Social media. The new “black”
Tue, Apr 13, 2010
It seems that no matter where you go, people are talking about this new phenomenon called social media, and what it means for businesses.
The conclusion from the circles I have traveled has been “not much”, or “we’re waiting to see”, or downright skepticism that there will be benefits for business-to-business interactions.
This ostrich-in-the-sand mentality is the very reason Recognition’s ‘Introduction to social media for B2B companies’ has been a raging success. Businesses are curious about social media, have a vague feeling they should be doing something about it, but most lack awareness of the opportunities social media brings for B2B companies – even at the most basic levels.
For example, most B2B executives use the business networking tool, LinkedIn, as little more than an online contact book. However, the opportunities for building a dialogue with customers, prospects, employees, future employees, investors and industry leaders are endless. The most obvious options are creating or joining interest groups – and joining in the conversations in those groups, posing “questions” to your network, and soliciting feedback, starting a conversation or merely promoting something about your business through the status update option, which was inspired by the likes of Facebook and Twitter.
In fact, the interactivity that TweetDeck, Tweetie and similar tools provide can allow social networking to become a pivotal element in your marketing plans. Social media will not become the entire marketing tools, as some people seem concerned about. However, the more interactivity you can get by linking all elements, channels and messages, the more powerful the cross-promotional effect will be.
It’s the old chestnut, that you can tell your audience 50 times what you are doing, and it’s only on the 51st iteration that you will see the light bulb go on, and the comments “why didn’t you tell me you did this?”
Want to learn how to use social media tools to enhance your current B2B marketing activities? To register for one of Recognition’s free events in Sydney, or to enquire whether an event will be run in your city, email me on elizabeth_marchant@recognition.com.au
Tags: B2B marketing activities, events, Facebook, free events, LinkedIn, Social Media, Tweetdeck, Tweetie, twitter
Elizabeth
I think you are right on – there is the ‘get it’ group and those who don’t.
I think that David Meerman Scott’s “New Rules of Marketing and PR” should be mandatory reading the latter group.
lj
I agree social media is a constant dialogue, there are so many platforms that will enable you to content curate and the prospects of brands using SM platforms such as Twitter as a custonmer service tool is just another example of SM engagament. I truly believe it works…
As a Hoax Speaker, MC and Creative Thinking Facilitator who works in the B2B space, I’ve been quite active on Twitter (@graemebowman), Facebook and LinkedIn for around a year, and just recently started a blog. I think that, for me, it’s mostly about making contact with a lot of folk who may one day refer me to someone they know, rather than trying to directly reach the decision-makers themselves. Many of the latter are in senior management positions in blue chip companies, and are not that active in social media.