Social Media for B2B Marketing and Sales
A common question I get from business to business focused marketers and sales professionals is: “Does social media marketing and social networking really work in the B2B space?”
I posed this same question to Jeff Booth CEO of Builddirect.com and here was the answer he gave me:
“Social media is not really about B2C or B2B it’s about P2P or person-to-person communications and adding value.” – Jeff Booth CEO Builddirect.com (the worlds largest online wholesaler of building supplies.)
The reality is that the majority of decision makers or their direct influencers use the web to find information on a vendor and the individual employees they are dealing with. I have compiled a short list of resources and blogs that you may find useful in deciding is social media marketing will work for your organization.
Here are some statistics and quotes regarding social media in the commercial space:
…69% of B2B buyers use social networks “primarily for business networking and development.” (About.com)
…Stereotypes may have C-level executives delegating research to others, but the study reveals that 53% prefer to search the Web and locate information themselves. – Google and Forbes Insights Study (2009)
Social media is not a separate silo or discipline, in fact, companies in the Business-to-Business space like Builddirect.com, Oracle, SAP, Intel, Accenture, GE, and Siemens have found that is most effective when integrated with existing sales and marketing processes. They also have found it has given them a significant advantage over their less socially engaged competitors. (An entire engagement study can be found at http://engagementdb.com )
B2B Social Media Reading and Resources:
- Video: “Vital Statistics for B2B Marketers”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXQdy-22TXM“
- 20 Support Cases for Using Social Media in B2B Marketing” http://www.savvyb2bmarketing.com/blog/entry/122161/20-support-cases-for-using-social-media-in-b2b-marketing
- “A fascinating B2B Social Media Success Story” http://businessesgrow.com/2010/06/20/a-fascinating-hardcore-b2b-social-media-success
- “5 B2B Social Media Success Stories” http://blog.marketo.com/blog/2010/05/b2b-social-media-success.html
- “30 B2B Social Media Resources” http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/6379/30-Awesome-B2B-Social-Media-Resources.aspx
- “The Definitive Case for B2B Social Media Marketing” – Fast Company http://www.fastcompany.com/1665075/the-definitive-case-for-b2b-social-media-marketing
- “7 Reasons Why Social Media is for Sales” – http://bettercloser.com/7-reasons-social-media-sales/
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Social Media Calendar
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There are many aspects to success in social media. Having a solid goal, knowing your core target market and of course monitoring social media conversations and your brand. Producing great content and engaging community are also vital. All of this has to be grounded in a solid implementation plan in order to work over the long term. A goal, great content, and community engagement are not enough to succeed using social media as a marketer, sales person or entrepreneur. We also need to ensure that we are consistent in our approach, message and community involvement.
Today’s podcast is about the importance of a social media calendar for individuals and organizations. I have also provides a social media calendar template that Jay Levinson and I developed for Guerrilla Social Media Marketing.
Have a listen, download the sample social media calendar and then let me know how it works for you.
Download the sample social media calendar here in Word format and here in PDF format
Social Media Calendar
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Worthy Cause: Local Man is Fundraising for New Spandex Outfit
Just kidding… but he does need skates 
Ever thought of dropping everything to chase a dream?
We all would…. as long as it fit in to our busy schedules. BUT who has the time or the energy?
I was chatting with Steve Jagger, my co-author for Sociable!, and he shared the new adventure his younger brother Kevin has undertaken.
I had spoken with Kevin just a few months ago, at the time he was working for a US college media firm after putting in his dues on Bay Street as an investment banker. Turns out I was a little out of the loop.
After watching the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, Kevin has decided to quit his job and attempt to compete in long track speed skating with the ultimate goal of trying to make the Canadian National Team.
Crazy right?
What makes it only slightly crazier is that Kevin has never even competed in speed skating and up until the time of writing has yet to step on Oval ice!! Talk about bold.
One thing I did not realize is speed skating is not cheap – especially when you have to commute to Calgary to compete (the ice at the Richmond Oval has been removed), hire a full time coach and get custom made skates & blades.
As a way to support himself, Kevin has started a great blog that follows his journey from the cubicle to the ice. The blog is aptly named: Long Track Long Shot (http://www.longtracklongshot.com).
