The article shared important and discouraging insights for B2B (business-to-business) content marketers:
Word-of-mouth is a key driver, with businesspeople looking to friends in the industry and other third-party experts ahead of traditional or digital marketing resources.
Nearly two in five respondents said their professional network was the No. 1 most influential source at purchasing time. Industry experts came in second place, followed by internal influencers. Vendor-supplied content was a distant fourth, with just 14% of responses.
I’ll address the B2B content marketing implications later in this post.
For now, let’s dive into two (2) key issues: (1) A B2B buyer’s professional network important influence in the outcomes of six- to seven-figure business deals / complex sales and (2) LinkedIn’s immediate importance in the B2B buyer journey. (more…)
Hi Social Media ReInvention Community! Here are your share-worthy links for your enjoyment and discussion. Thanks again for your ongoing support of my work. Enjoy these links and your Sunday Brunch!
This stat caught me by surprise (maybe it shouldn't). The number one ranked "second screen" competing for our time and attention isn't Facebook, Twitter, another social network, etc.
It's email.
eMarketer is publishing a detailed report on our television and social media viewing habits called, “Simultaneous Media Use: Screen Fragmentation Complements Traditional Channels.” Here's a direct quote from the eMarketer article:
The takeaway is that a major portion of digital activity during TV shows has nothing to do with the show or the commercials. People simply drift away from the program and do other activities on their devices. This represents a transformation in the role of television from being a focal point to being just one of many screens competing forattention.
We're an iTV and Roku family (dumped cable months ago). Maybe, that's why I don't tweet, like, or post while watching tv. I'm focusing on the show (a rare treat).
That's how change takes place in The Fortune 500. Change takes place by influencing and developing political allies (one person at a time).
Here are direct quotes from the article:
Change is about recruiting allies and working each other up to have the nerve to try the next experiment. You find allies. You encircle the buggers.
You don’t bring about change in real big meetings or virtual meetings. You bring it about one person at a time, face to face—when we discover we have some common interests and we’re both pissed off, say, at too many CEOs who talk about charts and boxes. And so we create a conspiracy.
Her creativity to create and initiate #thelinkedinchallenge is genius. It's a clever take on the #ALSChallenge. The purpose: connect and introduce two (2) Linked connections who can benefit from each other.
I participated right off the bat. Here's my Twitter conversation with Brynne:
I first discovered the initial discussion thread in this LinkedIn Group: Mobile Health Global. The topic centered on this question: "What stands in the way of pharma developing high quality mobile health apps?" This is the headline of our first debate.Participate in it here since the 25th of September. John Mack will moderate it!
I love discovering LinkedIn Discussion Groups like this one! I virtually met and conversed with smart, passionate, and thought-provoking people in the LinkedIn Group and the #mHealthPharma Tweetchat.
CTRL ALT Delete Is a Gift on 21st Century Career Leadership and Opportunity Management. Mitch frames and delivers his compelling arguments in two (2) sections:
1. Reboot: Business – The 5 Massive Movements
2. Reboot: You – The 7 Triggers
Yes, his book describes corporate and marketing strategy opportunities impacting organizations (big or small). Yes, his book contains important personal branding / personal reputation implications.
But, all twelve (12) principles focus on individually identifying and framing opportunity (and having the collective or individual courage to pursue it).
We All Have the Opportunity to Differentiate Ourselves and Lead. CTRL ALT Delete's resounding themes are to:
Take the Initiative
Take Intelligent Risks (i.e., Embrace the Squiggle)
Differentiate Yourself (because the opportunities are highest in THIS era)
Invest in Yourself and Buy CTRL ALT Delete. Here are four (4) important questions Mitch Joel asks about building competitive advantages to reboot our organizations and individual careers:
How Are We Building Direct Relationships with Our Customers, Fans, and Connections?
Creating a Unique Competitive Advantage. Direct relationships as a competitive advantage (versus price) is best described by these CTRL ALT Delete quotes (page 11) on how Apple executes its retail strategy:
The solution for Apple was to create a "cradle to the grave" business model where the customer is–at every touch point–directly speaking with Apple's brand. A true, direct relationship–in every sense of the word. Apple could not win on price (their computers and other devices are usually much more expensive than their competition's), so they had to win by being there for the consumer and by making these consumers a part of a more complete brand ecosystem.
