Social? Contribute where and what will add value.

A rising number of B2B executives over the past couple of months have said to me 'they feel their organization needs to be actively involved in social networking'. This, followed very closely by their request for advice as to how they can gain an appreciable presence on Twitter, etc.

Aside from discussion surrounding my questions... why? and to what end? My 50k-foot advice is always the same. First determine where your relevant communities are interacting. This requires a decent amount of research. Is it really Twitter? Maybe. Or are we knee jerking? In B2B, the answer is just as likely to be news groups, forums, or other less sexy but potentially more relevant spaces.

Once the space is determined, listen & learn. Another investment. Understand what a valuable contribution sounds, looks, feels, and tastes like. In the introduction to the book 'Built to Last', authors Jim Collins and Jerry Porras write "What is the true price of a book? Not the fifteen- to twenty-five dollar cover price. For a busy person, the cover price pales in comparison to the hours required to read and digest a book." Applying a value rational to our posts, where our intended consumer has no vested interest [they didn't buy it] and can easily click away, our contribution should at minimum be worth the equivalent value of the 'read & digest' professional time. Think about the quality of content we often see. Do we really care that Joe is at the airport waiting for his flight, or Mary is anxiously awaiting Susan's keynote speech? For most of us the resounding answer is NO. We tune out and turn off... quickly. However if Mary posted highlights or nuggets of wisdom from Susan's speech AND it was relevant to us, our business and it's needs, would we positively take note? For most of us the resounding answer is YES.

In short, the concept of community 'share' is not new. Not by a long shot. And yes, there is very little doubt any B2B organization can benefit from some logical, intelligent form of contribution. The challenge is, we are playing with very easy-to-use tools that only require a click of a button to publish [community/social platforms] and an incredibly powerful publishing engine that never forgets [the web]. My advice? Employ the tools well... think twice, get creative, and contribute where and what will add value; for all parties.

Associated reading material: AIIM Industry Watch Report
Collaboration and Enterprise 2.0; Work-meets-play or the future of business?
© 2009 AIIM - Find, Control, and Optimize Your Information

Determining marketing strategy: step one

First we need to understand where we are currently positioned in the minds of our target market[s]. Spend, thus strategy needs to be aligned with positioning. The five stages of consciousness [positioning] we typically focus on acquiring are....

awareness = you exist
interest = sticky trigger that resonates
top of mind = automatically on the ‘to be considered' and/or ‘take the call’ lists
preference = standard by which others are measured
conversion = best resolved ‘what keeps them up at night’

Logically we cannot achieve stage 5 'conversion' unless we have achieved the preceding stages. This excerpted video from a live staging of the classic McGraw-Hill "Man in the Chair" ad at the Business Marketing Association's 2009 national conference does a spectacular job of bringing this point home.



Additionally, the more stages we need to acquire the longer the process. To a certain extent the greater our resources the better empowered we are to speed up acquisition, but we also need to be very cognizant of 'diminishing returns' and 'waste'.

Our marketing strategies are typically segmented into three time sensitive categories; short term results, mid term results, and growth & sustainability. As discussed, the shorter the time frame the fewer stages we can appreciably affect; therefore the more granular our target and subsequent strategies. The following representation of the three categories and the goals I have associated with them is typical of B2B environments where our product/service falls under a high consideration/high investment purchase category. If your offering falls outside of a typical six to twelve month sales cycle adjust the time line accordingly.

short term results
6-12 month time line
acquisition goals: preference thru conversion
reach: targeted prospects
strategy: direct dialogue.

mid term results
13-24 month time line
acquisition goals: interest thru conversion
reach: targeted market[s].
strategy: community dialogue.

growth & sustainability
3-5 year time line
acquisition goals: awareness thru conversion
reach: broad opportunities.
strategy: seed and steward.

Our top down organizational needs will determine the percentage of marketing resources we can apply to each of the three time sensitive categories. If for example our organization is in 'critical care' mode, with an immediate need for revenue infusion, we may be forced to allocate >70% of resources toward short term results, but this is risky. Focusing almost exclusively on the bleed without at minimum stabilizing overall health is not sustainable. The best strategy is to architect a plan that nourishes a healthy state at all stages while continuously monitoring and adjusting for our vitals.