The document discusses the importance of social media in business-to-business marketing, emphasizing user-centric principles and low-cost technologies that facilitate community building. It outlines various tools like blogs, LinkedIn, and Twitter, demonstrating their effectiveness in engaging audiences and generating leads through case studies. Additionally, it highlights best practices for leveraging these platforms to enhance branding and marketing efforts.

1. Social Media & Business to Business Marketing Presented by: Sandor Kiss April 14, 2009 TeamThink Inc. [email_address] (E) www.teamthink.ca (W) 403.809.3488 (M)

2. I hope I can trigger one idea that helps you get better results using social media. Overview of Social Media Examining the Social Media Toolbox Blogs LinkedIn Twitter Case Study Closing Thoughts

3. Social Media Overview What is it Really? Using the Web the way it was meant to be used.

4. Social media is characterized by user/ customer centric principles. Make it easy for users to interact. Limit the information requirements to begin the relationship. Give away for free, or a whole lot less (Hulu, Epinions).

5. Democracy reigns. Amateurs can beat the pros. Wikipedia Anyone can create content. Blogs The audience decides what matters. Digg Cambrian House

6. Once you remove constraints NETWORKS form …

7. … in fact crazy amount of NETWORKS.

8. Low cost technology accelerates the formation of networks. Go to Vivalogo.com and you can see a list of the top 40 Free downloadable social networking software No developers on your team – try Small World Labs. $30,000 will get you a social networking site.

9. The social media equation = Community. User Centered Principles + Democratic Underpinnings + Networks + Enabling Technology = Community

10. The web used to be “restrictive”. Enabling Technology User Centered Principles Democratic Underpinnings Social Networks Skill Required Barriers Censorship/Editing Not Pervasive

11. Anyone can now create an online presence that forms into a true community. Enabling Technology User Centered Principles Democratic Underpinnings Social Networks Less Skill Required Must Have The Crowd is In Control Pervasive

12. Social media cannot be ignored by marketers. “ Nearly 3 out of 4 adults currently participate on the social web compared to 57% in 2007.”

13. Social media should not be confused with social networks. Social media relies on information created by people using popular, low cost technologies Often referred to as user generated content (UGC) Popular tools include: Wiki’s Podcasts Blogs Video & photo sharing Tag Sharing Social networks

14. Today’s Social Media Toolkit Discussion Blogs LinkedIn Twitter

15. “The blog is the Swiss Army knife of social media.” Demonstrate thought leadership using text, video, audio, images, presentations Blogs can be the focal point of your marketing activity Twitter Email RSS Facebook LinkedIn Blog

16. If you think blogs are passé think again. They are not even mainstream. Hurdles Conservatism Companies cutting costs Unsure how to measure ROI

17. Blogs may not seem that sexy– but they carry a lot of weight. Credible among business and IT professionals Can improve natural search results Generate insights for corporations Creates communities of interest – buyers more willing to listen to peers than sales reps Shortens sales cycles & generates leads 57% of business and IT professionals rated blogs equally or more credible that vendor white papers, news outlets, industry associations and analyst reports. 32% of 273 decision makers said that blogs were 1 of 3 top resources to support decisions.

18. Best Practices: Creating a “Reader Centric” experience. Demonstrate thought leadership & offer relevant content Create a sustained conversation Blogs should not read like white papers, press releases or resemble a sales pitch Add search capability to your blog Include an email sign up Provide easy access to contact information

19. Case Study: Network Appliance Industry: Data Storage Competition: HP, EMC Challenge: Seeking non-traditional methods for PR Solution : C-Level Blog Sought strong communicator & respected technologist (EVP) Visitors could not publish to blog but could email the executive Presented thought leadership & “controversy” Marketing gave executive 5 blogs as homework to prepare Didn’t promote blog Results 4600 visitors during first month of blog launch 19,000 visitors in Month 2 Typical monthly visits: 17,000 to 19,000/month

20. Social networks cannot be ignored by marketers. “ 35% of adult Americans now use a social network such as LinkedIn or Facebook.”

