If you ask the members of my leadership team – they will tell you I keep talking about how I think we have B2B Marketing backward.

Let me explain …

We focus a lot of energy on the acquisition part of marketing looking for new customers and getting them up the awareness to consideration to purchase cycle. The results being most of the time we get ambivalent buyers into the top of our funnel and we have to work hard to close them in order to prove value to the organization and contribute to growth.

But what if we focused on those buyers who have already purchased from us? Those already predisposed to buying our products and create a level of service and differentiation for them that is commensurate with their buying habits?

I think we owe it to our organizations to really take care of them. If you look at the interview I did with Sean Geehan –  he talked about the typical number of customers in B2C versus B2B and the high concentration we have in B2B that account for the most of the revenues.

My suggestion would be to create a vibrant community with them – one which is both online and offline, one where you can get instant feedback, one where their ideas matter to your research and development groups, one where they co-author thought leadership with you and one that rewards them for their loyalty to your firm.

This is something I am working on for FY11 and will be more than just a social network for our best customers. Stay tuned as I begin to launch this for next year.

Related posts:

1. B2B Marketing: Trust + Community = ROI Trust is not a new thing when it comes to…
2. Getting a customer is not the end goal it’s the middle In a recent speech by Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research…
3. An Interview with Sean Geehan, CEO and Founder Geehan Group I met Sean at a recent ITSMA Marketing Leadership forum….

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Email Beats Social Media For Grabbing Consumers’ Attention
Most consumers prefer to receive email notifications of ads and special deals, despite the current emphasis on social media marketing campaigns, according to an Econsultancy study.

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Social networking has given birth to a genre of portraits
The camera doesn’t love me. It doesn’t quite loathe me, either. Occasionally, it warms up to my crooked nose and zigzag smile. But based on the law of averages, I can safely predict that I’d rather see most shots taken of me disappear into the vast digital universe where they came from.

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Product Description
Social network analysis, which focuses on relationships among social entities, is used widely in the social and behavioral sciences, as well as in economics, marketing, and industrial engineering. Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications reviews and discusses methods for the analysis of social networks with a focus on applications of these methods to many substantive examples. As the first book to provide a comprehensive coverage of the methodology and applications of the field, this study is both a reference book and a textbook.

Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications

I’m back from my family vacation in Canada. While I was away, Convince & Convert featured 11 guest blog posts from friends, clients, and colleagues. Some of the guest writers blog on occasion at their own sites. None of them blog routinely.

You might expect that this blog that has been written almost entirely by me for two years would experience a bit of a lull during this period, as different authors with less blogging experience took over.

You would be entirely wrong.

Instead, traffic here on Convince & Convert is actually UP since I went on vacation. Visits are up. Page views are up. Retweets are up. RSS subscriptions are up.

First of all, tremendous thanks to the incredible team of guest bloggers who did an amazing job keeping the content fresh, and the conversation lively.

Second, this circumstance raises an important question: Are You Growing Your Voices?

Certainly, there is a benefit to creating content on a daily basis. Whether it’s blog posts, video blogs, Powerpoint presentations, podcasts, haiku, or graffiti art, practice makes the production process easier. But, it doesn’t make the ideas any better. Don’t mistake experience for expertise. Those words are often used interchangeably, but they are not the same. The former is based on repetition, the latter on mastery. Blogging every day doesn’t make you a better thinker or consultant, it makes you faster at WordPress formatting.

Spread the Love

It’s easy to fall into the trap of relying on one or a few persons in your organization to be the content creation mules. They like it. They’re pretty good at it. Nobody else is that eager to wear the thorny blogging crown. But remember, every successful content creator starts the same way – with no audience, and a blinking cursor. Chris Brogan started with zero posts and zero readers. Same with Gary Vaynerchuk, who started his uber-popular video blog because he’s not a very good writer. Before Permission Marketing, how much audience did Seth Godin have?

To continue invigorating your content, you have to always be recruiting new voices. They’ll bring a different perspective, tonality, and topical focus to your content initiatives. What I really appreciated about the C&C guest bloggers is that almost across-the-board they wrote about topics that I never would have thought to have tackled. I couldn’t write Katie Van Domelan’s post about social media listening tools. I don’t have the chops to write Mike Corak’s piece on the role of language in content marketing. Josh Lysne contributed a social marketing management process (and companion document) that I’d never seen. Indra Gardiner covered social media law in a way that I cannot. Mike Cassidy made me (and a lot of other people) think differently about the intersection of social media strategy, and business objectives. And so on.

