging more companies to integrate social media into their marketing practices. For example, instead of only offering my professional opinions, I provide plenty of third-party data points as support. And instead of crafting a counterpoint, I work to build a business case. I talk the language they speak, not lingo that gets lost in translation (a basic principle that's still as timely as ever!)

And I should note that while this post focuses on B2B objections, these very much pertain to B2C companies as well. So on that note, let's get started...

Building The B2B Business Case for Social Media Marketing: A 10-Benefit Slide Show for B2B Professionals.

I've written and spoken plenty about the tremendous benefits that B2B companies can yield by leveraging social media. And while more B2Bs are integrating social media into their marketing mix, many are still not convinced that these game-changing media apply to their businesses.

What do they need to make this leap? Rationale. B2Bs need the business case explained to them in a way that speaks to the unique objectives, needs and challenges of B2B companies (vs. those of B2Cs). To that end, I've developed this presentation for "Building the B2B Business Case for Social Media." Here's the description:

In a world brimming with MySpace teens, Facebook fan pages and millions of personal blogs, it's small wonder why so many B2B marketers view social media as strictly a "consumer play." But that mindset could be costing them revenues, relevance and, quite possibly, their competitive advantage.

This presentation illuminates the tremendous opportunities that social media affords B2B companies by building a strong business case, punctuated by 10 key benefits, that explains why B2B marketers should be leveraging these tools to engage with their audiences, grow profits and increase their reach. 

In the chance that you are also working to nudge more B2B companies away from the social media sidelines and into this brave new world of revenue potential--or are a marketing executive championing the social media marketing cause inside your own B2B organization--perhaps these arguments and benefits will help you build your social media business case, too.

Viewing the slides below in full-screen mode is recommended--but if you would prefer to view the presentation in PDF format, just click here to download the slides.

Building the B2B Business Case for Social Media

View more presentations from Christina Kerley (CK).

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Social Media Tips • Social Media *Extras* • Social Media Training • Contact CK

Social Media Marketing Training: 5 Tips for Breaking Through The Knowledge Barrier.

Knowledge is powerful. But when it comes to companies moving into social media, lack of knowledge is absolutely paralyzing.

While social media adoption rates are exploding among consumer and professional audiences alike--and companies are attributing far more attention and budget to social media efforts--education remains one of the biggest barriers to social media adoption.

More to the point, lack of know-how is one of the biggest reasons that so many social media programs fail to perform. Take these recent findings on the knowledge barrier:

• According to a recent study by Russell Herder and Ethos Business Law, the marketing and HR executives surveyed who are not using social media on a corporate basis say non-implementation is primarily due to concern about confidentiality or security issues (40%), employee  productivity (37%) or simply not knowing enough about it (51%).

• As the "2009 Marketing Industry Trends Report by Equation Research illuminated, the leading barriers to corporate social media adoption are knowledge, measurement, and funding/time-resources.

Since one of my practice areas is social media marketing training, I wanted to share 5 key training tips on how best to educate, prepare and guide companies to succeed in the Social Web:

Social Media Risk vs. Reward: Your Market Is Not Waiting For You To Be Relevant (psst: neither are your competitors).

At the conference I spoke at last week, I cited relevance (and risk!) in my presentation, as well as in several other workshops when I addressed how best to transition companies to social media environments. I explained that risk is UBER important to assess, as a company has a responsibility to its customers, employees, shareholders and other stakeholders. But even though social media means that your brand's reputation and message is far less within your control, companies can take steps to dramatically manage risk. How?

Companies can manage risk through establishing a social media policy, identifying a handful of employees to be the brand's spokespersons on social media platforms and provide social media training for their employees so that they're not flying blind in this thriving, dynamic new region that is The Social Web. Plus, companies can start out through small steps and, once they gain a comfort level, they can broaden the volume of initiatives they implement and the resources and budget they attribute to them.

And the best way for companies to manage risk? Ensure that their company, and all of its departments, are delivering upon their brand's promise, value proposition and customer expectations (which are expectations that the company has set through its marketing, sales and communications, so the company should be consistently delivering upon them).

But when it comes to relevance? Folks, once you've lost relevance with current and prospective buying audiences, then it's--poof!--gone. And at that point you'll need to build it back inch by inch, while your competitors are already miles ahead of you. They're gaining market share while you're working to gain ground. Where's the innovation in that strategy?

Remember, just because your company is not actively participating in these media does not mean that the conversation waits for you. Conversely, the conversation just flows on without you. I'll repeat that last part as it's pivotal to understand... it flows on withOUT you.

In fact it's flowing on without you right now.

What's worse? Your competitors aren't awaiting your participation, either. Nope. They're enjoying first-mover advantages, as they already conducted the risk vs. reward assessment. So you can imagine my delight when I ran across this article citing feedback from companies on this very point. According to the piece:

"Last week, executives from companies as varied as Wal-Mart, McDonalds, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Mayo Clinic gathered at General Mills’ headquarters in Minnetonka to discuss the opportunities and concerns presented by social media. And one thing became clear: For now, companies seem more fearful of being left behind than they do of losing control."

While relevance isn't necessarily calculated as a "hard" performance benchmark like, say, revenues, much like trust (and ergo, credibility), once relevance is lost, it's amazing just how important "Getting it back!" becomes. So make sure that the social media conversation that you hold inside your organization about the social media conversations you wish to hold outside your company does not only focus on the concern of how to manage risk--and the fear of losing control-- but also on the very real threat of losing relevance.

Because losing relevance is the biggest risk of all, no?

Social Media Tips • Social Media *Extras* • Social Media Training • Contact CK

Oh the things those (fear!) demons make us do. The only thing more dreadful? The things those demons make us NOT do.

I've come to the realization that I'm not a marketer. Or maybe I should say I'm not only a marketer. Over the years, my role has evolved into 2 parts marketer + 1 part guide + 1 part therapist. 'Twas not intentional. But it's certainly called for in these disruptive times.

Because in transitioning companies to social media requires my tapping into all these roles. Why? The short answer is: fear of the unknown. Marketers now find themselves in uncharted territory that's defined by change and rife with ways to falter.

And hey, that's scary stuff.

You see, Web 2.0 (aka "social media") is more than a set of new technologies. Conversely, social media heralds an entirely new era that places customers in control because it puts dynamic media tools within everyone's reach. As a result, it changes so much of what marketers have learned up until now--and has companies of all shapes and sizes scrambling to keep pace with consumers. My how things change, and quickly so.

Exciting times? Definitely. An age that's ripe with revenue opportunities? Most definitely. Scary era for marketers? Definitely x infinity!

So while the marketer and the guide part of my role helps me teach companies the opportunities and best practices, and facilitates the necessary shift in their mindsets, the therapist part of my role is laser-focused on their fears. Because fear tends to make us not act, instead of take action. And we want companies to be proactive in their use of these new tools, not paralyzed by their fear of them.

Thus, it is here where we let the (fear) demons loose. Oh if only I had the budget to stream some CGI graphics where I could simulate demons encircling the room... maybe one day.