Determining why your company should engage in a social media plan is
one of the first and most important steps. Working towards the “what”
without the “why” can result in wasted time, money and set a B2B
marketing program off track.
Next up in our B2B marketing innovation interview series is
Mack Collier,
a well known and respected social media strategist and trainer
specializing in helping companies better connect with their customers
via social media. Mack is also the force behind
#BlogChat, the largest organized chat on Twitter.
In
this interview, Mack dives into four things brands can do to cultivate
and connect with fans, as well as well as three basic questions every
marketer should ask themselves before embarking on a social media
marketing program. He also offers sage advice on B2B innovation and
tools.
Please tell us about you and the kind of B2B marketing work you’re most excited about. Solve any tough ones lately?
The
thing that really excites me about blogging, social media, content
marketing, etc. is that I think we are getting back to the idea of
creating marketing communications that can also create value for our
customers. I think we are getting away from the days when you ‘win’ the
sale by simply banging customers over the head with your commercial 15
times, to creating content that also creates value, which helps build
connections as well as your expertise.
What are the
essential starting points small businesses should consider when
employing social media marketing and blogging in the B2B space?
I
think the most important starting point for a small business or ANY
business using social media or starting a blog is to answer this
question: “We are using social media because we want to ________.”
Too
many businesses start using social media without asking themselves WHY
they want to start using social media. (Hint: ‘Cause everyone else is’
is NOT an acceptable answer) Once your business can fill in that blank,
then you can craft a social media strategy that actually helps you
reach that goal.
There’s a common association that it’s
tough to come up with new B2B marketing ideas, but as you know,
innovation exists within B2B as much or more as it does with consumer
marketing – just in different ways. What’s your process for coming up
with new and innovative ideas for your B2B marketing efforts?
It’s
tough for most businesses to come up with ANY new marketing ideas. But
I think that’s often the case because businesses view their new
marketing effort as ‘How is this going to help us stand out?’ vs ‘How is
this going to help us create value for our customers?’ I think the
growing trend of embracing content marketing is really helping
businesses to review the idea of creating value via marketing, which I
think is awesome.
An essential part of building a business
online is to attract and engage a community. What are your most
practical tips that companies and brands should consider for connecting
with and cultivating fans?
There are four things that brands can do to cultivate and connect with their fans:
- Be
a part of the audience they want to connect with. Look at the world
through the eyes of your customers. How does Harley Davidson do market
research? By jumping on their Harleys and going for a ride on the
weekend with their customers. The brands that do the best job of
connecting with their fans look at their world the eyes of their most
passionate customers.
- Embrace your fans. The biggest mistake
most brands make when it comes to their fans is that they leave them
alone. Your fans are special people that WANT a deeper connection with
your brand. Reward that desire and look for ways to build a deeper
connection with them.
- Focus on the ‘Bigger Idea’ behind your
brand. Don’t focus on your product or service, focus on what your
customers do with your product. For example, in its content Patagonia
focuses on issues that are relevant to its customers, such as
sustainability, protecting the environment, and being active outdoors.
This approach makes its products more relevant to its customers.
- Look
for ways to shift control to your fans. If you want to make your
marketing more relevant to your customers, make sure it is spoken in a
voice that they can understand and relate to; Their own. I’m not
talking about simply crowdsourcing your marketing, but understanding
your customers, and giving them input into the direction of your brand.
Remember that your fans WANT to be heard by your brand. They want to
know you are listening, and if you show them you are, that only
validates their love of your brand.
Developing a
solid B2B marketing plan takes research, and understanding of the
customer goals, pain points and journey. What are some of the most
common myths or mistakes you’ve seen with B2B marketing planning? Any
tips on how to be more successful?
One
of the great things about the rise of social media and digital
communications tools is that it makes it far easier for engaged
businesses to better learn about and understand its customers. There’s
an exponential increase in content being created by…well everyone, and
that content can be distilled down into valuable customer insights for
the businesses that are willing to put in the legwork.
I think one
of the biggest mistakes B2B companies can make is to form a picture of
who their customers are based on outdated or incomplete information.
Leverage these new social tools as a way to better understand and
segment your customers to improve your marketing efforts and make them
more effective and efficient.
With all the hype in the
business marketing media, it’s tempting for companies to chase trending
B2B marketing tactics like visual marketing or social networking. How
do you decide what the right B2B marketing tactical mix is for companies
that you work with?
I think all companies really need to
focus on their available resources and do NOT fall for the ‘shiny
object syndrome’ and start using whatever the ‘hot’ social media tool or
site of the month is. I think it goes back to asking and answering
three basic questions:
- Who are we trying to reach?
- What are we trying to accomplish?
- What are our resources?
Let your goals define the tools you will use, not the other way around.
Companies
that are in search of business growth with limited resources can often
close part of the gap with tools. What tools do you recommend for B2B
marketers (or marketers in general) to get more out of their online
content and social media investments?
Well I hate to give
advice on which tool is best because I think that your
goals/resources/audience defines the tools for you. But, when it comes
to social media, I think right now there are two main tools to look at
for B2Bs:
- Blogs. I will always love blogs because with a
blog you control the content platform. That’s huge, and it allows you
to create content that search engines love.
- LinkedIn. It’s
simply more business-oriented, and there’s a higher probability that you
can find key decision-makers and cultivate a relationship with them.
Now
in general, it’s impossible to ignore Facebook simply because it’s
userbase is so massive. If you are a business operating in the tech
sector, it might be worthwhile to investigate Google Plus as well.
Please share your advice for other B2B marketers out there on how they can be more innovative.
In
general, I think we all tend to overthink marketing. I think it all
goes back to understanding who we are trying to connect with and how we
can create communications that are valuable for them. For B2C brands,
that might be less about the product and more about how customers will
use the product and what they will do with it. For B2Bs, the idea is
the same, its more about how another business will use your product or
service to more effectively and efficiently run its business. I think a
good starting point is to ask yourself ‘What business problem does our
product or service help solve?’ Create marketing that focuses on the
direct benefit for businesses.
Thank you for your insights Mack!
If
you’re looking for even more insight on making your business more
innovative, be sure to attend a recap of the first day of the conference
on
#BlogChat on October 4
th. Mack will also be participating in the
One-on-One (Marketing) Therapy on the topic of blogging for attendees looking for a little more input from an industry expert.
Also be sure to check out the TopRank session on 360 degrees of optimization with search and social media marketing: “
Integrating Content, Search & Social to Optimize the Funnel” – Friday, October 5th at 8:15am.
We’ll
be releasing an eBook soon that’s chock full of B2B Marketing
Innovation tips from B2B marketing champions like IBM, SAP and
Silverpop, so be sure to check back!
What’s your best B2B Marketing Innovation tip?We would love to hear from you. Share your best
B2B marketing innovation tip by Wed 9/27 and you will have a chance to win two of the best books on content marketing:
Content Rules by Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman and
Optimize by Lee Odden (hey, that’s me!).