Whether it’s finding other people in your company to contribute an occasional post, recruiting guest bloggers from within your industry, or encouraging your customers to let you interview them for a podcast, make finding and supporting new content creators a mandatory part of your content marketing strategy. It will pay off.

How have you found and incorporated new voices into your content? The comments are yours.

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Social Media is greater than the sum of its parts, but it is these parts that define the socialization of business. Today consumers are interacting with peers, brands, and influencers in social networks at varying levels across more industries than you might possibly believe. The answers of who, what, when, where, how, and to what extent are out there; we just need to spend a moment searching for the insights necessary to galvanize meaningful social media content, branding, and engagement programs.

Instead of creating holistic programs that embrace social consumers through the distinct business channels that affect their decisions and experiences, we rush to networks to create a presence, one that may not fortify or represent the brand as well as we might think.

Hurry! Get a profile on Twitter, set up a brand page on Facebook. Let’s go go go!

While it may seem commonsensical or more importantly logical to create a strategy for social networks based on research, data, and perception, a recent study shed light on some interesting facts.

A May 2010 study by Digital Brand Expressions found that 52% of social marketers are running social media programs without a defined “game plan.” This finding is in line with an April report by R2Integrated that documented one-half of marketers were reacting to social rather than leading it.

Visibility is not the same as presence. In social media, presence is felt.

The Ingredients of Social Media Communications Plans

The Digital Brand Expressions report found that those who are approaching social media with a plan find that needs, concerns, and outcomes outweigh the current scope of activities. The study found that logistics contributed to visibility, but insight was absent from investing in presence. Most notably, resource allocation guidelines, registration of branded usernames in social networks and competitive research were among the top ingredients of a social marketing plan. Other tactical elements include:

71% establish metrics to measure ROI, which is in direct contrast with a previous study by Mzinga that found that over 80% of companies were not measuring ROI.

52% plan for ongoing monitoring

45% develop social media protocols and policies

39% create and distribute guidelines for professional and personal social media use

At the bottom of the list, we see that only 29% of businesses are introducing protocols and policies for the usage of social media by specific departments. As this is the socialization of business, multiple divisions will embrace social media at any one moment, from sales to service to HR to sales and marketing and everything in between. Social media indeed reveals the true 360-degree opportunity. The social consumer is many things to brands now and over time. And, to expect one representative or facet of business to track and engage with influential individuals in active and expansive networks is narrowing.

The question as to who owns social media is universal. Ownership begins within the team where social media championship is concentrated. As experience matures, social media extends and in many cases, “socializes” each sector. At the moment however, a land grab is in full effect with marketing taking the lead as the area responsible for the creation and management of social media plans. In fact 71% of respondents stated such with communications representing 29% , the executive team accounting for 16% and sales and IT tied with 10%.

The Last Mile Begins with the First Mile

In a recent post, I discussed the concept of The Last Mile and how social media would force businesses to adapt current practices to open-up traditional top-down methodologies by expanding engagement and interactive communications and feedback loops.

As previously stated, “Everything begins with a shift in perspective from viewing stakeholders as a separate entity, ‘us vs. them,’ to a singular view of ‘us ‘ as this enlivens a new era of community-focused marketing and engagement.”

The need for a new approach is inspired by the disconnect that exists not only between brands and social consumers, but also between the brand, management, and brand representatives in these emerging channels.

The socialization of business is forged in the last mile, but it is the first mile where strategy, planning, and the internal evolution of management and processes that inspires relevance and ultimately resonance.

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Engage! was written to help you find answers to your questions and the questions you didn’t yet know to ask…

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Get Putting the Public Back in Public Relations and The Conversation Prism:

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Lead Image Source: ShutterStock

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We’ve talked in the past about helping vs. selling, and that the former approach takes you a lot further in the realm of social media and word of mouth marketing.

When I discuss this concept with companies, however, too often I hear something in the realm of “we don’t know what to provide our customers that would be helpful.”

