Falcon's Invoice Discounting: Your Path to Prosperity
B2B Technology Marketing in Social Media
1. Social Media: An Integral Tool for B2B Technology Marketers January 29, 2010 - #SMB2B
2. Today’s Speakers Larry Weber Chairman Digital Influence Group and Racepoint Group @thelarryweber Moderator Panelists Dave Munn CEO ITSMA Pauline Ores Social Engagement Strategist, IBM Corp. Marketing, Communications and Citizenship
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4. About Us Full service digital agency that is social media at its core A global public relations agency that helps clients harness the power of both traditional and social media to build and protect reputation and drive business
6. It’s time to close the social media gap between marketers and buyers – get beyond the pilot phase Buyer 55% use social media to get info and communicate with colleagues during buying process (Source: ITSMA-PAC Survey, 2009) Still relying heavily on traditional marketing methods – social media far down the list (Source: Forrester, April 2009) Marketer
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8. CIO.com Phase 1 Hub CIO/External Promotion IBM Events Promotion LinkedIn Experience Awareness – Thought Leadership Proprietary and Confidential Facebook Experience Twitter Presence
9. Build a Community & Drive Registration to Second Life Launch Event Create fun micro-site to generate buzz & obtain launch event registrations Gain visibility on YouTube Create Facebook group to build community Provide 3D game to demonstrate product features & encourage sharing Measurement & Analysis Fanista Quirky videos showing Cisco’s fun side Organize TelePresence sessions for sales engagement One component for gathering 7,000+ registrations Cisco Router Launch: Lead Generation 1,000+ members 40,000+ users played 1,000+ field reps
12. The Growing Importance of Social Media and Web 2.0 in the Decision Making Process for Technology Solutions Prepared by: David Munn President & CEO ITSMA [email_address]
13. Three-quarters of buyers are using social media in the purchase process—that’s huge! Source: ITSMA and PAC, How Customers Choose Study, 2009 Which of these Web-based tools do you use to gather information and communicate with colleagues during the purchase process? % of Respondents (N=350) None (25%) Which of these Web-based tools do you use to gather information and communicate with colleagues during the purchase process? % of Respondents (N=264) Note: Multiple responses allowed. (75%)
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15. When companies identify a need, they proactively seek out alternative solutions and use web and social media tools more and more I do the research and find the appropriate solution providers (63%) The solution provider contacts me first (37%) Source: ITSMA and PAC, How Customers Choose Study, 2009 Mean % of Time (N=355)
16. Two of the top five sources of information are digital/web 2.0/social media channels Note: Numbers may not add up due to rounding. Source: ITSMA and PAC, How Customers Choose Study, 2009 What are the first three steps you take to identify alternative solutions? % of Respondents (N=355) Total Speak to colleagues for referrals 68 Do an online search including, company websites, whitepapers, podcasts, Webcasts, etc. 39 Speak to your existing solution providers and hardware and software vendors 32 Get advice from consultants 28 Check the blogosphere, social networks, or online chat boards 27 Speak to or check publications of industry analysts such as Gartner, PAC, IDC 23 Speak to or check publications of financial analysts such as Merrill Lynch or Goldman Sachs 19 Read business and trade publications 19 Pay closer attention to advertisements 15 Respond to emails and cold calls from consultants or solution providers 14 Other 1
17. Buyers rank numerous digital/web 2.0/social media channels among the top ten in getting their attention Source: ITSMA and PAC, How Customers Choose Study, 2009 Which types of marketing vehicles do you believe are most effective in getting your attention and encouraging you to learn more about solutions and providers? % of Respondents (N=355) Electronic newsletter from the solution provider Webinar Invitation to a dinner discussion or evening roundtable with peers Invitation to an in person seminar or workshop Case studies describing successful customer solution implementations Speech or presentation at a conference or trade show Solution provider’s blog or online community Search engine hits when doing research or surfing the Web Article in the business or industry trade press Online advertisement Direct mail brochure Phone call or email from a sales representative from the solution provider TV or print advertisement Hospitality programs such as sporting event or golf outings
18. Online communities and microsites are growing in value to executives who participate in provider relationship programs Note: Up to three responses allowed. Source: ITSMA and PAC, How Customers Choose Study, 2009 Of the programs you participate in, which three do you think provide the greatest value to you? % of Respondents (N=355) Executive-level business events (e.g., seminars, meetings) Private briefings Customer advisory councils or boards Social or recreational activities (e.g., golf outings, dinners) Client reference programs Online communities/social networking that the solution provider facilitates Dedicated “microsite” or portal for your company with information about their project work and thought leadership Account-based or one-to-one marketing programs Joint PR/advertising/co-branding One-on-one, executive-to-executive relationships Small, intimate, local peer networking events Other
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21. Top Challenges Marketers Face with Social Media and Web 2.0 Effectiveness Note: Mean rating based on a 5-point scale where 1=not at all a challenge and 5=extremely challenging. Source: ITSMA, B2B Marketing Online Survey: Web 2.0, April 2009 Rate the level of challenge your company faces in using Web 2.0 channels in the following areas: Mean Rating (N~33) Getting the time commitment to participate Keeping our bloggers interested and posting regularly Maintaining the pace/volume of content creation demands Effort required to manage channels Finding the right employees to engage with the channels Getting employees and customers to feel comfortable engaging Measuring results Gaining/keeping customer interest Maintaining a consistent representation of the organization’s brand Communicating in the right voice
23. Consumers Are Becoming Citizens ads agency search SM receptive consumer UGC media client active citizen ads & media
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28. Questions from the Audience Feel free to type in your questions for Larry, Dave and Pauline
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Hinweis der Redaktion
Marketing has always created content. But the traditional marketing content, based on providing product and service information such as features and functions and competitive comparisons is no longer sufficient or even effective. Today marketing content has to provide more sophisticated buyers with added value in the form of insight. Marketing content has to help buyers better understand their business problems, show them the possibilities, suggest alternatives, provide benchmarks, apply new thinking from related areas, and so forth. When you think about it, marketing, to be successful today, has to operate like a publisher. That’s a totally different mindset and requires totally different skills and roles such as an editorial board, you need editors-in-chief, managing editors, and journalists—not just copy writers, but writers who can conduct research, analyze findings, put things together, and create new thinking about a topic. Of course you will also need the marketers who package and disseminate the content—the art directors and production coordinators. Taking a publishing model to marketing can be a much more strategic approach to content development led by an editorial board that starts with the business strategy and translates the business strategy into the marketing strategy. A companywide thought leadership platform, that directly ties back to the business strategy is a powerful way to weave the issues together throughout the company and ensure that the thought leadership will ultimately drive revenue. The idea is to go to market with companywide high level themes and then drill down. At ITSMA, we encourage members to think of thought leadership as a portfolio, including pragmatic, emerging, and inspirational ideas. The content can be both ideas and data. The goal is to create content once and publish it many times via multiple vehicles, on- and offline. Managing marketing as a content creation engine opens all kinds of opportunities for new roles and organization structures. We are already seeing companies introduce new roles such as content owners, with titles such as VP of Content, Community managers, and conversation VPs.