At the time that Apple first launched retail stores in 2001, the common practices among retailers was to cram each nook and cranny of space with merchandise to maximize the sales per square foot. Sadly most retailers (and businesses) still hold on to the traditional thinking. For Apple, it was less about every square foot of retail space and much more about evey square inch of the direct relationship. Apple didn't start in the retail business to compete with other consumer electronics stores; they went into retail for the direct relationship with their customers. Apple's attitude was: "Why give that power to Best Buy or anyone else?"
"My dad used to always to say that he could teach anything but he couldn't teach how to feel. That's the hardest part when you have 11,000 people: How do you teach them how we feel?"
"The thing is, I don't want to be soldwhen I walk into a store to be welcomed. The job is tobe a brilliant brand ambasador. Everyone is welcome. Don't be judgmental whatsoever."
"Don't sell! NO! Because that is a turnoff."
Converse Directly With Your Connections and Followers. Don't just tweet out links and "like" stuff. Mitch's observations about building direct relationships highly applies to our personal social network connections. For example, participating in Twitter by sharing links your followers find helpful is a starting point for establishing authority and reputation.
But, if you want to "own and nurture" a long-term direct relationship, you have to directly converse with your followers. Mitch talks in depth about this concept throughout the book. These types of direct conversations are powerful and solidify lifelong loyalty and relationships:
How are You Building Competitive Advantage in a One-Screen World?
The entire chapter describes how consumers operate in a mobile, one-screen world. The only screen consumers care about is "the one currently staring them in the face."
Mitch further makes a compelling argument:The most important consumer screen resides on our smartphones.
Here are Mitch's thoughts on Twitter and the one-screen world (from page 99 of CTRL ALT Delete):
"Twitter's metoric rise and continued success have less to do with how many followers Lady Gaga has and much more to do with the fact that it was the first-ever online social network that worked better on mobile than it does on the Web. The sheer simplicity of those 140 characters of tweets makes it that much more workable and easy for consumers. Twitter's focus (from day one) was on connecting people as they were on the go. To this day, everything that Twitter does — from acquisitions to business strategy — is driven by a one-screen-world philosophy."
How are We Differentiating Ourselves as Critical Thinkers?
A Personal Blog = Personal Competitive Advantage. The Internet affords anyone with a laptop and broadband access an opportunity to stand out. But, we often allow ourselves to be defined by our current job titles and bullet points on our resumes. That's a mistake.
Mitch thinks strategically and critically. In a social media age, when most tweets or Facebook status updates provide diminishing returns on our attention, the opportunity to differentiate ourselves as entrepreneurial, credible, forward-looking strategic, critical thinkers has never been higher.
3. Making it easy for a potential employer / great connection to find you (e.g., SEO benefits)
4. Giving you practice in an important and portable business skill set — writing
5. Proving you're technology and Internet savvy
6. Informing people first-hand how you're driven to learn new skills
Isn't Blogging Supposed to be Dead? Hardly. As Mitch points out in the section, "Your Life in Startup Mode," a personal blog describes important aspects about ourselves that a resume fails to represent:
(page 227) "You're writing to exercise your critical thinking skills."
(page 225) "But for the purpose of this book, I'll define a blog as an online journal of your work. The spirit of the blog is to create a living and breathing resume and portfolio of how you think and work."
(page 224) "I still believe that a blog is a canvas that allows you to think, share, and connect with an audience."
(page 228) "Because if you care enough to blog, it means that you have something to say. If you have something to say and you're blogging it, it means that you want to share and connect.Ultimately, the world needs more people like that."
What is the Legacy and the Value You are Ultimately Delivering and Leaving?
Pages 190 and 193 fromThe Marketing of Youexplain the ultimate goal for connecting (online or face-to-face):
(page 190) "There's nothing wrong with asking for help, but you will always see a more positive result if you start by delivering value first—by being valuable to others before asking them for favors. Give abundantly and be helpful."
