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

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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

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What is social media?
 Online tools used to listen and monitor, and share content, profiles,
opinions, insights, experiences and perspectives
 Online tools to facilitate conversations and enable 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’


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The era of social functionality


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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
 Create communities of interest and practice
 Generate awareness and exposure (press releases)


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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


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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


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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


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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.


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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


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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


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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


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Its about dialogue, not monologue

NEW OLD
Conversation Discussion

Transparent Controlled

Inclusive Exclusive

Dynamic ‘On-message’

Vibrant Organized

Customer-driven ‘Marketing’-driven


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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


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Potential barriers to adoption
 Technical

 Financial

 Social

 Cultural

 Business process


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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


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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


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Align your communities

Source: Performant Consulting

Objective: delivery of social experiences

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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


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Web 2.0, E2.0, it’s here…now


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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?


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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.


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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.


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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


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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


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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


A case study
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Social media is opportunistic …


A case study
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… can be immediate …


A case study
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… and makes a difference!


A case study
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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.


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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


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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


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A few suggested resources


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‘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/


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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


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Summary and Conclusions
 Social media is here to stay as a key component of
product and marketing communication strategy

 Start now, no matter how small of an effort; experiment

 Invest smartly in areas that move the needle; measure

 Seek advice from experts


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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?


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A Social Media Framework for B2B Product Managers and Marketers

A Social Media Framework for B2B Product Managers and Marketers

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