Social media

The Deﬁni)ve Guide to B2B Social Media
A Marketo Workbook

www.marketo.com

Contents

Why Should I Read The Deﬁni)ve Guide to B2B Social Media?  03 Social Networks   23
Facebook  23
Part One LinkedIn   25
What is Social Media and Why Does My Business Need It?   04 Online Video   27
Presenta4on and Document Sharing   28
Why Social Media for B2B?  05 Widgets   29
Choosing Your Social Media Iden4ty  06 Bookmarking   30
Social Sharing  07 Photo Sharing  31
Social Valida4on  08 Podcas4ng  32
Adver4sing in Social Media  09 Social CRM   33
Inbound Marke4ng  10 CHECKLIST – PiOalls to Avoid in Social Media Marke4ng   34

Part Two Part Four 
Laying the Founda)on  11 Incorpora)ng Social Media at Every Stage of the Revenue Cycle   35

CHECKLIST – Is Your Company Ready for Social Media?  12 Developing Early Stage Leads Before They Enter Your Database (“Seed Nurturing”)   36
ACTION ITEMS – Developing a B2B Social Media Plan and Social Media Policy   13 Building Rela4onships with Known Prospects (“Lead Nurturing”)   37
WORKSHEET – Your B2B Social Media Plan   14 Suppor4ng the Sales Cycle (“Opportunity Nurturing”)   39
Social Media Policy   16 Deepening Rela4onships with Exis4ng Customers (“Customer Nurturing”)   40

Part Three Part Five 
B2B Social Media Tac)cs and Metrics   17 The ROI of Social Media   41

Social Media Tac4cs for Every B2B Marketer  18 The Challenges of Measuring Social Media   43
Blog  19 Focusing on the Business ROI   44
Commen4ng   20 Conclusion   45
Microblogging   21
Contact and Acknowledgements  46 

© 2010 Marketo, Inc. All rights reserved. 02

Why Should I Read The Defini)ve Guide to B2B Social Media?

Why this is important

Social media is here to stay. This guide shows you how to use social media 
to drive new business and revenue. Whether 
And, while consumer marketers may have  you’re just star4ng out or have a well‐defined 
taken the lead in harnessing its power, B2B  social media plan, this guide is your go‐to 
companies can no longer afford to ignore it. handbook. 

As discussed in The Defini)ve Guide to Lead  It’s an introduc4on to social media, a best 
Nurturing, B2B buyers are spending a lot more  prac4ce survey and a collec4on of concrete 
4me on the web doing independent research,  examples and success stories – plus some 
ge_ng informa4on from their peers and ex‐ killer checklists and tac4cal 4ps on every type 
perimen4ng with forums and microblogging.  of social media opportunity out there. 

Like it or not, social media plays a huge role in  We hope you find it useful and share with us 
the new B2B decision‐making process. As   your own experiences and best prac4ces so 
a B2B marketer, you need to learn to leverage  we can include them in future edi4ons.
it – for building rela4onships, listening to the 
market and influencing buyers before they’re  Let’s get social!
even iden4fied as poten4al leads.


Part One

What is Social Media and Why Does My Business Need It?


Part One 

The Defini)on of Social Media 
Social media is the produc4on, consump4on and exchange of 
informa4on through online social interac4ons and plaOorms.

Why Social Media for B2B?
Some Context Because prospects are more likely to 
Before Google, the primary way a prospect  click‐through to third‐party reviews or blog  Social Media’s Impact on Purchasing Behavior
could get informa4on about a company was  pos4ngs to get word‐of‐mouth recommenda‐ Types of Online Sources Visited for Company, Brand  
by engaging directly with a sales person.  4ons, search engines rank these sites higher  or Product Informa4on
Marke4ng focused on brand building  (which in turn makes social content more 
and awareness, using mass adver4sing,  accessible). If these social media leads do find 
tradeshows, PR and print media. Direct mail  their way to your company website, they will 
and cold calling made up the majority of  typically contact your company only when 
targeted interac4ons, and marketers passed  they’re ready to engage with sales. In this 
all new leads – hot or cold – to the sales team  way, social media leads present a unique lead 
for follow‐up.  nurturing challenge, and a huge opportunity 
at the same 4me.
With the arrival of Google in 1998, B2B 
companies started to focus on search engine  What does this mean for B2B companies? 
op4miza4on (SEO), pay‐per‐click (PPC)  As online ac4vity shifs to social media, 
adver4sing and e‐mail marke4ng to drive  marketers keen to build brand, buzz, and 
traffic to their website; then created content  awareness – and generate leads – are 
such as whitepapers and webinars to convert  realloca4ng investment in social media, search 
traffic into leads. The best marketers realized  engine op4miza4on, and content marke4ng 
that their leads were ofen sent too early to  instead of mass adver4sing and tradi4onal PR. 
sales, and invested in lead scoring and lead  At the same 4me, lead nurturing is evolving 
nurturing to find the hot leads and develop  to include early rela4onship building with 
the rest. prospects. It starts by sharing relevant 
informa4on across a variety of social media 
Today, marke4ng through SEO, PPC and e‐mail  channels before they ever give you their  This graph indicates that buyers look for informa)on from 
are s4ll very much a part of the marke4ng  names. These changes are already having  social media sites more than corporate websites.
mix, but social media sites such as Twimer,  a posi4ve impact on lead genera4on, but 
LinkedIn, YouTube and SlideShare drive a  measurement of ROI remains a major 
large por4on of the B2B interac4ons on the  challenge.
web. According to Forrester Research¹, 77% of 
B2B technology decision‐makers are ac4ve in  h Laura Ramos, Forrester Research, in the February 20, 2009, 
social media. “The Social Technographics® Of Business Buyers” report.