(page 193) "True influence comes from connecting to individuals, nurturing those relationships, adding real value to other people's lives, and doing anything and everything to serve them, so that when the time comes for you to make a request, there is someone there to lend a hand. Worry less about how many people you are connected to, and worry a whole lot more about who you are connected to—who they are and what you are doing to value and honor them(in their spaces)."
That sounds like a great philosophy towards achieving professional and personal fulfillment.
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Today's eMarketer article, Executives Fail to Focus on Social Media Marketing Strategy, shows how far we still have to go in convincing the C-Suite about social media marketing's importance in the overall marketing mix and overall corporate strategy.
Here's the executive summary (no pun intended):
1. Executives Think a Social Business Strategy Is Important. 78% of executives thought a social business strategy was somewhat important or very important.
2. But, Social Business Strategy Is Neither a Top Priority Nor Even Necessary). 27% listed social business as a top strategic priority. Nearly half (47%) say it's necessary but not a a strategic priority. And, 19% say social business strategy was simply not necessary.
This Surprises Me
Small Business Executives Say Social Media Is Not a Strategic Priority. 58% of C-Level respondents say social is neither a strategic priority AND 21% say it's not necessary.
Why Does This Surprise Me? Social media and inbound marketing levels the marketing playing field for small businesses lacking the marketing budget to compete with larger competitors. The small company response is similar to the large company response (i.e., 47% for not a strategic priority and 18% for not necessary.
This Is Not a Surprise
Metrics and Measurement Continue To Mystify. Accountability and metrics along with social media strategy and tactics rank very low on the 2011 and 2012 executive priority list.
The Circular Feedback Loop Between Strategy and Measurement. The social media strategy has to be linked to the overall corporate strategy (i.e., what is the objective: increase revenues, decrease costs, increase customer retention, lower customer acquisition costs).
Without those necessary links, accountability and metrics along with social media strategy and tactics will continue languishing as priorities.
Conclusion
Social Media Can Power Customer Acquisition. According to Huspot's 2011 State of Inbound Marketing Report, social media marketing (especially a company blog) can address the top priorities of the C-Suite:
Lead Generation. 57% of companies using blogs reported that they acquired customers from leads generated directly from their blog.
Operational Profitability. Blogs, social media, and organic search maintained the top slots as least expensive lead generation channels.
B2B Firms Value LinkedIn and Blogging For Acquiring Customers. 61% of B2B firms say LinkedIn is their top acquisition channel. 55% of B2B firms say the company blog is the second leading acquisition channel.
Here's the eMarketer graphic showing a demographic breakdown of the Harris Interactive data:
The survey results show 76% of Gen X'ers (34-45 year olds) are either "very confident" or "somewhat confident" their privacy settings in social networks are functioning properly. I'm part of Generation X so this result interests me. Also, I actively participate in social networks. I agree with the Harris Poll based on my participation in The Big 3 U.S. Social Networks (Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn).
Will Something Bad Result From Tweeting, Blogging, or Sharing?
Not So Much. The survey represents 2,331 participants. Based on the research, only 7% of respondents had gotten in trouble at school or work or lost a job opportunity because of social network activity.
But, Always Think Twice. Use common sense as your guide. Similar to when email entered our 1990s professional lives, think twice before selecting "send, publish, or share" when posting something on your social network or blog.
On the Worldwide Web, You Are What You Publish
It's a Cold, Hard Fact. That headline is one of my favorite David Meerman Scott quotes. It also explains why 90% of my social media / social networking participation represents a professional purpose:
Networking with other like-minded professionals (i.e., LinkedIn, Twitter)
Providing links to useful articles / research / blogs about social media, technology or the pharmaceutical / biotech industry (i.e., Twitter, this blog)
Commenting on industry blogs or social media thought leaders' blogs to expand my professional connections and build my online reputation
The other 10% of my social network participation represents a personal purpose (i.e., Facebook). I made the choice to restrict my connections on Facebook to personal friendships only. In Facebook, I connect and share with only a select, few individuals from my professional life. I have a trusted friend who works in the Human Resources function, and this is how she manages her Facebook account.
Here's a direct quote from Mitch's post: "While you retain the rights to the text, images, audio and video that you post online, always consider that the content is now public and shareable forever."
Forever. That's a long time.