If you want to support Kevin on his journey he is selling t-shirts to help raise funds to buy his first pair of custom skates. For $25 you can help Kevin and even get the t-shirts delivered by Kevin on his bike! (for those of you living in the Lower Mainland). You can order for the next 48 hours if you want to support his vision.
Here’s a video of him training:
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10 Best Practices in Social Media for Social Causes
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There are dozens of organizations out there that are effectively using social media in the not-for-profit and charity sectors. I have truly just begun to understand and study all of the fantastic case studies and success stories from events like the annual Blogathon to some of the great stuff that organizations like the Redcross have achieved through online funding.
Today’s podcast is not about some of these global examples but a very local one I had the privilege to be part of. In a 24 hour period Anthony Caridi of KasuFunding.com and I along with a very committed social media community here in Vancouver raised over $12,000 for the Make a Wish Foundation. Almost 100% of the donations came from Twitter or FaceBook connections.
Here are 10 things we discovered that worked (some of them we implemented and others we will implement next time):
1) Organize your collateral material early for each stakeholder group
2) Make your content easy to share, cut and paste
3) Integrate the offline with the online and get influencer buy-in early
4) Have multiple platforms for RSVP’ing for events
5) Get donors with big lists and big reach to not just cut a check but use that influence and reach to promote your cause
6) Contact people individually and ask them to do something easy
7) Use a fundraising platform like KasuFunding.com that makes it easy for people to Tweet, share and forward information about the cause.
8) Work close with the Charity
9) If you are a charity leverage your stakeholder groups when social media marketing instead of using internal resources
10) Keep your message really simple.
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Special Thanks to:
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How the World’s #1 Online Building Supply Company uses Social Media
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Today’s podcast is an interview with Rob Jones the Marketing and Social Media Coordinator for BuilDdirect.com. BuildDirect sells more building supplies online than any other company on the planet. Rob and I discuss how they have used social media to augment their online marketing efforts.
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Why Social Media in the C-Suite is Vital
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Why executives must invest in understanding and driving social media use in their organization.
Social media is not just another tool. It can be, but it’s a lot more for those organizations that embrace it. The challenge is it’s also not just about learning a new technology, it’s about changing the way we communicate with customers, stakeholders and staff.
This is a corporate cultural change, it’s also about embracing one of the most powerful word of mouth tools ever invented. There are huge inherent risks and opportunities presented by this. For that reason social media or online engagement initiatives in general have to be driven by the C-suite, the people who can hold others accountable and sponsor change in their organization.
In today’s social media podcast I talk about the following:
- Senior executives and their need for buy-in
- What and who to invest in
- The importance of a corporate social media policy
- How soft steps lead to ROI
- Why most social media marketing fails:
- Lack of a goal
- Poorly defined market
- No listening
- No real launch plan
- Quitting too soon
The bottom-line is that social media is too important to compartmentalize or see as a pet project.What do you think?
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12 Social Media Tips <140 Characters
- Keep giving and contributing more than the competition. Pay back will be huge.
- Every tweet, blog entry, comment and status update will be saved forever and is permanently part of your brand.
- Before permission to market comes permission to connect. There’s a lot of trust building in between.
- Make it easy for people to find you. While you’re out looking for business there is an entire market looking for you.
- “It’s not about B2B or B2C it’s about person to person marketing in social media” – @jeffbooth.
- Use the back links function in Google to see who is linking to your competitors. Reach out to those connectors.
- Go wide with social media then build strong deep networks by going deep with the phone, Skype, webinars or in-person.
- Twitter search and tools like Twellow.com can dampen the noise down from millions on voices to the exact ones you’re targeting.
- Picking a fight publicly stays on record long after the battle is done. Rarely is it worth it.
- Not getting the results you want? Are you asking for help often enough? It’s about community. Reach out.
- Share and give more than you think is practical… then do it again. It will build positive momentum for your brand.
- When partnering with other social media influencers start by making sure your values and principles are aligned.