Part One 

Fundamental Concepts of Social Media Marke)ng

Choosing Your Social Media Iden)ty the industry or their par4cular field, and are  Specialist search engines can fill this gap. 
Before you engage in social media, it’s  usually less promo4onal.  BackType.com is one example.
important to decide what your social   
media iden4ty will be and how you want to  Social Media Monitoring (a.k.a. “Listening”) Alerts – view search engine results more 
represent your brand.  One of the first things you’ll want to do is  efficiently by se_ng up alerts around 
listen to the social media conversa4ons that  keywords. For example, establish a Google 
If you plan to join the conversa4on using a  relate to your brand to see what others are  Alert for your company name. You may get 
company name or brand name (as opposed to  saying about you. Here are a few of the most  some irrelevant results but it’s an easy and 
personal accounts) you’ll need to reserve your  popular methods:  effec4ve way to keep up to date with what 
names on the social sites you want to use. If  people are saying about you at no cost.
someone has already reserved the name you  TwiSer Search – search for your brand or   
want to use, you may be able to get it back  other important keywords; limited to the last  Social Media Monitoring SoVware – a more 
(some sites side with legi4mate trademark  7 to 10 days–older tweets are lost unless you  sophis4cated approach that lets you:
owners over ‘squamers’); but it might be  bookmark them or find them using a search 
simpler to choose another name.  engine.  •  Automate searches
•    onitor high volume keyword men4ons 
M
To see if your preferred user or company  Facebook Search – search all public content  across many social media channels
name is available across many sites, use a  including everything posted in public fan  •    un reports on the men4ons of your brand, 
R
free tool like Namechk (hmp://namechk. pages, groups and events. Privacy se_ngs on  compe4tors and top keywords
com) and User Name Check (hmp://www. personal pages may restrict what you can see. 
usernamecheck.com). Social media monitoring tools, such as Visible 
LinkedIn Search – the “Answers” sec4on is the  Technologies or Radian6, are available as a 
A company account using a company name  best place to start; see if people have asked  sofware‐as‐a‐service model at a monthly or 
tends to be used for the purpose of sharing  ques4ons about your company, compe4tors  annual fee.
corporate informa4on, new features and  and industry, and how people responded.   
func4onality, press releases and customer  Social media monitoring will also help you 
case studies. These corporate accounts  Search Engines – many, like Google, capture  decide where to get started when beginning 
are typically for interac4ng with late‐stage  social media interac4ons, so you can find  your social media efforts. Start engaging 
prospects, partners and customers.  a specific tweet or blog comment, but can  on sites where your company is men4oned 
be hard to use due to sheer volume of  the most, or where you can find the largest 
Personal accounts by staff members are  results. Search engines may not display blog  number of customers.
generally used to share informa4on about  comments (at the blog owner’s request). 


Part One 

You can translate what you hear into ac4on.  How to Customize Social Sharing According to 
If you capture social media conversa4ons in  The challenge with social sharing, especially for content in e‐mails 
DemandGen Report:
your CRM system, you can respond to them or  and on landing pages, is customizing the message that is going to be 
shared. This means sharing more than a URL by adding the content 
On average, nurtured leads
pass them to sales. This is called “Social CRM”  4tle or promo4on into the message as well. Fortunately, custom links 
produce a 20 percent increase 
and is discussed in further detail in the “B2B  that share your content in social media are easy to create. This can be 
in sales opportuni4es versus 
Social Media Tac4cs and Metrics” sec4on. done in e‐mail or landing pages for many social media sites including 
nonnurtured leads.
  LinkedIn, Twimer, Facebook and more. 
 
Social Sharing Simply replace (xURLx) with the actual URL and (xTitlex) with the actual 
Social media also makes it easy for others to  4tle for these popular sites. 
share your content. 
Share on TwiSer 
Link code: 
A simple way to make your website and blog  hmp://Twimer.com/home?status=(xTitlex and xURLx)
social media‐friendly is to use a plug‐in, such  Example:
as ShareThis or AddThis. These sites add a  hmp://Twimer.com/home?status=Marketo Leader in Marke4ng 
small bar or picture to a blog post or web  Automa4on‐ hmp://www.marketo.com
page that allows content to be distributed to  Share on Facebook
hundreds of sites. Link code:
hmp://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=(xURIx)&t=(xTITLEx)
Tips for Sharing and Socializing Content Example: 
hmp://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=hmp://www.marketo.
•  Make sharing op4ons visible and personal com&t=Marketo%20Leader%20in%20Marke4ng%20Automa4on 
•  Allow e‐mails to be viewed as web pages
•  Frame web pages with a social bar Share on LinkedIn 
•  Enable forward to a friend Link code:
hmp://www.linkedin.com/shareAr4cle?mini=true&url={xURLx}&4tle={x
•  Stream relevant tweets on the home page This image shows the range of sharing op)ons  TITLEx}&summary={xSummaryx}&source={xSourcex} 
•  Pull in latest news and posts to key pages
  available at the click of a buDon. Example:
hmp://www.linkedin.com/shareAr4cle?mini=true&url=hmp://www.
marketo.com&4tle=Marketo%20Leader%20in%20Marke4ng%20
Automa4on&source=Marketo

Share on Del.icio.us
Link code: 
hmp://del.icio.us/post?url=(xURIx);4tle=(xTITLEx)
Example:
hmp://del.icio.us/post?url=hmp://www.Marketo.com;4tle=Marketo%20
Leader%20in%20Marke4ng%20Automa4on 


Part One 

The Defini)on of Social Valida)on 
Social valida4on, or social proofing, is a psychological phenomenon 
that occurs in ambiguous situa4ons when people do not have 
enough informa4on to make opinions independently, and instead 
look for external clues like popularity, trust, etc. 

