Posts tagged social media
Reality check
Jul 19th
Photo credit: Hannah BakerA few musings on the real world …
I was fooling around with a new Twitter account and it checked my existing 1,000 + contact list for possible matches to “follow.” Very, very few have Twitter accounts. And, among industrial marketers I know — zero. Twitter is growing rapidly but this makes me wonder if it will reach critical mass in corporate America to be a pervasive and useful tool? What do you think?
I have been selling a few things on Craig’s List over the past few months. For my non-U.S. friends, this is a free online application to post belongings for sale to those in your area. I would say 80% of the people who committed to buy my furniture never showed up and never even called to say they changed their mind. I find this incredibly rude. What is going on out there? Is it an impulse buy that they later regret? Are people who use Craig’s List inherently rude? Or, are all people becoming inherently rude?
Last night I had a discussion with a friend who is the marketing manager for a holding company. He has the difficult job of overseeing the commercial efforts for five disparate companies. “I know I should be getting into the social media thing,” he said, “but where do I find the time?” Of course it is a matter of priorities, but what would you do if you were him? After downsizing, he’s already doing a job that was filled by three people just a year ago. Expense of out-sourcing is not an option. The time requirement of social media is a significant issue for small businesses. Who has the time to patiently build an audience, hoping for a pay-off?
Just read an article about a local company starting up an online eCommerce hub where people can trade (instead of purchase) goods and services. Interesting concept. Check it out by clicking here: Tradingo.
How do you keep up with the multitude of supporting apps for platforms like Twitter? Have you noticed how many articles you see like this: “12 iPhone apps for Twitter reviewed.” Clearly it’s impossible for any single person to surf this tsunami of innovation. If anybody approaches you claiming to be a social media “expert,” RUN! What is your strategy for learning about the latest and most impactful technology developments?
Thanks for dropping by!
Looking into the future of B2B online marketing
Jul 17th
Part 2: Essential B2B social media start-up strategies
Part 3: Developing a social media strategy when the rules aren’t clear
Part 4: Social media time shock strategies
Well thank you, that’s very flattering. I may be biased toward the present, but I think the most interesting online marketing development is a trend we’re starting to see among the largest brands and agencies, both B2C and B2B – the re-integration of marketing channels.
We currently live in a world where B2B marketers largely trade off their budget between online marketing channels, or between online and offline channels — an ebb and flow we have seen in other historical contexts. Choices are made based on the individual ROI of each channel, historic or competitive precedent (e.g., “we’ve always run print ads in that publication, so we’ll continue to do so”), or some combination of the two. The strategy/budget discussion largely occurs around which channel performs best, rather than how multiple channels work TOGETHER to deliver results. This occurs because 1) the online channels are developing quickly, making it hard to keep up with changes, even with a staff dedicated to a single channel, and 2) solid cross-channel metrics are so hard to come by for the vast majority of B2B marketers.
This “either-or” approach to marketing channels makes little sense in B2C and even less sense in B2B where most purchases involve multiple decision-makers and longer sales cycles. Think paid search marketing on one of the “big three” general search engines performs vastly better than banner advertising? Research suggests they serve different roles in the buying process: general search engines getting undue credit for being the major online portals from which people navigate just prior to purchase (e.g., 71% of paid search clicks are navigational) and banner ads exposure – simple exposure, not a click – driving a hidden 22% increase in search marketing conversion rate.
Thankfully, online marketing tools and techniques are catching up and enabling the discussion B2B marketers should be having – how different channels work together to deliver results, and what the optimal channel mix should be, based on these interactions and business goals.
This evolution – the re-integration of marketing channels as we remove technology barriers – is critically important for improving overall B2B marketing efficiency and should lead to a number of fascinating, useful insights in the coming years. Change is never easy, but shedding our “either-or” mentality for a more informed, integrated approach is a change worth making.
Social media in numbers too big to ignore
Jul 17th
Social media time shock strategies
Jul 16th
Part 2: Essential B2B social media start-up strategies
Part 3: Developing a social media strategy when the rules aren’t clear
One of the things most people learn is the tremendous amount of time it takes to effectively manage a social media campaign. How are you personally managing the time shock on top of your other traditional marketing duties?
Just like SEO, social media has a reputation as being “free” but both require a significant, ongoing time commitment to deliver a tangible impact on the business. The short answer to your question is that it is possible to manage the social media time commitment through a combination of pre-launch research, clear focus on goals and active project prioritization.
We researched the current state of B2B social media before we launched our blogs and Twitter accounts, and the time commitment issue came through loud and clear – the B2B social media success stories involved dedicated, consistent focus on initiatives over time, and the complaints about social media not working typically involved one shot campaigns which didn’t work as intended or consumed time/resources far beyond their value.
After launching our social media initiative, clear focus on goals and active project prioritization kept the time commitment manageable (with an emphasis on the “manageable” part – there are still times where the team and I have no choice but to power through an unforeseen time sink).
Welcome to {grow}
You’re in marketing for one reason: Grow.
Grow your company, reputation, customers, impact, profits. Grow yourself. This is a community that will help. It will stretch your mind, connect you to fascinating people, and provide some fun along the way. I am so glad you’re here.
-Mark SchaeferFollow Mark
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