Tag: Business

January 17, 2011

The Frustration of Having to ‘Sell’ Social Media

I’m currently reading “UnMarketing”, the brilliant book written by Scott Stratten (@unmarketing). To condense the focus of the book in to a few short words would be a fools errand. Nevertheless, I’ll try: I’d summarize it as “a combination of a triple-espresso, a cold shower, a smack upside the head, and a motivational speaker for businesses trying to understand Social Media”. What it does, and does well, is help you to realize that Social Media isn’t just a fad or a buzzword, but a fundamental shift in the way companies talk to their communities. It’s no longer a one-way, or even two-way communication between you and your customer. Now, it’s ∞-way communication. Anyone can talk to anyone, and everyone is talking to everyone. This turns the entire advertising world upside down, and means that you can’t talk to your customers in the same language of ‘ad-speak’ that was the default dialect of the marketing world for so very, very long. Too long. It just doesn’t work anymore, and everyone is tired of it.

While there are many out in the world who are fighting it and can’t seem to adapt to this shift, there are also many who have embraced this new method of communication as a welcome change, myself included. Fortunately I also find myself in an environment that consists of individuals who also are looking towards the future, and strive for growth. We’ve recognized that this means in order to be successful, companies need to abandon the old ‘BS’ ways of trying to push themselves and rely on the merits of their product/service itself, as well as the quality of the knowledge contained in their organization in order to pull people towards them. If you sell a good product, and know what you’re talking about, you’ve already got the basis for a successful Social Media presence. If you’re ‘faking it’, you’re already doomed before you begin, BUT if you’re legitimately knowledgeable, have a quality product, and care about your community, then customers will be drawn to you naturally. There’s no need to force yourself on anyone in these new channels. In fact, forcing yourself on your desired audience can (and often will) have the exact opposite result and drive them away. The quality of your content is what will attract people to you.

You might be thinking to yourself “Wow, what a breath of fresh air for businesses!”, and if you are then you can count yourself among those like myself and Stratten. However, you’ll also find yourself intensely frustrated by the need to sell Social Media to those who either don’t understand this shift and can’t adapt to it, or who simply haven’t looked closely enough at it yet to realize what’s really happening. Stratten summarizes this frustration in this one magnificent passage from his book:

“The thing that really gets me riled up about people questioning the ROI of Social Media is: If I offered you a tool 10 years ago that allowed you to listen in and respond to the casual conversations of your potential, current, and past customers, you would have paid me $20,000 a month for this 8th wonder of the world. But now, that it’s here, and it’s free, you question its value?”

Read that several times. Then read it again. Then read it aloud to everyone around you. It’s astounding, isn’t it? And it’s the root of why small-medium businesses, start-ups, and entrepreneurs are proving to be so much more effective at Social Media than large corporations. SMB’s are conditioned to seek out low-cost alternatives to gaining exposure, generating brand awareness, and creating buzz about themselves. They don’t have the resources to invest in the types of million-dollar ad campaigns that big corporations just love to use. But the thing is, because of Social Media, even big companies no longer NEED to spend ridiculous dollars on traditional marketing efforts. They can benefit just as much from Social Media as the SMB’s if they simply wake up and realize what this whole Social Media thing is really all about. Just because it doesn’t cost anything, doesn’t mean it’s worthless. Quite the contrary, in this case. It doesn’t cost anything; but it is priceless.

But we always come back around to the need to justify Social Media efforts. We still need to ‘sell’ people on it. Why? Aren’t the benefits pretty clear? Isn’t the activity there measurable? Doesn’t it give you a clear correlation between investment (time) and return (information/communication/feedback) that you can’t get through ‘traditional’ marketing?

How do you really compare a successful social media activity versus a successful advertising activity? Well, on the one hand, you spend hours of time developing a creative ad, cough up $5000 for space in an issue of a magazine, and then what? How do you measure if it worked? Well, first you wait. Then after a while you try desperately to correlate any increase in sales to the timing of the ad issue, hoping that the increase isn’t due to some other unforeseen factor, and then you say ‘Well, we think it worked’.

