Jason Malone

BMA’s April 8^th luncheon featured top experts speaking on how to integrate social media into b-to-b marketing plans.  The moderator was Gord Hotchkiss, CEO, Enquiro, and a recognized expert and thought leader on digital b-to-b marketing.  The four panelists each gave a short presentation, which was followed by a discussion and Q&;A session.

Mark McMaster, member of Google’s Business and Technology Markets group, consults with b-to-b clients on how to integrate YouTube into their marketing programs. In his presentation, he sought to answer the question, “Is YouTube relevant to b-to-b?” and if so, how to best utilize YouTube.  Some facts that he shared:

• Searching for video has become a core behavior and search on YouTube has surpassed Yahoo search to become the number 2, with Google still being the largest search engine.
• Two-thirds of C-suite executives (CEO, CFO etc) view video for business purposes weekly.
• One fourth of executives say they prefer video over reading text.

A YouTube Strategy should consider the following:

1. Create a destination – Intel and Siemens were used as examples
2. Be discoverable – Use advertising, company websites (FedEx example), etc, to drive people to your YouTube page.  He used the example of GE, whose YouTube campaign got more action than their Superbowl TV commercial.
3. Engage the community – allow for two-way communication.  Example:  3M Post-it note contest – “How do you use Post-it notes?” challenge.

Paul Gillen, a B-to-B columnist and author of The New Influencers and Secrets of Social Media Marketing, who is a frequent speaker and presenter on how to do business marketing on Twitter. His remarks included the following points:

• Why use Twitter for b-to-b? Low barrier to entry, way to alert customers of news, tool for customer service
• “Publish everywhere” – Twitter should be part of a typical multi-platform scenario
• Examples of b-to-b use of Twitter:  Dell Outlet, CME Group, Vistaprint, Guy Kawasaki, Comcast Care, Sodexo Recruiters.
• Build Twitter follower base through events and influential people.

Justin Levy, general manager of New Marketing Labs, Chris Brogan’s consulting firm, and a Facebook expert and the author of the forthcoming book, Facebook Marketing:  Designing Your Next Marketing Campaign. His remarks included the following points:

• There are currently over 400 million Facebook users that spend about 55 minutes per day on Facebook.
• “Facebook Pages” is the business Facebook.   Companies can create pages and advertise events, do polls, interact with visitors.
• Other Facebook features – Facebook Events, Facebook groups – can even run focus groups on Facebook – used Cisco as an example that has used this successfully.
• Facebook Ads – can be used in recruiting.  Can narrowly target prospects.

Steve Patrizi, VP of Marketing Solutions at LinkedIn, a frequent presenter on “How to Put LinkedIn to Work for B-to-B Marketers.” His remarks included the following points:

• Job Pressure + Social Technology = New World of Business
• There are currently 65 million people on LinkedIn, 12.1 million of them are “influencers,” i.e. CEO, Directors.

1. Every Individual is a business – you sell to individuals, not businesses.
2. Everyone is a decision maker – my network can help me make informed decisions.  Social media, e.g. LI, Facebook Twitter, informs decisions.  Learn what’s important to your customers by launching LI groups.  Used HP and Intel’s joint venture, Small Biz Nation as an example – attracted 1400 to their group in first week.  Promote your group through ads.  There are over 500k groups.
3. Your people are now your brand – leverage your best asset, your people.  You can build personal connections with the people you want to sell to.

Other comments in the discussion:

• Technology doesn’t change behavior, it enables behavior.
• Social networking media extends the network.  It doesn’t replace face-to-face communications, it augments it.
• Companies are now creating social networking media policies for their employees, e.g. IBM, Coca Cola.  Social networking media is a plus for transparency, but privacy/confidentiality can be an issue.
• ROI is difficult to quantify at this point.  But, agree to metrics and goals up front.

Suggestions for launching a social networking media strategy:

1. Start with a business problem that you are trying to solve.
2. Try a small project and get a “win.”
3. Use social networking to “listen” first.
4. Integrate social networking media with your CRM process/infrastructure, e.g. salesforce.com.