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B2B Fast-Track to New Media Success by Designated Editor

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It’s true: Most new media successes stem from B2C. And so many B2Bs seem lost. Designated Editor’s Suzanne McDonald offered a fast-track for B2Bs in this presentation, requested by Swissnex Boston and hosted by the Cambridge Innovation Center.

B2Bs & social media: Where we’re at

“Ninety-two percent of prospects almost never book a meeting from a cold call or email. In 2012, rather than make cold calls, sales executives will first seek connections through social media networks, and then increase response rates with warm introductions.” – UNC’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business, reported by Mashable.

Social Media Reality-check

AdAge recently reported:

“Although few CMOs will admit this, social media costs less to execute on a per-impression basis than TV, print, and radio. But the organizational cost – both the number of people needed to execute these programs and the changes to corporate culture – can be significant.”

Stage 1: Get your website together

Key components: WordPress, themes, usability & identifying with your audience

Tools: Keywords (Google Keyword tool) and use them in the right places (titles, meta & content)

Remember: Search is increasingly becoming more about social (Google Alerts)

Stage 2: Blog & email

Key components: Blogs enable you to demonstrate thought-leadership, brand personality; brand all of your experts as experts, not just the CEO

Tools: Editorial Calendars should include trade shows, industry news, client questions, processes; make it multimedia; leverage blog to feed email

Remember: B2B = P2P -> people want to interact with other humans, blogs & social make it possible, changing the way businesses interact forever

Stage 3: Social integration: Optimize profiles & content for you & team

Key components: Reserve brand profiles across platforms, determine which social platforms make sense, based on your audience

Tools: LinkedIn use verify leads, connect, community; Twitter enables fast engagement, use hashtags, SlideShare = decision-makers; YouTube #2 search engine; Wikis, PitchEngine/HARO, Zemanta, Podcasts, Meetup, Facebook, Pinterest, Quora, Google+ (too many to bold)

Remember: You don’t have to be everywhere, so focus on your audiences and where they are

Stage 4: Measure & refine

Key components: Know what’s working & what’s not: Refine & adjust

Tools: Facebook Insights, Bit.ly, Klout, Google Analytics

Remember: You won’t know until you try & each brand is unique (or should be), so there’s no 1 size fits all

Designated Editor is working on “B2B New Media Success Guide” eBook & would love to feature your tips. Please share in the comments & be sure to comment on anything we’ve overlooked.

Many thanks to Swissnex Boston and the Cambridge Innovation Center, looking forward to seeing you again soon!

Here’s to helping B2Bs succeed via new media!

Social media book review on video of ‘Likable’ by Dave Kerpen

In our digital age, with more than a million people logged onto Facebook, Twitter, and many other social media outlets daily, the question arises: Is social media valuable for business?

Dave Kerpen’s book, Likable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistable Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (And Other Social Networks), answers this question.

According to Kerpen, cofounder and CEO of Likeable Media, social media is extremely valuable for business.

In his book, Dave Kerpen looks at social media’s use in businesses: If you create a ‘likeable’ brand on social media platforms, you will be successful in word-of-mouth marketing for your business.

Likeable Social Media by Dave Kerpen available at Amazon

Social media is key to word-of-mouth marketing. It is a powerful tool when making recommendations. Faster than ever before friends can communicate their opinions on a variety of things, from restaurants, to movies, to books, and beyond! In order to establish a successful brand image on social media platforms, businesses must be authentic, engage others, and deliver important content.

Likeable Social Media presents 18 strategies to creating a successful brand. The chapters are broken up into subheadings, and each chapter ends with a call to action. To further drive home the point, lists and charts are presented to make the topic more understandable.

Notable Likeable chapter’s headings

Think and act like your consumer
Be authentic
Be honest and transparent
Don’t sell
Make it easy and compelling for customers to buy

Likable Social Media also dives into Facebook

Understanding business to business vs. business to customer communication on Facebook
Searching Facebook job titles for prospects
Explanation of Facebook’s EdgeRank Algorithm

Likable Social Media, is an informative and succinct read on the importance and impact of social media for businesses. It emphasizes the value of the quick, yet powerful communication outlets that social media mechanisms provide for people. Be authentic, engage your consumer, and deliver value to build your brand’s popularity.

Bottom line is, if your brand and market your business effectively online, you will reaps the benefits! Do you agree?

To hear more of Kerpen’s social media insights, follow him on Twitter

Likable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistable Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (And Other Social Networks

By Dave Kerpen

Published June 7, 2010

Best for: Business owners who want to enhance their brand image and who want their consumers to like them in the digital world.