On the other hand, you have Social Media. You spend hours writing a blog post, and then what? You see if it was viewed, how much time they spent, did they share it, where did they share it, did the share bring others to your post, did they comment, was it a positive or negative comment, did they include a link to some other material, and on, and on, and on. Seems to me like the ‘return’ you get from Social Media efforts is more measurable than anything that traditional media can offer. Not only that, but it can give you a very clear idea as to what you should do next. Social Media is self-propagating like that. The more you contribute, the greater the amount of new ideas you can obtain for what you should do next.

If you ever need to ‘sell’ Social Media to someone, why don’t you ask them to ‘sell’ you on traditional media first, just to compare who’s got more good things to say. I have the distinct feeling that they’ll run out of words long before you do.

What do you think? Let’s hear your stories about your frustrations and instances where you’ve needed to ‘sell’ Social Media, and how you went about it!

January 14, 2011

Social Media in B2B – Moving beyond just your customers

It’s no secret that most of the conversations happening about Social Media and how it affects businesses speak primarily to the B2C relationship between business-and-customer. However, when you get in to the world of B2B Social Media discussions, there’s one area that I don’t believe has received much attention, and that’s the effects of Social Media on the relationships between a business and it’s suppliers, and how those relationships can impact the customers of that business.

There can be significant ramifications for your company and the relationships you have with your customers as a result of the actions of your suppliers. For example, if one of your suppliers is implicated in some type of scandal or cover-up, how does it look on you that you’ve done business with them? Or if they do something exceptionally good and garner a lot of attention for themselves, how can you as their customer benefit from that as well?

There’s a great deal of give-and-take that goes on between businesses and suppliers already, so exchanging Social Capital should be a natural progression in those relationships. Let’s break it down according to some of the effects that can occur as a result of Social Media cooperation between businesses and suppliers:

1 – Greater reach & community growth

If you’ve got a great relationship with one of your suppliers, why not share that positive relationship with your community? And why not encourage your supplier to do the same? People always like to hear about successful business partnerships, so why not partner even more effectively and share your audiences? Sharing great news about either one of your businesses shows that there’s good stuff happening for your industry, and this positivity can have far-reaching effects for both of your brands. People like to associate with winners, even if it’s a second-tier connection.

2 – Improved damage control in times of crisis

If something goes terribly wrong for either the business or the supplier, you can be there for each other to help smooth things over during tough times. In the event that your facing a problem as a result of a purchased component, or if your supplier is facing a problem with a component they supplied, you can both discuss the issue openly and candidly within your communities, and publicly between the two of you to make sure that “Yes, we are aware, and Yes, we are working together to fix it.” Of course, this is provided that the the ‘damage’ in question isn’t so horrible that it completely poisons the relationship. But for your average, everyday screw-up, having another company vouch for your commitment to make things right can go a long way to improving both of your positions in the short-term and in the long run.

3 – Price becomes less of an issue for everyone

When you’ve got a great relationship with a well-known supplier, and people are aware that whatever you’re buying from them is the ‘best’ component you can get, then a slightly higher cost becomes less of a factor when they make their purchase decision. It’s one more way to differentiate yourself and your products from your competitors. The more unique you are, the less likely you are to be viewed as a commodity, and using quality parts and services from reliable, well-known suppliers is just one more way to accomplish this.

4 – More power at the negotiating table

Looking at those previous effects of utilizing Social Media to boost your relationships with your suppliers, you can easily see how by taking these steps your business becomes even more valuable to your suppliers, and much more difficult for them to let you go to one of their competitors. This can give you an improved position at the negotiating table when it comes time to determine pricing, payment terms, and other factors if you are committed to showcasing the relationship you have with your premium suppliers. By partnering more effectively with your suppliers, you can add value to your offer above and beyond ‘what you’re willing to pay’.

This is really just a short list, and as Social Media becomes more and more ingrained in to the B2B culture, I’m sure that other benefits and effects will come to light that we aren’t currently aware of. Ultimately, what you need to realize is that Social Media doesn’t just relate strictly with your customers. There are many other areas where your efforts in these new communication channels will have an impact, and if done properly will strengthen your business in ways you never could have anticipated.

