Found this nifty little post over on DMNews, being a collection of the thoughts of four B2B marketers on the uses of social media. You’ll want to click on over and give it a full read; but herewith, a greatly condensed summary…
From: Rob Crumpler, President & CEO, BuzzLogic
Take time to understand social media; know your audience, determine where the most relevant conversations are happening. “Targeting decision makers when they are engaged in content impacts message recall and click-through rates. Campaigns that focus on topics complementary to the business often outperform those that are product or company-specific.”
From: Steve Nielsen, President & CEO, PartnerUp
“One way to make the most of social media is to use it as… a research tool to determine customers’ and prospects’ interests. By following their online discussions … you’ll keep your finger on the pulse of what’s important to your market.” Think of it as instant, virtually free market research. Also, consider creating your own online community: “Enabling your customer base to post recommendations, exchange ideas or share success stories with you can turn customers into advocates.”
From: Ted Kohnen, VP of interactive marketing, Stein Rogan & Partners
“The foundation of a successful social media engagement is content: authoritative, comprehensive, relevant content that is devoid of sales blandishments. Content such as whitepapers, research studies and webcasts are a brand’s most important social engagement agent….” And a caution: given the time social media requires, “it is easy to overwhelm available resources. Start selectively, test and measure success, and expand your efforts as the business impact warrants.”
From: Kathy Rizzo, VP of marketing, TeleNet Marketing Solutions
You can jump-start social media by integrating it with traditional media like telemarketing. Try adding a question or two into your telemarketing dialog “to accurately pinpoint which blogs and social networking sites your prospects find most useful and pertinent to their job.” That can remove one of the biggest reasons for hesitation by many marketers about starting a social media strategy, which is simply figuring out where to start.