Social networks play an influen4al role when  value in what you’re offering. The stronger 
it comes to mi4ga4ng the feeling of risk that  your reputa4on becomes, the more likely 
overcomes B2B buyers when trying to solve a  other users will start to think likewise. 
problem or purchase a solu4on. A huge part 
of this is from the social valida4on or social  Widget feeds of external comments and 
proofing inherent to many social media sites.  reviews
For example, sites that focus on bookmarking,  You can also use widgets on your web pages 
ranking, vo4ng, and commen4ng all  to present con4nuously updated content 
incorporate social valida4on when users give  from external sources such as Twimer. This 
their opinions through comments or ra4ngs. lets viewers see both posi4ve and nega4ve 
comments – all in the spirit of openness that 
B2B companies can use social valida4on to  characterizes social media.
help increase their credibility and allay their 
prospects’ fears. By opening your website up  In this example, Marke4ngProfs, a popular 
to the ra4ngs, reviews (and some4mes rants)  resource for marketers, displays tweets 
of social media, you’re telling your prospects  about an upcoming conference on the home 
that you value transparency, are open to  page of the conference website – unsolicited 
feedback, and can be trusted as a vendor.  tes4monials are a great source of social 
Here are two popular ways to do this: valida4on. 
 
RSS feeds of your own content How Marketo Uses Social Valida)on 
RSS (“Really Simple Syndica4on”) feeds  One way that Marketo incorporates social 
offer subscribers content that’s updated  proofing is by marking tweets about our 
automa4cally. You can use RSS feeds to share  marke4ng automa4on product as a “favorite” 
press stories, blog posts, case studies and  on Twimer, and providing a link on the 
tes4monials, or Twimer account tweets via a  company website to these “favorites.” By 
widget on a web or landing page. If you use  doing so, prospects can quickly and easily see 
RSS feeds to direct amen4on to the valuable  what people on Twimer are saying about our 
content on your web or landing page, users  product. 
will trust your company more as they find  Example of Social Valida)on.


Part One 

Adver)sing in Social Media
There are two ways to adver4se on social media sites:

‘Organic’ Adver)sing – such as status updates  A key difference between social media 
that praise your product, fan pages, etc.  adver4sing and PPC adver4sing is the 
The trick is to use this kind of promo4on  targe4ng power of social media. A social 
judiciously and transparently.  network can use informa4on gathered from 
members to display your ad to a specific target 
Paid Adver)sing – similar to PPC adver4sing  market based on demographics, behavior, or a 
but highly targeted because the social  combina4on of both. 
network can use demographics, behavior or 
a combina4on of both to display your ad to  With millions of unique visits taking place on 
specific users. With the sheer volume of social  social media sites every day, adver4sers know 
media visits, it’s a poten4ally very amrac4ve  there are interested eyes ready to look at their 
audience. messages. It’s a growth area of adver4sing 
that currently shows no signs of slowing 
The concept is simple: be where your  down.
audience is.

Many social media sites, such as LinkedIn 
and Facebook, offer members the ability 
to use paid adver4sing to promote their 
business. These programs are very similar 
to pay‐per‐click adver4sing where a text or 
banner ad promotes your company. You pay 
for impressions or click throughs generated by 
your ad.


Part One 

The Defini)on of Inbound Marke)ng
A marke4ng approach that focuses on ge_ng found by prospects 
through channels such as search engine op4miza4on, social media 
sites and word‐of‐mouth recommenda4ons. 

Inbound marke4ng is when prospects seek 
out your company rather than the other 
way around. Take a look at the graph, 
which represents the raw lead‐to‐oppor‐
tunity conversion rates that Marketo has 
experienced.
 
Of course, the real value lies in the number 
of leads that convert into real, qualified 
opportuni4es. This graph clearly shows 
that leads generated from word‐of‐mouth  KEY
and other inbound leads result in far more  Inbound
opportuni4es than tradi4onal “demand 
genera4on” channels. The beauty of the  Tradi4onal
inbound lead lies in its inherent higher level 
of interest, because the lead sought out your 
company. 
“Your prospect…cares about his boss or the story you’re telling or 
Social media offers a great way to generate 
these valuable inbound leads because it 
the risk or the hassle of making a change. He cares about who you 
addresses the prospect’s percep4on of  know and what other people will think when he tells them what 
risk. Social media provides the buyer with  he’s done afer he buys from you. 
informa4on that supports a decision outside 
of the tradi4onal sales or marke4ng context. 
Done properly, social media marke4ng can be  The opportunity, then, is not to insist that your customers get more 
one of your most effec4ve sources of inbound  ra4onal, but instead to embrace just how irra4onal they are. Give 
leads.
them what they need.” 
– Seth Godin, The Ra4onal Marketer (and the Irra4onal Customer), 2009


Part Two

Laying the Founda4on


Part Two 

Social media holds tremendous opportuni4es for B2B companies looking  
to drive new business and increase revenue, but only if you first develop a 
solid founda4on and an understanding of what makes the world of social 
media 4ck.