What other potential impacts do you see that could result from taking a more ‘complete’ approach to Social Media in the B2B world? What about detriments or cautionary items that should be considered? Let’s hear what you’ve got to say!

January 7, 2011

Fully Committed

The business climate we find ourselves in doesn’t allow us to take a cavalier attitude towards Marketing activities. Social Media is no different. Having no presence in any of the Social Media options is just plain dumb, but having a presence that is merely superficial can be just as bad.

We’ve all seen ‘those companies’ on Twitter who tweeted a handful of times in the first few days of creating their account, and then went dead silent for the last year. What happened? Why would they do that? What about the company blogs or Facebook pages that haven’t seen any fresh material in months, or longer? Who’s behind this? Far be it from me to criticize, since I have my moments of extreme procrastination that would make ‘the Dude’ in ‘The Big Lebowski’ seem like a dynamic young go-getter, but how can a company not have anything to say for a YEAR?!?

Let’s start with the obvious: If you’re in business and are currently alive and breathing, then you know about ‘Social Media’. It’s been the biggest buzz phrase since ‘Think Outside The Box’ thoroughly saturated the business world. If you’ve been paying any attention to the world at all, you know that Social Media is big on an epic scale, and businesses are adopting it at an astounding rate. That being said, if you took the time to create an account for your business, create an avatar, write a description, design a fancy background, and post a few snippets of info, then you MUST have done it for a reason. You must have recognized some intrinsic value in doing this, even if it was only a tiny little bit. Yet you stopped? For some reason you stopped doing something that takes no cash out of your pocket, creates a constantly growing footprint for your company, is searchable, shareable, and (if done properly) gives you greater credibility than your competition in your marketplace.

I suppose what ‘could’ have happened was that whoever took the initiative within the company to start using SM either left, was fired, or ordered to stop. But really, what are the odds of that? Probably better than I realize, but still, I don’t think that should be considered a legitimate reason. If you’re reading this, and realize that “Holy crap on a cracker, he’s talking about MY company!!”, then the time to remedy this problem is right now.

The accounts are there, ready and waiting for you, all you need to do is start feeding them some material. However, before you start going in to damage-control mode and posting everything and anything in an incoherent stream of gibberish, take some advice that comes direct from one of the top thinkers in the world of Social Media, Mitch Joel. Joel says in his book, “SIx Pixels of Separation”, that to proceed in to social media without an overarching strategy can hinder your ability to create a thriving community presence.

Start by thinking about what your goals are, what your strengths are, where your knowledge and expertise truly are, and how you can help. That last point is really key, because the entire reason for joining, creating, or participating in any community is to give help and receive help. Formulate your plan for social media based on how you can provide useful material to your community. Then, start contributing, and most importantly, don’t stop. This isn’t to say that you need to post everywhere, everyday, but you do need to be consistent. Start out at a comfortable pace, then pick it up as you gain confidence with what you’re doing. As Mitch Joel also points out in “Six Pixels”, the last thing you want is to have your audience be accustomed to you posting a ton of content at the beginning and then be disappointed as you slow down when your content fuel tanks dry up.

The key is to be fully committed to the fact that this stuff matters. If you’re going to be there, then BE THERE. Take it seriously, realize that it takes time to build your community, and most importantly, realize that you’re doing it for your audience, not for yourself.

September 29, 2010

Trade Shows – A Chance to Experiment

We all hear the same things about B2B trade shows: Trade shows are dying, nobody buys at these things anymore, they’re too expensive, what a hassle, etc. While consumer-oriented shows like E3 and CES are massively popular, and attract both consumers and businesses, many industrial and manufacturing shows are mere shadows of their former selves. Of course there are a few shining stars left that still hold massive sway in their specific markets, but in general attendance is way down, exhibitors are going with smaller exhibits and sending fewer representatives.

All too often B2B trade shows are viewed through a very narrow lens: Lead Generation. This focus tends to completely overshadow any other reason to be at the show, and if attendance is down then leads will be down, therefore the show will be branded as decreasing in value.