22. LinkedIn is not an overnight phenomenon. 2004 840,000 members. 10,000 are venture capitalists. Bay Area is the densest concentration of users, with 120,000 members there. 2009 38 million members in 200 countries New member is joining every second Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are members

23. Most sources point out that success on LinkedIn stems from creating effective groups. Groups provide a top permission based prospect gathering service Seed discussions with quality content on topics that matter Talk to analysts Scan customer/prospect discussions How to seed the groups with members Encourage employees, alumni, partners and even customers to join a group Provide time for employee to spend on the tool Coach your employees to answer questions and offer input Every event is an opportunity to create a new group

24. Shameless self promotion doesn’t go over well anywhere except at this function.

26. Twitter is an “overnight” phenomenon. Launched in March 2006. January 2008: 500,000 unique visitors December 2008: 4.43 million unique visitors (An increase of 752% compared to the previous year)

27. Many large brands are failing at using Twitter to their benefit. Twitter squatters are camped on their domain No clear strategy on how to add value Too personal or not personal enough It feels a little “freaky” when a brand starts following you Cannot demonstrate ROI or cannot agree on how to measure ROI No one cares about the brand No due diligence to determine if their customers use Twitter

28. Case Study: Dell Computers Approach Set up multiple Twitter addresses Identified an individual who is Dell’s “face” for social media Pace communications: @DellOutlet about 2 tweets/week Tweet during peak business hours Not driven by building followers and volume of content published Low key approach – build 1 to 1 relationships with consumers and bloggers Results 50,000 followers Attributed $1 million in sales to Twitter Intercept online conversations/ comments that are/can be detrimental to brand

29. Putting it all together. “ Think about integrating social media campaigns into your marketing mix – not just experimenting with tactics in a one-off manner.”

30. Social Media Case Study: Breaking Point Industry: IT (Networking Equipment) Start Up Company Challenge: Limited Budget Target market skeptical of marketing Niche market of hard to find professionals 6 Point Solution : Created a blog to start conversations and steer traffic towards Created a Twitter account Created a LinkedIn group Modified press release strategy to obtain blogger coverage Promote social media channels on web site Measured growth of social media accounts and traffic

31. The company’s social media strategy showed a correlation between the use of social media and the company’s web traffic and leads. Campaign Results 10,230 unique blog page views in months 4-6 280 Twitter followers 141 members in their LinkedIn Group 155% increase in unique web site visitors Seminars Email Trade Shows Web 4% 1.5% 17% 20.5% 4% 23% 75% 55% Pipeline Influencer Leads by Source

32. Breaking Point used a targeted approach to starting conversations. #1: Created a blog to start and join conversations. Set up a blog to attract an audience Used tools to scan the web to locate conversations relevant to their industry Tweetscan Google Alerts Boardtracker.com If a relevant conversation was located, team members weighed in

33. Breaking Point sought to add value with their tweets. #2: Created a Twitter account. Posted notices of new blogs, webinars, polls, trivia and informal group questions Used Tweetscan to locate professionals looking for advice on equipment testing Retweeted interesting information their audience would find useful

34. Breaking Point quickly found that LinkedIn provided a better vehicle than Facebook to reach its audience. #3: Created a LinkedIn group. Established a group related to network test equipment and security – not the company products or services Group members led conversations and added value by: Providing vendor advice Reviews/suggestions for industry events Feedback on testing approaches/programs Ongoing moderation and contributions

35. Breaking Point was more strategic with online press release efforts. #4: Modified press release strategy to obtain blogger coverage. Increased frequency of releases to 1x/week Shortened releases and included many links to specific portions of the web site Changed release time from 8AM to early afternoon to target West Coast bloggers Plugged releases using Twitter, LinkedIn group and PitchEngine

36. Simple tactics were used to increase connection to the brand. #5: Promote social media on web site and email. Email signatures included links to Twitter, blog and LinkedIn group News section included “Join Us” links to set up Twitter feed and join the LinkedIn group

37. Breaking Point measured results to assess effectiveness. #6: Measure growth of social media accounts and web traffic. Social Media Channel Growth Blog page views Twitter followers LinkedIn group members Compared marketing metrics Unique site visitors Leads Leads by source Marketing influenced pipeline activity

38. Closing Thoughts I Have a Marketing Department Get buy in to develop a campaign Identify core blogging team Make a commitment Integrate social media into your marketing arsenal I Am the Marketing Department You cannot do it all Share you knowledge: Consider contributing versus creating Focus on Using LinkedIn as your primary social network tool