CHECKLIST – Is Your Company Ready for Social Media?
Don’t jump into social media just because everyone else is doing it. Here’s a checklist designed to help you 
determine if your organiza4on is ready and, if so, how to make your efforts successful.

    y company has clear goals for social media. Be as specific as you can (e.g. increase lead conversion 
M
rates, increase the number of qualified leads, build awareness measured by online traffic, decrease 
the 4me needed to resolve customer service issues, etc.) and keep these objec4ves in mind for every 
ini4a4ve you execute.

    e have the human resources to commit to social media. Before you start a corporate blog or 
W
Twimer account, ask yourself if you can allocate the resources needed. Social media is about real‐4me 
response and con4nuously updated informa4on—both of which require commitment and dedica4on. 

  We produce enough quality content to sustain social media conversa)ons. Content feeds the social 
 
media beast. Audit your exis4ng marke4ng assets and iden4fy the educa4onal pieces—these perform 
much bemer in social media than tradi4onal sales collateral.

  We know which social media sites are popular with our prospects and customers. Do your research 
 
and focus your energy and investments where your audiences are. 

    ur company website is prepared for social media aSen)on. Before you set up mul4ple social media 
O
profiles and pages, make sure your own website is in good enough shape to handle the amen4on (i.e. 
you’re proud of the way it looks and works). And be sure you have a plan in place to market to the 
leads generated.

    e’re ready to incorporate social media strategies throughout the buying process. Social media 
W
is not just for the top of the demand genera4on funnel. It’s important to monitor and track your 
prospects and customers throughout the revenue cycle. 


Part Two 

ACTION ITEMS – Developing a B2B Social  WORKSHEET – Your B2B Social Media Plan Our Example: 
Media Plan and Social Media Policy Developing a social media plan is similar to  Name  John Smith
Although it’s temp4ng to dive right into the  developing any other strategy. While there is 
various social media sites out there, you need  no standard approach, the basic components  Age  31
to develop a social media plan first. Goals and  can be addressed by answering these simple  Title  Director of IT
metrics will help ensure that the 4me and  ques4ons: 
Industry  Commercial Real Estate
resources your organiza4on invests in social 
media are well spent. Because social media  •    HO – Who are you targe4ng with social 
W Buyer Role  Influencer
is pervasive and easy to par4cipate in, it’s  media? Preferred communica4on method ‐ Personal  E‐mail, Facebook, Twimer
important to have guidelines that structure  •    OW – How can you deploy social media 
H
your efforts and prevent any scenarios  tac4cs for measurable success? Preferred communica4on method ‐ Professional  E‐mail, SMS
that might have a nega4ve impact on your  •    HAT – What goals or objec4ves do you 
W Preferred social media sites – Personal  Facebook, Twimer, Digg
company. want to accomplish?
Time spent on social media – Personal  1 hour per day
Who are you targe)ng with social media? Preferred social media sites – Professional  LinkedIn, SlideShare
This should be the easiest ques4on to 
Time spent on social media ‐ Professional  2 hours per day
answer. Who are you targe4ng? Prospects? 
Customers? Media? All of the above? Once 
you’ve decided on the targets, flesh out 
the defining characteris4cs of each group.  Your Turn: 
If you’ve already read The Defini)ve Guide  Name 
to Lead Nurturing, you know about the 
Age 
importance of developing buyer personas: a 
fic4onal character who represents a target  Title 
group. Start by lis4ng the characteris4cs you  Industry 
would have for a typical buyer persona, but 
add a social media dimension to it.  Buyer Role 
Preferred communica4on method ‐ Personal 
Preferred communica4on method ‐ Professional 
Preferred social media sites – Personal 
Time spent on social media – Personal 
Preferred social media sites – Professional 
Time spent on social media ‐ Professional 

Adding a social media dimension to buyer personas


Part Two 

How can you deploy social media tac)cs for measurable success?
In the next sec4on of this guide, “Social Media Tac4cs and Metrics,” we’ll address a number of different 
tac4cs that you can employ to achieve the business results you’re seeking through social media. Select a few 
that you think will have the most impact on your organiza4on and start with those. 

Our Example: Your Turn:
Social Media Tac4cs and Key Metrics for ABC Company

Social Media Tac4c Key Metrics Social Media Tac4c Key Metrics

Blogging •  Number of posts
•  Audience growth ‐ unique and returns
•    umber of conversions (e.g. prospect to lead, lead to 
N
opportunity, etc.)
•    onversion rate (depends on your specific conversion 
C
goals)
•  Subscribers
•  Inbound links
•  Technora4, Alltop, and other directory lis4ngs
•  SEO improvements

Social networks •  Number of posts
•  Referrals from social networks
•  Reach friends from social networks
•  Velocity at which friends are built
•  Influence of friends from social networks
•  N
  umber of conversions (e.g. prospect to lead, lead to 
opportunity, etc.)
•    onversion rate (depends on your specific conversion 
C
goals)