Because helpfulness hasn’t historically been looked at as a marketing objective (tons of great stuff about this umbrella concept in Scott Stratten’s forthcoming new book UnMarketing – buy it), identifying areas where help could be provided isn’t in the DNA of most companies – yet.

Diagnosing your potential helpfulness doesn’t have to have the complexity of drilling a relief well, learning the triangle offense, or even Mahjong. You just have to put on your customer glasses for a while and think through all the questions, confusions, and frustrations they may have at each stage.

Taxi Mike is Here to Help

During my recent vacation in Canada, I stumbled upon a fantastic example of marketing via helpfulness, from Taxi Mike in Banff, Alberta. Mike drives a cab for Banff Taxi Taxi, and to stand out from the rest of the drivers, he produces an online and offline guide to the local hotspots. Taxi Mike’s Dining Guide is a simple, 8.5×11, tri-fold rack brochure, printed on bright yellow paper, and available for free just about everywhere in town.

In his guide, Mike tells you the best BBQ places, clubs, happy hours, patios, places for kids, and other insider info. Wisely, he also includes a map of the downtown area on the front. The portable size and map make it perfectly logical to bring Mike’s Dining Guide with you when out on the town in Banff. And then, when you’re blurry-eyed at 12:30am, you pull out the guide again and PRESTO! there is Mike’s phone number in big, bold letters.

Total cost of this incredibly helpful marketing effort is very low, and Mike even offsets that by including ads from sponsors! Mike you are a helpful marketing genius.

It’s a Bird. It’s a Plane. It’s Coffee

In another example of Canadian excellence in creating marketing success through helpfulness, a Starbucks in Richmond, B.C. (near the Vancouver airport) wisely has placed a logo on top of their location. Four high-rise hotels surround Starbucks like castle ramparts, each filled with caffeine-crazed travelers. At least 50% of all hotel rooms (hundreds) have windows that look out directly on the Starbucks roof logo. Sure, it’s clever outdoor advertising, but given that “where am I going to get coffee tomorrow?” is a critical question on par with “does this room have bed bugs?” for most business travelers, it’s also incredibly helpful. Bravo.

You can be helpful, too. You just first have to find your customers’ pain points. Here are some tips to help you uncover the transactional or informational rough edges that you can smooth using the sandpaper of good, relevant content:

1. Ask your customer service team. These front lines warriors are the people most in touch with the concerns and questions of your customers and prospects. Have them document EVERY question they receive. When you find a pattern, create content to address it. This is the strategy of creating a Social FAQ.
2. Ask your customers directly. Website surveys, email surveys, Facebook inquiries, focus groups, telephone calls to 25 customers each month. In addition to learning more about what questions and problems your customers may have with you, you’ll accrue a lot of goodwill just by asking.
3. Internal search reports. If you have a search engine on your website, look at a report that shows what people type into that box. Those are usually the questions that not only are top-of-mind among website visitors, but are not satisfactorily answered with your current online content.
4. Observe. You know how much you learn about your customers sitting in your office? Nothing. Make it a habit within your organization to “shop” yourself. Buy your own product. Call your own customer service department. Try to return something to your own company. Better yet, start a secret shopper program and augment your own observations with those of friends, family members, and customers willing to fill out a short shopper report.
5. Compare. In addition to routinely shopping yourself, shop your competitors, too. The way they handle questions, friction, and sticking points can serve as inspiration or a warning to your efforts. Make sure you’re not just shopping who you think your competitors are, but also who Google says your competitors are, based on search engine results.

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View full post on Digital, Buzz, viral & social media marketing agency ★★★ Vanksen|Culture-buzz

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Last week I was on a panel at the Australasian Media & Broadcasting Congress where we were discussing the future of advertising. One of the questions I was asked was whether I thought 3D TV was the future of television advertising. My response was an emphatic NO.

Masterchef winner Adam Liaw

Nonetheless we did discuss many concepts that probably going to be a big part of television and advertising going forward and it seems to me that Masterchef has them in spades.

1. A good storyline will always be successful, even if its not alone in guaranteeing success. Masterchef cleverly builds towards a climax like most reality TV shows but really allows us to follow the growth of the contestants over the series. We get to know them and see them improve.

2. Its informational and entertaining. While infotainment is hardly a new concept, wrapping infotainment into reality TV seems to work very well, which leads to….