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.tel Guerrilla Social Media Marketing Weapon #88
Excerpt from Guerrilla Social Media Marketing by Shane Gibson and Jay Conrad Levinson:
.tel: This is a new domain name extension but it’s more than just another domain. Yourname.tel, Yourproduct.tel and yourcompany.tel are vital guerrilla tools. A .tel domain is driven by a proprietary software that integrates a variety of SmartPhone and web based applications. Embedded in the .tel are your contact details and key information. With a click of a button your prospects can immediately download your contact information into their address book or cellular phone. George Moen CEO of Blenz Coffee has a business card with no phone numbers, addresses or e-mail on it. It simply says GeorgeMoen.tel.
What the .tel network is building is worlds biggest phone book that dynamically integrates into websites and applications. Anytime you update your contact details in your .tel dashboard it automatically updates all of the other sites and the Smartphone applications. How many times have you been somewhere and forgot your business cards? Now you can simply tell people to visit yourname.tel, yourproduct.tel or yourcompany.tel, and most people will find that easy to remember and easy to do.
Copyright 2010 Jay Conrad Levinson, Shane Gibson and Entrepreneur Press
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Guerrilla Social Media Marketing Weapon #65 Alltop.com
Alltop.com: Is described by co-founder Guy Kawasaki as “the online version of the magazine rack in your bookstore except that it has 900 subjects and is free.” It organizes news and blog entries by subject, and gives you the five most current pieces from top websites and blogs. You also get a preview of each story.
Guerrillas need to constantly feed their community and connections with value added content. They also need to keep up to date with specific industries and niche markets to remain competitive. Alltop’s always current and up-to-date news and blog feeds are a great source of guerrilla intelligence and content.
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Guerrilla Social Media Marketing Traditional Websites versus Social Sites
In writing Guerrilla Social Media Marketing Jay Levinson and I developed a quick comparison between traditional websites and social sites. Guerrillas know that to build community and consent your website and homebase must be social.
Traditional Websites versus Social Sites
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Traditional Sites |
Social Sites |
| Require technical knowledge to update and add content | Require very little knowledge to update and almost anyone can add content |
| Full of me-focused marketing and are written like a corporate brochure | Written for the customer about things that can help the customer |
| Are unidirectional in their mode of communication | Allow for bidirectional communication between guerrillas and their visitors and also allow visitors to share and communicate with one another |
| Is a marketing island | Are community hubs and push content out to guerrilla outposts and also pull in and aggregate content from those networks |
| Are difficult to keep on the top of search engine rankings because of their static nature | Are easy to keep on the top of search engine rankings because of constantly added content by guerrillas and their visitors |
| Lock up and protect their content, such as videos | Make all of their content easy to share and repurpose |
| Require visitors’ contact details and consent before establishing a relationship or providing any real value-added content | Are full of value-added content, tools and information that benefit their market, and don’t require you to give consent before adding value |
| Require expensive custom plugins or web-based applications and a significant financial investment when upgrading the look and feel | Due to their open source nature, are inexpensive or free to upgrade. This also allows for inexpensive redesigns |
| Typically corporate-supported | Typically community-supported |
| Provides limited channels and access to limited number of people within a company | Provides multiple methods for connecting with your company and provides access to multiple people within your organization |
Copyright 2010 Jay Conrad Levinson Shane Gibson and Entrepreneur Press
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Follow Friday is now People Friday
Enough. With the advent of Twitter there’s the follow Friday or #followfriday or #ff. People post lists of people they endorse or want to thank for their impact on them via Twitter. It may be the trend du jour but I feel for us hyper wired social media and web geeks People Friday is a much greater cause. We spend so much time behind our monitors or squinting at our iPhones and Blackberry’s that we have forgotten the purpose; PEOPLE. Instead of posting on Twitter how much you like someone and why everyone else should follow them online — why not meet them in person or pick up the phone and let them know how much you appreciate their efforts. It’s great to promote and connect with a broad base of people and expand our network. Intimacy and trust however is built by deepening key relationships. When you know each other better, and deep trust is built we can than truly and endorse someone as credible.
So I have my People Friday booked up. I’m visiting with my co-author Stephen Jagger, then meeting with a long time client, and then I will be meeting with George Moen of Blenz Coffee. Most of these conversations and interactions could be handled online via a wiki / chat collaboration BUT there’s huge value to looking someone in the eye and taking the time to let them know how they have impacted you. If at all possible today… get offline in person with someone you have rapport with online and see if you can add depth to that relationship.
Have a great Friday,
Shane
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