This is bad for the organizers of the show, since they’re dealing with smaller revenues from exhibitors and fewer reasons to give attendees to show up, but for the B2B marketer these shows can be the perfect little test site to conduct real-world testing on small, very focused groups of existing or potential customers.

I’m scheduled to attend three very different B2B trade shows in the next month, and for each of them we’re conducting a very specific ‘test’ effort to see what we can get out of these shows aside from just leads.

One of these efforts is centered around our social media programs, and trying to get a better feel for the kind of content that will elicit a conversation among our followers, as well as generating an increased follower base.

Another effort will determine our customers needs for product education, and what types of materials are most desirable for them to educate themselves with.

The third effort will look at what kind of joint-branding activities our customers would be willing to engage in, and how we can best provide mutually desirable results from connecting our brand with theirs.

So, for each show we’ve set a small, achievable goal. 1 – Increase social media activity, 2 – Improve our product education materials, 3 – Determine what methods of cross-branding are appealing to our customers. These goals are each significant on their own, but to get results in all three over the course of a few weeks IN ADDITION to the leads you would have received at the show anyway? Now you’ve dramatically improved the value of those shows for your company without any additional out-of-pocket expense.

Typically, the ROI for trade shows is measured according to the # of leads obtained at the show. While it certainly is an important metric, it is in no way the only tangible benefit to exhibiting at a trade show. You can also measure the amount of competitor info that you have gathered, how many people have liked/followed you in your social media efforts, how much feedback you get on your products, or even the number of media reps you speak with. Anything you do to benefit your business and customers needs to be identified so that you can get a true evaluation on the value of your presence at the show.

Basically, what I’m getting at is to try and not view trade shows through one single lens of ‘hope we get lots of leads’, but rather to look at all the different ‘little experiments’ you can conduct while you’re there. Set forth two or three small, achievable goals for yourself that will provide a tangible result, and you’ll find that your company’s attitude toward trade shows will improve dramatically, along with the beneficial results you’re obtaining in exchange for your cost of exhibiting.

September 16, 2010

Social Media – Electing not to participate?

@MitchJoel‘s latest Blog post discusses those companies who question whether social media is ‘right for their business’. While traditional marketing thoughts might be ‘well, not every channel is right for every business’, one must realize that social media is not traditional marketing. It’s a fluid, ever-changing series of communication channels that are not managed by agencies or corporations. They are managed by their users, and the content available in these channels is maddeningly unpredictable at the best of times, and horrifyingly predictable at the worst of times.

This being said, you can easily see why some companies are apprehensive about participating in such a different method of communication. It’s tough to realize that you need to rely on the general public to make your efforts successful, but once you make that leap of faith, it’s incredibly liberating if not a bit overwhelming.

So, while Mitch points out quite effectively that ‘yes, social media IS for every business’, one thing that is missing from the discussion is that EVENTUALLY your brand is going to appear in social media channels regardless of your action or inaction. Sure, it might not happen tomorrow, next week, or next month, but one day it will and it will be at the discretion of whoever decides to mention you. You’re never going to be able to completely control what people say about you, but you can be at least involved in the conversation and the longer you wait to speak up, the quieter your words will be.

Your decision to start participating now can be one of the most crucial decisions you make for the future of your brand. This is not to say you need to jump in haphazardly just to ‘be there’. You first need to figure out what your brand is all about, because there is no other media where your real story will come out faster than it will in social media. If you try to whitewash your story in to what you ‘want it to be’ rather than what it ‘really is’, you will be sniffed out by the community and labeled a fraud.

The key to participation in social media, as has been repeated countless times by social media gurus, is to be genuine. Be transparent. Hide nothing, and be not afraid to talk about everything. Look in every nook and cranny of your business for the ‘good news’ that you otherwise might pass over. Sometimes the most seemingly insignificant thing can spark an excellent conversation, and net you some extremely valuable insight in to your customers, competitors, and community.

The time to begin is now and the longer you wait, the longer it will take to get your own voice heard.