Part Two 

What do you want to accomplish and what are your dis)nct ac)on items for each  As with any new strategy, try 
goal? and test a variety of social media 
tac4cs to see which has the most 
Social media requires 4me, eﬀort and resources. Take the tac4cs you’ve just  signiﬁcant impact on your goals. 
decided on and associate clear goals, objec4ves and ac4on items for each one.  For more informa4on on standard 
social media tac4cs, objec4ves and 
metrics, go to: hmp://www.marketo.
com/B2B‐Social‐Media‐Plan‐Tem‐
plate.pdf

Our Example: Your Turn:

Social Media Tac4c:   Blogging Social Media Tac4c:  

Time Invested:   2 hours daily Time Invested:  

Short‐term objec4ve #1:   Increase brand awareness Short‐term objec4ve #1:   
  •   Create blog publica4on schedule
  •   Add RSS bumon
  •   Promote thought leadership through blog pos4ngs 
 
on industry best prac4ces

Short‐term objec4ve #2:   Increase engagement Short‐term objec4ve #2:   
  •   Respond to comments within 24 hours
  •   Add links to blog on website and in e‐newslemer
  •   Invite relevant guest bloggers and market to their 
 
networks


Part Two 

Social Media Policy Set up a basic set of ground rules. 
The social media landscape can feel  Consider some basic tenets that you’d like 
unstructured. That’s why it pays to have  your company to follow when it comes to 
a social media policy to guide the ac4ons  par4cipa4on. Intel has a great example of this 
of everyone in your organiza4on that will  in its social media policy under a sec4on called 
par4cipate in social media. It’s also essen4al  “Rules of Engagement”.
to monitor what’s being said and provide 
guidelines on how to respond appropriately  Address how employees, contractors 
(without making your employees feel like  and consultants should engage with and 
they’re being censored).  contribute to social media. 
Decide how your organiza4on will want to 
A formalized document will help protect your  engage as a social media par4cipant and 
company in a legal sense, while ensuring that  contributor. Will your company’s social media 
you’re ac4ng consistently across all social  conversa4ons come from a single person or 
media sites, and reinforcing your brand and  will everyone in your company par4cipate? 
value in the marketplace (a bit like a corporate  Will social media be used as a customer 
style guide). Here are some sugges4ons: service func4on, marke4ng tool or for 
product marke4ng research? Be as explicit as 
Define what social media means for your  possible, and consider all the possible ways 
company.  that people could go wrong, without being 
When people think of social media, some  overly drama4c. Remember, your policy is 
think strictly in terms of Facebook and  an opportunity to get your company excited 
LinkedIn, while others would automa4cally  about contribu4ng to social media sites.  A great example of a social media policy (“Intel Social 
add Digg and Flickr to the mix. Use your  Media Guidelines” at: 
social media policy to define what the term  Stress the importance of confiden)ality.  hDp://www.intel.com/sites/sitewide/en_US/
means for your en4re organiza4on so there’s  Encourage your company’s contributors to  social‐media.htm)
no confusion as to when the social media  remember the importance of confiden4al 
guidelines apply and when they don’t. informa4on, and to manage their social media 
contribu4ons just as they would conversa4ons 
taking place in public. 


Part Three

B2B Social Media Tac4cs and Metrics


Part Three 

Social Media Tac)cs for Every B2B Marketer
Here’s a quick review of the major social 
media applica4ons and how you can use them 
to achieve your goals. The types of social 
media tools we’ll cover include:

•  Blogging 
•  Microblogging
•  Commen4ng
•  Social networks
•  Online video
•  Presenta4on and document sharing
•  Widgets
•  Bookmarking
•  Photo sharing
•  Podcas4ng
•  Social CRM

For a few of these social media tools, we’ll 
provide you with 101‐level introduc4ons to 
best prac4ce techniques. Master each tac4c 
ﬁrst before moving on to new approaches. 


Part Three 

Blogs Blogging – Key Metrics
Blogs play a key role in educa4ng prospects for 
•   Number of posts
lead genera4on and nurturing. •     udience growth—unique and repeat 
A
visits
Many of your most qualified leads—whether  •     umber of conversions (e.g. prospect to 
N
you’ve iden4fied them or not—are readers  lead, lead to opportunity, etc.)
•     onversion rate (depending on specific 
C
of your blog. This is reason enough to update  conversion goals)
your blog ofen to keep readers coming back  •   Subscribers
for more. Your blog can be one of the most  •   Inbound links
powerful marke4ng assets – if you s4ck to the  •     echnora4, Alltop and other directory 
T
lis4ngs
topics your prospects and customers will find 
•   SEO improvements
most compelling and avoid the hard sell. 
Blogs act as a source of valuable content and 
thought leadership with a “human” face.  A search for “b2b marke)ng” demonstrates how blog 
The content on your corporate website  pos)ngs oUen yield the highest rankings in organic 
focuses primarily on your company, the  search results.
value of your products and services, and how 
poten4al customers can get in touch with you. 
This is all very useful and necessary, but a blog  “Now visited by over 67 percent of the global 
adds a human touch, especially when a blog  online popula4on…social networks and blogs… 
has several contributors. It also lets you focus 
on your prospect’s agenda instead of yours. have become the fourth most popular online 
category – ahead of personal e‐mail.” 
Blogs boost your organic search engine by  – Global Faces and Networked Places, The Nielsen Company, March 
adding pages to your site and encouraging  2009
inbound links.