Conclusion
There is a Personal Cost Associated with Online Participation. When I made the choice to start actively participating in social media / social networking, I understood this cost. Always be mindful, someone is reading and reacting to your online activity (either positively or negatively). Always be aware of what you tweet, what you post, and who you connect to.
But, The Benefits Outweigh the Costs. Online participation provides access to professional and personal development opportunities traditionally reserved for select individuals:
* Publishing a blog provides an opportunity to demonstrate and build your reputation and thought leadership on a global scale
* Tweeting and connecting provides an opportunity to professionally network on a global scale
* Commenting on industry and thought leaders' blogs provides an opportunityto demonstrate your knowledge and augment another person's research, thoughts, and opinions on a global scale
Sounds Globally Opportunistic, Doesn't It? It is! And, I wish I'd started sooner. And, I'm running as fast as I can to make up for lost time.
(30 hours per week) x (52 weeks per year) = 1,560 hours
(1,560 hours) x (1 day / 24 hours) = 65 days!
We Flush Away Two (2) Month Per Year in Social Media Productivity
Instead of watching two month's worth of tv, here's what I'd like to accomplish in 2011:
1) Publish sixteen (16) additional blog posts. That estimate is based on my historical production from November 2010 to December 2010. For Mitch Joel or Chris Brogan, an extra month translates to 30 - 84 additional posts. Note: Mitch Joel publishes six (6) times per week, and Chris Brogan gives advice on how to publish three (3) times per day (see below).
4) Read two (2) extra books on social media and digital marketing. Here's a link to my recent post on 19 fabulous social media and digital marketing books. Please keep in mind, this is based on my personal reading / studying speed. For many, I'm sure this translates into reading four (4) or more extra books per month (and I envy your reading speed and comprehension).
5) Learn how to create, edit, and publish podcasts. This is something I've toyed around with as a new idea for 2011, but my priority is currently on getting trusted advice to undertake 1) through 3).
Chris Brogan, Adam Singer, and David Meerman Scott Don't Watch TV …
These A-Listers productively publish content and generously share advice on writing and improving blog content. Here's some of their best advice on maximizing personal productivity:
Important Note / Correction: When I originally published this post this morning, I mistakenly said Mitch Joel doesn't watch any TV at all. He absolutely does. It was sloppy of me to make that leap after reading his post.
Please see Mitch's comment below. I modified the post to reflect his input. Thanks Mitch!
Conclusion
November 2010 and December 2010 was my most productive month since I started blogging almost a year ago. I attribute the productivity increase to following the previously mentioned advice. More experience with the blogging process, increased discipline in recording blog ideas, and waking up earlier also contributed to more posts.
I still watch at least one hour of tv per week. For my wife and I, The Good Wife is a DVR'd guilty pleasure. And, I personally consider Super Bowl Sunday a national holiday.
Yet, I don't miss tv. Researching material, coming up with blog ideas, and publishing this blog are more fun and mentally fulfilling. Blogging is a genuine labor of love (and I wish I'd discovered it sooner).
So, how would you invest an extra month of time in social media marketing?
Please share your fun and creative ideas for 2011. I'd love to hear them!
The Challenge of Managing Stakeholder Expectations: Social Media is not Free
Social Media Initiatives Requires Budgetary Funding. Here are some direct quotes supporting the fact that social media requires financial investment (even in a large organization like Intel).
* "We like to remind management and stakeholders that social media is not free."
* "Intel has been an early adopter in social media, but we haven't funded it as well as many of us would like."
* "We anticipate funding in three areas: expanding tools, infrastructure and analytics, because we need to expand our ability to measure and drive insight; social network site development; and campaign activation."
* "We'd like to scale social media [globally] in 2011. We're hoping that we secure budget to move funding into this area."
When Williamson asked Malone about budgets expanding at Intel to support social media marketing, she replied: "Yes, it would be an expansion and a more defined social media budget to support scaling, more interesting and dynamic social content and our enablement goals.
Processes, Infrastructure, and Marketing Integration Supporting Social Media
Intel's Social Media Center of Excellence Manages Social Media Guidelines, Training / Education. Intel established The Social Media Center of Excellence as part of the marketing strategy and campaigns team. This team reports to sales and marketing and ultimately to Intel's Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). The Social Media Center of Excellence manages social media guidelines and governance which is important because this team's role is to drive strategy, enablement, use of social media, and social media training and education within Intel.
