A Social Media Framework for B2B Product Managers and Marketers

A B2B Social Media Framework: Transforming Practice In The Web 2.0 Era Sponsored by the Product Management Consortium Presented as a webinar on June 30, 2009

2 Today’s agenda Topic: A social media framework for product managers and product marketers in B2B environments Content: Theory, strategy, tactics and evidence Q&A with the experts Host and presenter Dan Sears – Principal, Performant Consulting PMC Advisory Board Member  Email: dan@performantconsulting.com  Twitter: @dansears Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

3 Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

4 What is social media?  Online technologies, tools and practices used to listen, monitor and share content, profiles, opinions, insights, experiences and perspectives  It’s all about facilitating conversations and enabling interaction  A few leading examples:  Blogger (blogging) – 200,000,000 blogs  Twitter (micro-blogging) – 20,000,000 users  Facebook (social networking) – 115,000,000 users  YouTube (video sharing) – 100,000,000+ videos  Flickr (photo sharing) – 25,000,000 users  Wikipedia (reference) – 4,000,000 articles  Del.icio.us (social bookmarking) – 1,500,000 users  Second Life (virtual reality) – 1,500,000 ‘residents’ Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

7 The era of social functionality Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

Social media overload… 8 Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

9 How and where do I start? Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

10 Stay focused Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

11 B2B uses for social media  Listen and monitor the online conversation  Gather product requirements and feedback  Alert customers of new product features, upcoming events  Introduce products to prospects  Develop advocates and industry influencers  Reposition products and brands  Share information during tradeshows or events  Align and connect communities of interest and practice  Generate awareness and exposure (press releases) Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

14 Extend customer engagement levels Ignore Watch React Engage Leverage Drive •Keep an eye •Respond to •Provide •Push stories •Run message •Let anyone on customers negative resources for to influencers and write anything •Track attacks bloggers to and fans comment •Don’t track changes in •Correct get data •Keep boards for metrics customer factual errors images and content customer •Allow comps perception •Stop comps quotes current with groups to post nasty •Monitor from gaining •Identify news and info •Maintain and comments comps in share of voice influencers •Let grow thought- •Don’t identify space •Compare •Create community leadership influencers •Use social competitors active have first look presence media to and analyze competitive at where it understand partners analysis commercials matters most landscape •Utilize a blog strategy and other •Develop & to •Reach out to creative drive industry complement key bloggers blogs that put “traditional” company in PR & Comm positive light efforts © 2009 Spring Creek Group, Content Rights Reserved Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

15 Social Media is a “two-way street” The Social Media Web Listening and Monitoring Tools Team + Technology Working to Understand and Engage Answers Content Publishing and Syndication Tools YOU [“The Savvy Product Marketer”] © 2009 Spring Creek Group, Content Rights Reserved Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

16 Opportunities for unvarnished & timely product research Answers Consumer Forums Product Review Music / Social Networking Digital Image Industry Blogs Sites Podcasting Twitter Sites Communities Help & How-to Forums Professional and Brand Networks Wikis Widgets Aggregators / Crowd-sourced Social Viral Video Sites Content Sites Bookmarking & Blogs Site Sharing SM Listening & Monitoring Tools + Committed PM & Research Teams = Product + Competitor Insights, Help/How-To Issues, and Direct Customer Input into R&D © 2009 Spring Creek Group, Content Rights Reserved Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

17 Let data drive social media programming Time Listening, Monitoring, & Analysis Channel Strategy Customer Engagement & Marketing & Planning Program Execution 2.Activate a “Listening and Monitoring” program focused on SM Web. 4.Use data and analysis to formulate a cogent SM channel strategy *or* provide a new flow of un-biased research info into PM team… 6.Implement community-focused initiatives designed to reach, activate, and engage customers where they “already are” online. © 2009 Spring Creek Group, Content Rights Reserved Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

18 Debunking social media myths  Myth #1 – Social media is cheap or free  You need to pay for the time and expertise to brand, promote, and develop quality content  Myth #2 – Social media gives away ideas and content that you should charge for BUS  Quit thinking your content is proprietary; you must prove your “expert” status  Myth #3 – You can make a big splash quickly  As with all marketing tools, it takes time to build a conversation TED  Myth #4 – Social media is a fad that will fade  It is a fundamental shift in communication – not just new “tools”  Myth #5 – People will find you if your message is good  You must advertise and promote your social media content to drive interest  Myth #6 – The customer controls the relationship  Relationships exist based on mutual benefits; listen, respect and value customer input  Myth #7 – You can't measure social media  Social media shows huge ROI through increased SEO alone Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

20 It’s not only about the tools…  Social media are just tools; ‘a means to an end’  Listening  Monitoring  Promotion / Awareness  Engagement  Interaction  Targeting  Filtering  Measurement Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

21 It’s about communication…  Practice good fundamentals  use ‘voice of the customer’  ask lots of questions and listen  converse ‘with’, not ‘to’  walk the talk  keep it fresh, relevant and interesting  share and provide real value  Give your best customers a stage to talk and share with you and other customers Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

22 Its about dialogue, not monologue NEW OLD Conversation Discussion Transparent Controlled Inclusive Exclusive Dynamic ‘On-message’ Vibrant Organized Customer-driven ‘Marketing’-driven Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

23 And practice, lots of practice…  Good social media is 99% practice, 1% theory  Choreographed trial-and-error efforts  Lots of small experiments  Don’t be afraid to fail; it’s cheaper upfront  Find customer champions, enlist their participation  Make social media part of your daily ‘to-do’ list Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