Blogs give you a greater chance of showing up 
in the right search engine results. It also gives 
other sites a reason to link to you, increasing  Blogs offer the perfect opportunity to “humanize” the 
the number of inbound links and boos4ng  web through different voices and perspec)ves (and photo 
your search engine rankings. thumbnails can further enhance the experience).


Part Three 

Commen)ng Commen4ng – Key Metrics
You can benefit from commen4ng whether 
•  Number of comments
you’re the blogger, the commenter on  •   ncreased number of conversions from 
I
someone else’s blog or a par4cipant in an  commenters (e.g. new leads)
online forum—here’s how:  •   ncreased traffic from searchable 
I
comments
As a blogger, write interes4ng blog posts that 
engage readers and encourage comments. 
Start a two‐way conversa4on by offering 
engaging commentary that is insighOul and 
s4mulates dialogue—then openly ask for 
comments. 

As a reader, only comment when you have 
something valuable to say. There’s nothing 
worse than a person who only comments with 
self‐promo4on in mind. 

When someone comments on something  Be as engaged as your readers are with the 
you’ve said, return the favor. Everyone wants  conversa)on that you started —respond to their 
to know that they’re being heard—so reply to  commentary and con)nue the dialogue.
them with something more engaging than just 
‘thank you for commen4ng’. You might get a 
debate going.


Part Three 

Microblogging Twimer 101  
Microblogging is ultra‐brief blogging,  to follow on sites like Wefollow.com or  Just released! New Defini)ve Guide 
140 characters or so. The most famous  Crea)ng Your Account Twibes.com. to Lead Nurturing – check it out 
microblogging plaOorm is Twimer, but it’s not  •    hen you first create your account, 
W •   f using a corporate account, make 
I before your compe)tors do hSp://bit.
the only one.  make a complete profile, with a  sure to follow back everyone that is  ly/15xXZL
picture, links to your company site or  following you. You don’t want to upset 
Foursquare, another microblogging tool,  blog, customized background, and a  prospects, customers or partners by 
encourages users to microblog about their  descrip4on of what you’ll be twee4ng  not following them! 
loca4ons and the places they’re visi4ng  about. Accounts that don’t include this  •    ead the tweets of those you follow 
R The links in these sample tweets 
or ac4vi4es they’re doing in specific  informa4on appear “spammy.”  and search for tweets on keywords  were shortened for Twimer using URL 
neighborhoods. Unlike Twimer, Foursquare    relevant to your product or service.  shorteners like Tiny URL or Bit.ly (they’re 
u4lizes the spirit of compe44on among its  TwiSer Following Twimer client applica4ons such as  built into Twimer tools like Tweet Deck 
users to encourage them to earn points and  •    ecoming someone’s follower on 
B TweetDeck and Twhirl are useful for  and Twhirl).
promote customer loyalty for businesses. Twimer accomplishes three goals: organizing your Twimer feeds and  •    esearch has shown that asking for a 
R
1.   ou iden4fy Twimer accounts that 
Y managing mul4ple microblogging  retweet actually increases its chance 
Google Buzz is a new form of microblogging  will be relevant and interes4ng to  accounts. to be retweeted. Just don’t do it with 
and social networking integrated into the  you, your organiza4on and your  every tweet—save it for those that are 
Google e‐mail plaOorm. The status updates,  industry.  Interac)ng with Prospects and Followers  most important or relevant.
sharing op4ons and geo‐tagging for your  2.   ou let people know that you’re 
Y on TwiSer •    he symbol # on Twimer is known 
T
mobile phone bring together elements found  on Twimer, and encourage them to  •    o engage your followers, tweet a few 
T as a hashtag. These tags are used to 
on Facebook, Twimer and even Foursquare. follow you back. 4mes a day. Focus on relevant content,  affiliate a tweet with a certain topic 
You follow people in Twimer fashion and, once  3. You associate yourself with a     not what you had for breakfast.  and can be useful for tracking social 
connected you can send informa4on direct to    specific group of industry experts  media campaigns and connec4ng with 
your friends’ inboxes.    and thought leaders, and Here are some sample generic tweets  customers. 
  demonstrate your interest in the  (no4ce they tend to include links!): •    void the tempta4on to use tools 
A
  space. that send automa4c direct messages. 
These types of messages are ofen 
•    ind people to follow by impor4ng 
F construed as spam and may cause 
your contact databases using tools  The new guide on lead nurturing  people to “unfollow” you. If you 
that Twimer provides. Then, broaden  answered all our customers’ ques)ons!  use them, make sure they provide 
this ac4on by following those that  A whole checklist covered in one paper‐  value and don’t just say: “Thanks for 
your followers are following, where  Yes! hSp://bit.ly/15xXZL following me.”
relevant. Be sure to follow people that  •    eep tweets below 140 characters. It 
K
your compe4tors are following. makes retwee4ng easier to do.
•    o a search for experts in the field 
D •    se Twimer lists to find, group 
U
who are twee4ng. You can find people   together, and follow like‐minded 
  users. 


