B2B Social Media Marketing: 10 Rules
I recently spoke at the Socialize! Social Business Silicon Valley Meetup run by Mario Herger on the topic: Are there (replicable) rules for using social media for B2B marketing?
Please find the Slideshare deck of my presentation and more details on each rule below:
Slideshare Deck: Are there (replicable) rules for using social media for B2B marketing?
#1: BREAK THE RULES
- As social media provides a new set of (partially untested) tools to marketers, there is still the possibility to try something for the first time and succeed. Follow your own instinct and experiment
#2: IT’S PERSONAL
- No matter what anybody says, business on social media is very personal. More personal than ever, as on LinkedIn or Twitter, people interact 1:1 in real discussions. You’ll need a thick skin to participate.
#3: KNOW YOUR OBJECTIVES and #4: KNOW WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE
- #3 and #4 are inextricably intertwined but getting there requires two separate actions: First, be clear about your goals. Why do you want to do social media marketing? And second, what will success look like? Describe it in quantitative and qualitative terms and figure out how to measure it.
#5: MARKETING IS STILL (Just) MARKETING
- Social media provides us a new set of tools and allows us to get information that was previously hard to come by. But, it’s still only marketing. So, you’ll still need to clearly define your brand and (unique) value proposition before it’s time to go out and promote. And, whatever you do, don’t do it in a silo.
‘#6: EXPECTATIONS ARE HIGH(ER)
- Social media and digital marketing mean pull marketing vs. push marketing. A large percentage of buyers researches your offering online way before they ever talk to one of your sales people. If you can’t be found, you don’t exist.
- And if the user experience you provide is not good (e.g. on your website), it reflects poorly on your brand.
#7: KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
- As always in marketing, the key to the kingdom is closely tied to knowing your audience really really well. What are their needs? What information do they want and when? Where do they go to get their information? Who influences them? Position yourself via outcomes not features.
#8: B2B SOCIAL MEDIA WORKS
- “85% of business decision-‐makers said at least one social media channel is important when making technology purchase decisions”, according to Forrester Research.
#9: FOCUS
- Ruthlessly prioritize your activities. There are so many channels and so many tactics you could apply, and they might all work well – but you probably don’t have the resources. So do your homework and focus on the areas that promise the highest ROI
#10: KNOW “Your Stuff”
- It’s easy to talk a good game, use the buzzwords and pretend to know what you do. Reality is, to succeed, you need in-depth knowledge of the social channels you are focusing on, what strategies work and how to implement the tactics.
By the way, Mario‘s Meetup was fantastic.
- He also had my peer Denise Holt speak and Paul Cowie, partner at our host Sheppard Mullin, provided some great insides on the legal aspects of social media.
If you liked this blog, you can find similar content here.
I was reading a social media book while on a trip this weekend and thought of your SCN posts. Another passenger saw the book I was reading and wanted to buy it to help promote is youth wrestling events 🙂
Your thick skin comment is so true - the key is to read, accept and move on.
Focus - focus is tough. Do you promote on G+ Facebook Twitter Pinterest or Instagram? Still pondering...
I look forward to more of your posts.
And let's keep promoting SlideShare integration idea here too - we need 4 more votes for it to be "under consideration":
Slideshare INtegration with SCN : View Idea
Thanks Tammy:
funny plane story :-).
Yes, thought of your Idea Space idea when making this post. Audrey Stevenson, can you help us with your clout to promote the Slidshare integration idea? 🙂
Best,
Natascha