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How and when to include social media in your B2B company's internet marketing strategy.
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Social Media for B2B Companies
Should you be tweeting, blogging and podcasting to reach more customers?Sarah Sturtevant
President,
Integrated Website Solutions Inc.
Agenda
Internet Marketing Fundamentals Moving from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 Social Media: What, Why & How? Social Media Tools
Isn’t having a basic company website good enough?
Basic B2B “brochure-ware” sites –don’t cut it anymore.
They frustrate good prospects resulting in countless lost sales opportunities for companies.
Reality Check:
92% of all B2B purchases have some portion of that process initiated online with ZERO human intervention.
Source: Outsell (2008)
You need more than a static website if your company wants to stay competitive online.
“66.5% of B2B marketers plan on spending more online, and 66.3% plan on spending more on website development.”
- BtoB Magazine, 2009 Plans & Priorities Survey
“But we already know who our customers are…”
It’s not about who you know … it’s about how well your site sells you.
“50% of industrial buyers have selected one supplier over another primarily based on the capabilities of that supplier’s website”
-- 2008 ThomasNet Buyer-Seller Disconnect Study by Outsell, Inc.
Outbound “Push Marketing” is Inefficient
Traditional “Push Marketing”: You are in control of the message you push out along with how or when it is received by prospects.
But those prospects may not NEED what you sell at that moment.
Some “Pushy” Tactics: direct mail print catalogues cold calling trade shows print magazine ads static brochure-ware sites
It’s 2009 – times have changed!Digital “Pull Marketing”: Your customers are in control.
They search for your products or services online at that exact moment they HAVE a need. If they find your site, they decide how and when to act.
Some “Pull” Tactics: search engine optimization detailed online catalogues interactive websites social media networks
Pull marketing is also know as “inbound marketing”
“If people aren't buying online, they're researching online. And no matter how much they're doing both those things, they would like to do more.
The only thing holding them back is a lack of destinations or a quality user experience on the destinations they do have to choose from.
Your customers are adopting online at an incredibly fast rate.”
-- Gord Hotchkiss is the president of Enquiro, June 2009
Where are your customers? 93.4 % of industrial buyers use the internet to
research buying decisions
Are you spending the majority of your marketing dollars online – where you can brand more
effectively when buyers have a need?
Source, ThomasNet Industrial Marketer
Companies Need An Online Strategy Brand – differentiate your products or services from your
competitors
Drive – funnel more quality prospects to your site
Convert – give them a reason to contact you once they get to your site
Measure – hold your site accountable for generating good quality sales leads and ROI
Adjust – monitor how your site is performing and tweak it continuously to improve
Social Media 101“The social media train has already left the station. Are you on it?”
Web 1.0: company-centric, one-directional communication from a website to its audience. It shouts: “Buy our stuff … we’re the best!”
Web 2.0: customer-centric, interactive information sharing, collaboration and community-building online. It asks: “How can we serve you better? We want to get to know you.”
Social Media Sites Drive Web 2.0.Flickr Photo: ragtops2000
Today, Web 2.0 tools allow ordinary people the chance to go beyond simply consuming information; they can now produce and publish it on multiple channels.
Don’t worry… you don’t need to tackle all these social sites at once!
… but ignoring them doesn’t prevent your customers from talking about your company on these sites.
So doesn’t it make sense to find out what social sites your customers use, listen to them and then join the conversations so you can influence them?
Reasons Why B2B Companies Don’t Participate in Social Media “it’s a passing fad” “only kids are on these social sites” “we don’t have time” “we’re not sure how to get started” “if we do get started, we don’t know how to
maintain our social sites” “it might be a time-waster with no ROI”
How do growing companies market?
1950 - 2000 2000 - 2050
Source: Hubspot @rickburnes
Other companies have successfully used social media to: drive more traffic to their company websites acquire new customers build customer loyalty and retention gain valuable market research for innovation develop a community of virtual “brand
advocates” increase search engine exposure from multiple
social sites maximize the positive public relations “buzz”
for their brands -- one conversation at a time
Don’t Jump in Without a Plan
Before you engage in social media, you need to figure out a strategy which has benchmarks and measurable objectives.
Social Media Sites Are Just Tools
Once you define your objectives,
some tools will be more appropriate than others
… Not Silver Bullets
Here are a few social media sites worth checking out…
Being Social Online: It’s not just a fad for kids anymore More people access social sites than
email (which is now considered “passé”) The fastest growing segment of people
using Facebook are over 35 years old The median age of Twitter users is 31 – it
doesn’t attract “20 somethings” or teens. The median age of a LinkedIn user is 40
LinkedIn A network linking 45 million professionals
2008 – 22% of employers used social networking sites like LinkedIn to research job candidates
2009 - 45% of employers now use social networking sites and another 11% plan to start using social networking sites for screening.
That represents 56 percent of employers - a big majority!
- 2009 Careerbuilder survey
Some LinkedIn Tips
Personal branding pages should highlight professional achievements
Include references and work-related content you publish (i.e. blogs, presentations etc.)
Company branding pages should include a logo, pictures, videos and a link to your company website.
A micro-blogging site that is not just for announcing to the world what you had for lunch
Definition: A “Tweet” is a post on Twitter of 140 characters or less
Goal: Don’t just collect followers, engage with them!
“Tweets from the Chiefs”:Some CEO’s on TwitterRob Howard, Telligent CEO
Twitter helps Telligent with customer feedback (positive and negative),keeping a pulse on the industry, and it's a great way to get some buzz goingquickly.
Source: BusinessWeek
Jeff Booth, BuildDirect President and CEO
“Twitter helps me start relationships.
Many of those relationships that would have never started withoutTwitter have already become meaningful for our business.
I have found that the best way to create relationships is to give toothers. This is the same for Twitter.
I try to engage with users rather than to sell to them. I try to add value.”
Source: BusinessWeek
Facebook Company Page Facebook has over 300 million active users – that’s
almost the population of the US More than 50% of Facebook's members now are over 25
years old; over 55% are women (the new buying power), 51% have an annual income of $75K; with 33% claiming to bring home $100K or more
Facebook has become one of the most trusted companies in America, and people spend three times more time there than on Google!
So, should your company have a Facebook page?
Corporate Blogs: Indium Corp. Case Study 75-year electronics assembler in Clinton,
NY Began with one corporate blog in 2005 Now has 10 blogs on their site written by
15 staff members ROI includes more engaged customers,
increased leads, reduced costs
Since publication in August, this blog has had over 200 views.
RSS- Really Simple Syndication
RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format.
-- Wikipedia
Other Social Media Tools
Bit.ly – url shortener for social media sites Tweet Deck – Twitter client application Google Alerts – online brand monitoring
Some Social Media Do’s and Don’ts Listen - don’t pitch Entertain – make people laugh Educate - Share helpful information Listen some more Ask questions - solicit feedback/market research Link people to your company blog/website for special
offers or more information
Above all, be a transparent and trustworthy community member
For more information:
Sarah Sturtevant, PresidentIntegrated Website Solutions Inc.
Phone: (519) 342-8551Twitter: @sarahsturtevantEmail: [email protected]
