We thought we should spend some cyber-ink on several tactics that we’ve found to be surprisingly under-utilized – or improperly used – by B2B marketers:
I. 70% of online marketers are ignoring RSS …at their peril.
Research done just last summer reveals that 70% of B2B technology companies are not using RSS at all; and of the 30% that are, only 10% are using more than one feed in order to offer targeted information updates. This flies in the face of a large-scale MarketingSherpa/KnowledgeStorm survey showing that 71% of technology buyers assign at least some value to their RSS use.
By not offering this option, most B2B tech marketers are missing out on a valuable opportunity to influence a substantial audience.
II. Industry Peer Blogs: powerful leverage on B2B technology buyers.
Industry peer blogs differ from vendor blogs in that… the information and opinions offered are perceived as being independent; in fact, tech purchasers consider these blogs as being similar to peer word-of-mouth. Examples include TechCrunch and Scobleizer, along with such tech niche blogs as Customer Relationship Management, Enterprise Resource Planning, Business Intelligence, and Software-as-a-Service.
A KnowledgeStorm research report found that 53% of B2B technology buyers had already been influenced by blog content at least once when making purchase decisions.
III. The Major Mistake 9 of 10 Marketers Make in Engaging Bloggers.
A great way to use industry peer blogs to influence tech buyers is to submit a public comment on a particularly relevant post for readers of the blog to view. It’s a terrific opportunity to increase credibility with your target audience while driving quality website traffic. However, according to professional blogger Darren Rowse of the ProBlogging blog, many comments are shamelessly self-promoting and irritate both bloggers and readers.
Instead of adding value to the knowledge exchange, such comments only serve to ruin your credibility, brand image, and chances of having bloggers link to your website.
Your Web marketing consultants should be able to help you with implementing RSS, identifying blogs appropriate to your market space, and leveraging industry bloggers.