Part Three 

Here’s why microblogging can be good for  Among other online ini4a4ves, IBM took these  Microblogging – Key Metrics
business: steps to leverage social media:
•    umber of friends/followers
N
Microblogging gives people real‐4me insight  •    nd‐order followers (follower’s follower count)
2
into your business in a diges4ble way. •  Set up an IMPACT group on LinkedIn and 
  •    elocity ‐ average of first‐ and second‐order followers amracted per 
V
You present 4mely informa4on without  encouraged users to invite others from  day since the account was established
making people visit your website or conduct a  their personal networks to join.  •    ocial Capital ‐ influence of Twimer followers
S
•    entraliza4on ‐ how much influence (reach) is invested in a small 
C
search.  •  Tweeted about the event and offered 
  number of followers
contests to win one‐on‐one sessions with  •    ages ranking on key terms from microblogging sites
P
Microblogging automa4cally supports  SOA experts. 
permission marke4ng. •  Developed a Facebook page that offered 
 
informa4on, video and calls to follow 
In the case of Twimer, followers choose which  conference feed on Twimer. 
tweets to follow. This makes the plaOorm  •  Established a “Friends of IMPACT” YouTube 
  Successful TwiSer Marke)ng Tac)cs Used by B2B and B2C 
a great form of opt‐in, inbound marke4ng,  channel and invited partners and customers  Marketers Worldwide, September 2009 (% of respondents)
so it’s worthwhile trea4ng Twimer as a lead  to produce and upload their own videos 
nurturing plaOorm. Afer all, you never know  explaining how IBM SOA solu4ons had    B2B  B2C
when your followers will convert into leads.  helped businesses, and why people should  Monitor Twimer for PR problems in real 4me  40.7  46.9
amend the event. Created an in‐person event using only Twimer invites  37.4  36.0
Social Media Success Story:
Contac4ng Twimer users twee4ng nega4vely 
IBM Uses Social Media Sites to Boost Event  Courtesy of “Event Amendance: IBM Gets  about the branD  36.7  44.0
ASendance and Lead Conversions Social,” Get to the Point e‐newslemer, 
In a Marke4ngProfs case study, IBM discussed  Marke4ngProfs, February 2010. Driving traffic by linking to marke4ng webpages  35.7  35.2
its success with using social media to increase  Provoca4ve text to drive link clicks  34.8  40.6
lead conversions and event amendance  Invite Twimer users with posi4ve brand tweets to do…  34.0  33.9
despite the downturn. According to  Increased Twimer following using tradi4onal 
Marke4ngProfs: media men4on  30.7  30.4
Timing tweets to maximize views  26.9  30.5
IBM sought to drive up registra4on, close 
more SOA business with those who amended  Driving sales by linking to promo4onal webpages  22.4  24.6
the conference and generally build more 
Note: n=722 B2B marketers and n=329 B2C marketers who used the Twimer tac4c
las4ng rela4onships with amendees and  Source: Marke4ngProfs, ‘The State of Social Media,” provided to eMarketer, December 
prospects. It wanted higher conversion from  10, 2009
leads, because of the economic climate. 
109979  www.emarketer.com

Retweets promote viral marke)ng on microblogs. 
Hashtags provide a streamlined way to organize  While some TwiDer marke)ng tac)cs appeal to both B2B and B2C 
and track specific topics and events. marketers alike, specific approaches may be more useful than others 
depending on your specific marke)ng goals.


Part Three 

Social Networks
“To date, Facebook has been predominantly a personal social network, 
but that hasn’t stopped businesses and their proac4ve marke4ng and 
sales teams from adap4ng its exis4ng features to suit their networking 
and promo4onal needs. As their own networks of business contacts 
grow friend by friend, so does the site’s B2B community as a whole, 
and the opportunity for interac4ve marketers to target it.”
– Tessa Wegert, “Facebook as a B2B Marke4ng Tool,” ClickZ.com 

Social Networks  Facebook 101:
Social networking has become a huge force 
in people’s personal lives. Businesses are  •     on’t “friend” people you don’t know. It’s 
D •   Your business can have a Facebook page 
 
now seeing the poten4al. There are countless  considered bad e4queme to connect with  too. If you’re not comfortable with the idea 
networks, but we’re focusing on the two most  people you’ve never met or spoken to. It’s  of pu_ng yourself out there personally you 
relevant and popular: Facebook and LinkedIn.  fine to ask someone if you can add them as  can s4ll create a profile for your business.
a friend, par4cularly if you’ve only spoken 
Facebook over the phone. •   Try to gather people together by crea4ng 
 
Many businesses are leveraging Facebook    groups around par4cular topics or 
as a way to create awareness, build their  •     ake advantage of privacy profiles to 
T interests. This can then become a forum for 
brand, promote thought leadership and even  manage your personal content separately  discussion and sharing, and allows you to 
manage events. While the core component  from your business content.  demonstrate thought leadership.
of Facebook is the personal profile, this and 
other features men4oned below could all be  •     ike tweets on Twimer, Facebook status 
L •   You can use Facebook to invite people to 
 
used to promote and market your business.  updates can be used to provide bite‐size  events – whether webinars or in‐person 
yet powerful content that helps with  events. This is par4cularly suitable for more 
Here are some addi4onal ways that B2B  thought leadership. But keep your updates  informal business events where an RSVP 
companies can benefit from Facebook: fresh, interes4ng and insighOul. isn’t necessary.

Facebook Pages can help your company build  •     dd a picture. It’s considered odd not to 
A
awareness, share enthusiasm, create loyalty  have a picture of yourself on Facebook 
and strengthen inbound marke4ng. (although choose carefully: your business 
contacts will see it).