24 Potential barriers to adoption  Technical  Financial  Social  Cultural  Business process Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

25 Not all customers are created equal  Jacob Nielsen's 1/9/90 rule: “participation inequality”  1% of your population will contribute a lot  9% will engage and comment from time-to-time  90% will primarily observe, browse and not participate In other words…  90% of postings from 1% of users  10% of postings from 9% of users  And no postings from 90% of users  Red flag: unrepresentative sample Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

26 Profile and classify your audience segments  Who are the actors?  Creators – they publish content for themselves or others  Critics – they respond to content from others  Collectors – they organize content for themselves or others  Joiners – they connect to others using social networks  Spectators – they consume content but don’t participate  Inactives – they neither create nor consume content Source: Forrester Research Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

27 Align your communities Source: Performant Consulting Objective: delivery of social experiences Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

28 Map your communities to the market development cycle Source: Performant Consulting  Know your influencers for each phase  Involve your sales channel(s) in the conversation  Use the appropriate SM tool based on the phase Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

29 Web 2.0, E2.0, it’s here…now Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

30 Your brand is key  Even in the B2B space, customers are talking to each other—online, in the hallways, everywhere.  How do you harness and help shape those conversations to grow your brand? Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

31 From Social Media to Social Brand  Use social media as a platform to build a social brand - a brand that cultivates deep relationships which can influence product innovation, product development and product marketing. Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

32 Social branding  Social media can be a useful tool to listen and engage.  A social brand creates Listen live and virtual customer communities where Participate influencers can help and Lead shape conversations, Source products, and the meaning of the brand with others. Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

33 Build and engage  Start with your best customers—those that have the power to influence others  Build a mutually beneficial customer community that gives them a voice and engages them in the process of product development  Provide tools and opportunities for them to engage their networks Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

34 Explore and listen  Use social media tools to listen to broader conversations about your industry  Identify potential new groups or individuals to target, gain insight from and monitor  Participate in conversations whenever appropriate and seed with ideas and content that drive them to your community Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

36 SM measurement framework  Attention. The amount of traffic to your content for a given period of time. Similar to the standard web metrics of site visits and page views.  Participation. The extent to which users engage with your content in a channel: blog comments, FB wall posts, ratings, widget interactions.  Authority. Ala Technorati, the inbound links to your content - like trackbacks and inbound links to a blog post or sites linking to a video.  Influence. The size of the user base subscribed to your content. For blogs, feeds or email subscribers; followers on Twitter; Facebook fans.  Sentiment (Affinity). The ‘x-factor’ or spirit driving user participation. The net result creates a social media engagement score. Brand trust is hard to measure outside of $ sales. Source: Peter Kim Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

A case study 37 Social media is opportunistic … Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

A case study 38 … can be immediate … Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

A case study 39 … and makes a difference! Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

A case study 40 How to get started  My advice: You need a passionate insider.  Blogging and Tweeting are good places to start.  Both are easier than you may think.  Once your blog takes off, you won’t want for content.  Revel in your first-mover advantage. Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

41 A few B2B software examples  Adobe: Blog directory |Tagging: Del.icio.us  Amazon: Amazon Web Services blog  Avaya: Contact Center Insights blog  Blendtec: YouTube (helps sell B2B products to consumers)  BreakingPointLabs: Corporate Blog | Twitter  CapGemini: NetVibes Universe Community (blogs, bookmarking, online video, slide sharing, virtual worlds and wikis)  Cisco: 12 Corp blogs  Dell: Ideastorm (crowdsourcing) | Twitter  EMC2: Employee blogs | Friendfeed | YouTube | Flickr  IBM: 125 Corp blogs | Forums | Twitter | Wikis | Podcasting …and many, many more Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

42 Getting started in 6 steps… 1) Join the popular social media tools and play with them 2) Set-up an RSS feed reader and subscribe to feeds 3) Start blogging; reading and writing 4) Start social bookmarking with your team(s) 5) Start Twittering; follow the experts in your industry 6) Hire a social media specialist Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

43 A few suggested resources Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

44 ‘Thanks’ to our guest presenters  Andy Boyer – Principal, Spring Creek Group  Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/SCG-FB  Twitter: @SpringCreekGrp  Blog: SpringCreekGroup.com/blog  Jen Travis – VP, Online Experience, Parker LePla  Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/PLPFacebook  Twitter: @ParkerLePla  Blog: IntegratedBrand.com  Joe Hage – Director, Marketing Communications, Cardiac Science  Twitter: @cardiacscience  Blog: cardiacscience.com/blog/ Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

45 Upcoming events  Scheduled PMC events:  Aug ? – Using Social Media in B2B: Deep Dive (tell us what you want to learn / discuss)  Oct 10: Product Camp in Seattle –www.pmcnw.org  Other upcoming events:  July 15, 22, 29: Agile PM Teleworkshops – hosted by SDForum & PivotalPM – www.sdforum.org  Sept 30-Oct 1: Product Management Intensive – www.pivotalpm.com Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

46 Summary and Conclusions  Social media is here to stay as a key component of product and marketing communications strategy  Start now, no matter how small of an effort; experiment  Invest smartly in areas that move the needle; measure  Seek advice from experts Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

47 Q&A Sample questions…  What’s the single most important thing to consider when using social media?  What are the best tools to start using at first?  How do I develop a budget and social media plan?  Without results yet, how do I build a business case for my Executive team? Product Management Consortium | www.pmcnw.org 6/30/09

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A Social Media Framework for B2B Product Managers and Marketers

by Dan Sears on Jul 08, 2009

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A Social Media Framework for B2B Product Managers and Marketers — Presentation Transcript