B2B Social Media:
Understanding its
Influences on Channels
and Communities. 2009 Qtr 3
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B2B Social Media:
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Social Media is an omnibus definition for the blogs, micro blogs (Twitter), social networks (LinkedIn, Facebook), file sharing (YouTube, flickr), discussion sites (Skype, Phorum)… plus social games, virtual worlds, livecasts and lifestream sites.
The vast majority of these sites started as purely social—connecting friends with friends. But very quickly the concept has been adopted for business use. And this is the reason it is of great interest to B2B brand and marketing managers.
In B2B marketing discussions there is still a debate about the relative value of social media, with the ability to track effectiveness and ROI being two of the more important issues. But there is one area that seems to have been overlooked in the broader discussion: the effect social media may have on traditional channels of distribution if user communities are formed.
Many B2B and B2B2C companies go to market through some sort of distribution arrangement. This means the company can be one, two or even more “steps” away from the economic buyer, and finally, to a consumer. This is the most common, linear view of channel of distribution.
But what happens when we begin to deal with the issue of social media, and the potential for it to reshape relationships by giving companies access to large communities of distributors, buyers, dealers, users and consumers who are loyal (or at least interested) in specific brands? It would be a mistake for companies to view the development of on-line communities as either unimportant or as a threat.
Actually, leveraging social media options can be a win-win for companies and their distributor partners, as they can work together to develop communities, thereby becoming more engaged and relevant. For example:
- Companies can post videos (training, promotional, whatever) on YouTube, where distributors and their reps, or even their customers can easily retrieve and view them (even on mobile devices). After all, they are probably already used to going to YouTube for entertainment purposes, so why not go there for a video of an installation procedure while they’re right in the middle of the project?
- Blogs and social networks are a simple way to keep all relevant constituents informed of the latest news, trends, issues and alerts. Plus, they keep everyone informed—company staff, distributors, and the various levels of dealers and end user customers.
- Active social media sites keep everyone attuned to the pulse of the market, providing feedback on product improvement/development, quality and service issues, as well as general business climate discussions that can be valuable in developing sales and marketing plans.
- Share images of noteworthy projects, PowerPoint presentations, promotions (and the winners) with the entire channel audience.
- Perhaps most important, many of these social media options provide a very direct and instantaneous response mechanism—for good news and critical remarks.
Is there a cost attached to incorporating social media into your marketing plans? The short answer is, yes. Maybe not so much in dollars and cents, but it will cost you—in time, focus, content creation, management and ROI analysis. Social media needs to be carefully managed and monitored to make sure it is achieving its communications and marketing objectives.
B2B marketers who view social media as a bandwagon to jump on risk the consequences of poor implementation, the wrong tone and content, failure to follow-up, slipshod monitoring of negative or inappropriate comments and a host of other pitfalls.
Social media deserves the professional evaluation, critical review vis-a-vis marketing and business objectives, and a well-thought-out plan for launching and managing. The proper use of social media might be the right way to bring your company, distribution channels, influencers and end user customers into a more meaningful—and profitable—community.
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