Part Three 

Your Facebook Page is a mini‐website  Successful Facebook Marke)ng Tac)cs Used by B2B 
where you can share company informa4on,  and B2C Marketers Worldwide, September 2009 (% of 
grow a fan base, offer mul4media content,  respondents)
communicate events and give status updates. 
All of these contribute to brand awareness 
and increased loyalty by keeping prospects    B2B  B2C
and customers informed. Unlike some  Created a survey of “fans”  37.1  37.9
Facebook Profiles, pages are public and can  “Friending” recent customers with corporate 
show up in search results, which means your  Facebook profile  34.4  26.3
business page can help boost your inbound  Used Facebook user data to profile your customers 
marke4ng efforts.   demos or interests  33.5  30.5
Crea4ng a Facebook applica4on around a brand  33.1  41.9
Facebook Groups let you create your own 
Driving traffic to corporate materials with 
community. Crea)ng a Facebook Page is a great way for businesses 
status updates  29.0  28.4
The Group feature is useful for demonstra4ng  to create awareness, increase inbound links and foster 
your company’s passion for a topic, and  loyalty. Buying targeted CPC ads on Facebook  24.5  27.1
gathers like‐minded people to share ideas.
Note: n=643 marketers who used the Facebook tac4c
  Source: Marke4ngProfs, ‘The State of Social Media,’ provided to eMarketer, December 
The best part is that the more people join  10, 2009
your group, the more it gets promoted to their 
friends and networks, increasing the group’s  109984  w
  ww.emarketer.com 
popularity and growth.

As with TwiDer, B2B and B2C companies are finding value in Facebook 
in different ways.

“…Approaching your social network marke4ng with a word 
of mouth or viral marke4ng mentality is important. Viral 
marke4ng is a way of using customers to promote awareness 
of your business. One way to think about Facebook for the 
marketer is that it makes viral marke4ng simpler.”
– Courtesy of Facebook® Marke4ng For Dummies®,  by Paul Dunay and Richard 
Krueger, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2010.


Part Three 

LinkedIn LinkedIn 101
As a leading social networking site for 
professionals, LinkedIn is perfect for B2B  •    n LinkedIn you can be banned from the 
O •    ry to get recommenda4ons from others 
T
organiza4ons. Its basic func4onality is similar  site if you try to connect to people you  that include posi4ve comments about your 
to that of Facebook, but the focus of LinkedIn  don’t actually know. But it’s fine to connect  company. These comments contribute to 
is on educa4on, work history, companies and  with people that you have known in a  social valida4on about your organiza4on 
professional interests, which is perfect for the  professional capacity, but don’t have a  when people view your page. 
B2B company looking to market and sell to a  strong personal connec4on to.
specific business niche and demographic.  •    ay amen4on to the network updates 
P
•    im to send an invita4on to connect with 
A you receive from LinkedIn, as they share 
Here are a few other ways that B2B companies  a person soon afer your conversa4on so  important updates about your connec4ons 
can take advantage of the features that  he or she remembers the interac4on. The  and can hold the key to new business 
LinkedIn offers: more connec4ons you have the bemer,  opportuni4es for you and your company.
because it indicates a higher number of 
Use “shared connec)ons” to make  2nd degree connec4ons (and thus a larger  •    ou may want to consider LinkedIn’s 
Y
introduc)ons into companies you want to  network). paid services, which will provide more 
target. communica4on features, communica4on 
One of the primary capabili4es of LinkedIn is  •    ake sure your profile is as complete as 
M access and more powerful search op4ons.
its ability to connect you to a larger network  possible. Fill out as much informa4on as 
of people through your own connec4ons.  you can about what you do and why you 
LinkedIn shows you the degrees of separa4on  have joined the site. Although it’s op4onal 
between you and other LinkedIn users, and  to add a picture, it’s good to be able to 
lets you connect with those outside of your  put a face to a name and “humanize” your 
direct network through introduc4ons. Use  profile.
LinkedIn introduc4ons as a form of target 
account marke4ng by iden4fying poten4al 
prospects and asking your own contacts to 
introduce you.

Build a LinkedIn Group around your 
company’s specializa)ons and core 
competencies. 
The Groups feature is a great way to 
demonstrate thought leadership around a 
specific area – and to gain insight into the pain 
points of poten4al customers. 


Part Three 

Research LinkedIn Groups to find out where  Use LinkedIn Answers to ask thought‐ Social Networks ‐ Key Metrics
your prospects are hanging out, and join  provoking ques)ons or become an 
•  R
  eferrals from social networks
them. “expert” by providing valuable answers and  •  C
  onnec4ons on social networks
LinkedIn Groups makes it easy for B2B  demonstra)ng thought leadership. •  I
 nterac4ons in groups and fan pages
companies to locate poten4al customers.  LinkedIn Answers are a great way for you  •  M
  embers of groups and fan pages
Simply make a list of keywords that relate to  to demonstrate your interests, exper4se 
your prospects or the industries you target,  and problem‐solving capabili4es to en4re 
and run a search for any LinkedIn Groups  networks of people, which can indirectly 
related to these keywords. Once you find the  drive interest in your company and new 
right groups, par4cipate in discussions, ask  business. You can do this by asking interes4ng 
ques4ons and make connec4ons.  ques4ons, or by providing helpful answers to 
other people’s ques4ons. 

Promote events on LinkedIn.
The events sec4on of LinkedIn allows event 
organizers to post events and encourages 
those amending to RSVP for the event.

LinkedIn Groups offer businesses a way to create communi)es around the best prac)ces in which they specialize.


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