3. Its a marketers wet dream. Product placement, sponsorship, advertising, merchandise and other product spin-offs….Masterchef generates marketing opportunities and revenue at so many levels rather than just relying on the 30 second advertising sales. Traditional media outlets have been slow to move beyond the 30 second TVC and realise that multiple revenue models are now possible and required. Masterchef does it well. The key is to respect the audience and not take it too far.

4. Its the perfect fit for a big spending industry. Masterchef is such an amazing fit for the big food retailers that they’ll pay a premium to be involved.

5. Its event-TV. This is important in the TiVo, IQ era. When a program generates that magic “water-cooler” talk and has a fast-moving storyline like Masterchef does then its not the sort of program you’ll stockpile to watch later. This is good for ratings buzz and great for advertisers. It overcomes the problem networks now have with quality foreign content that is easy to download before it goes to air here.

6. It has a good web presence to support it. The Masterchef website supports the program admirably. It has full episodes to watch, blogs, behind the scenes video for the die-hards, recipes, forums and interactive elements. The producers successfully integrated Twitter and Facebook into the mix and kept the online buzz high throughout the series.

7. Finally its one of those rare examples of network TV not cynically taking viewers for granted. When it first launched in Australia Masterchef was a breathe of fresh air. A new idea (originally done overseas but not as well) with a positive, feel-good spin. It wasn’t expected to be this successful, but it was allowed to build and audience. Sure Nine and Seven will now run cooking shows like crazy to cash-in on the Masterchef success but what they really should be doing is developing other fresh ideas rather than sucking the life out of somebody else’s with me-too programming.

Masterchef was a ratings powerhouse all season long. In a period of fragmented media audiences the final became the 3rd most-watched program in the last decade with over 4 million viewers. Meanwhile, cynical programming suffers.

With Masterchef, Channel TEN and Fremantle Media have created the perfect storm for modern television and advertising. In a year that saw Hey Hey Its Saturday return to Nine and Seven struggle for anything fresh, this is the future of television.

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As professionals working in the corporate world, we often think of having a corner office in our company. Yeah, corner offices are for super stars, executives and for people who contributed so much. It actually tells people what you are.

Are you in those groups of people? But did you know that the web too has its corner office? Same thing, you need to earn it. Interested?

Like the corporate world, getting the corner office takes time. People need to see the value you are giving to the company for you to enjoy that perk. The same goes with the social web wherein trust and value are your heaviest currency.

What Elements Should You Focus Into?

Design – Admit it, if the website you’re visiting has a lousy design, you close the tab or just go to another website. Yes? I’ve seen a couple of articles that talks primarily about blog designs and how it reflects the owner. Some goes down to the details of what color to choose just to maintain consistency.

Writing Style – If you noticed, veteran bloggers have their own writing style. Some developed their own and some chose to follow other writer’s style. But don’t stick with just one.

Content – Famous bloggers and content creators take hours in crafting content. You don’t just think of something and write a blog post about it. I’ve seen too much content out there that are so below par but still gets posted for the sake of having something to post.

Distribution – Compelling content is useless if it’s not shareable. Make sure you integrated the latest social plugins to make your content shareable and can be easily submitted to social bookmarking sites.

Engagement – My principle in the web is that I focus more on engagement and less on the fancy and colorful stuff. But that’s just me. The 4 items above will be totally useless if there’s no engagement happening.

Revenue Model – Making money from blogs is not a bad thing. How you execute your model will determine how your readers will perceive you. Make your pages cluttered with flashy, colorful and moving banners and let’s see if you get that corner office.

For starters, these elements will help you focus with content and engagement. Once you’ve established a solid foundation with these principles, the rest will be easier to understand.

Let’s heard what’s in your mind. Care to share what elements you’re focusing into? I’m handing down the mic to you.

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Dear DMIC members,

We are in the final testing phase of our new social media site for digital marketers. I would welcome you, this community to come and take a look at this SNS and offer us some suggestions and feedback on this new site.

The purpose for this new socially orientated community is to provide a place for us in digital marketing to develop more meaningful connections with others and develop a culture of sharing best practices and even some war stories.

I thank you for spending a few minutes to drop in and take a look. Again, this site is in Beta and your time to take a look is appreciated.

You can visit: http://www.dmic.asia

Thanks
Matt McDougall
DMIC Group Moderator

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