Centralized Social Media Training and Guidelines. At Intel, the Social Media Center of Excellence makes sure that Intel's employees using social media (corporate marketing group and other business units) understand and know the latest guidelines. These guidelines include employees disclosing they are Intel employees in their Twitter "names or handles" and blogs.
Social Media Integration with Overall Marketing Requires Infrastructure. Social media started off at Intel organically, unstructured, and was led by early adopters. According to Malone, 2009 and 2010 have been about operationalizing social media and putting in an infrastructure. The goal in 2011 is to scale up social media use but ensure Intel does so strategically.
Successful Audience Engagement Requires A Social Media Team
2011's Biggest Challenges for Successful Social Media Engagement. Williamson asked Malone what will be the biggest challenges she faces in making social media engagement successful in 2011 and beyond. Malone makes two key statements:
"The resource issue is a big obstacle, because social media can be time-consuming. To be successful you need to fully engage in a two-way dialogue."
"And so I think the challenges are around having enough resources to get social media to scale."
You Need an In-House Social Media Staff Participating in Conversations. Malone points out how successful social media engagement must come from within the organization. In her view, the organizations successfully leveraging social media are participating and engaging with their own teams or as she says: "We believe it's important to stay engaged firsthand."
You Can't Outsource Genuine Social Media Engagement. Furthermore, Malone implies that "handing off social media execution to an agency" is a mistake. I agree with this point. I think her direct quote says it all:
"It's not the same a putting a media plan together, where you are briefing an agency to complete the plan. You can do some of that in social media, but I don't think the companies that are most successful in social media are handing off a whole lot."
Most importantly, Ms. Malone's viewpoint that genuine social media engagement requires significant resources in time and people (e.g., a dedicated team) bears repeating. The guidelines, the processes, and the team members required to enable Intel in "scaling up" its social media strategy will require major investments in time and people.
Social Media Engagement Requires Time + Commitment.This is "the commitment investment" that many organizations fail to honor. Social media engagement isn't about the technological tools (i.e., Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogs, Facebook, etc.). Social media engagement is about interacting with another human being who enjoys participating in the online conversation by sending out tweets and updating their personal status.
And it takes a lot of time, hard work, and commitment to genuinely and consistently engage those folks if you want to earn their trust over the long haul …
Accumulated Social Media Experience Clearly Makes a Difference
1+ Years Experience is Helpful. More than one-third of companies with this level of experience responded as "having used social media in a coordinated effort."
2+ Years Experience is Even Better. However, it wasn't until companies worked in social media for at least (2) years that they had fully integrated social media into their business model. 28% of companies responded as "having fully integrated social."
3+ Years Experience is When You're Really Cookin'. 44% of companies say social is fully integrated in their company business model.
But, Few Companies Have Practiced Social Media for 2+ Years
Additionally, the eMarketer article points out the accumulated social media experience of the survey respondents:
* Only 5.4% of companies reported 3+ years experience
* Only 7.5% of companies reported 2 to 3 years experience
* 47.6% of companies reported social media experience of less than one (1) year.
But, the companies who took a long term approach or made a long term commitment are succeeding in their social media integration. In other words, the companies who started social media marketing in September 2007 or October 2007 and stuck with it are the ones reaping the benefits of marketing integration. The data shows that time invested and accumulated experience makes a significant difference.
Therefore, if you're really serious about social media marketing, your mindset must focus on years (not months). Even one year is not enough experience. The few firms who persist and stay the course are the ones successfully making social media an integrated part of their business model.
The fact that these successful social media practitioners continue to persist and maintain their long-term resolve is why they'll sustain a competitive advantage.
I recently wrote a blog post titled: 3 Social Media Tips for Oogy — The Dog Only a Family Could Love. I wrote this post because I wanted other people to discover this moving and inspiring book about a very special dog and the people who rescued him. The post was my small contribution to promote the book and hopefully increase its public awareness via social media. I have no personal or business relationship with the book's author and its publishers. I just love this book and its beautiful story.
After publishing this post on November 1st (late evening), I sent out this message via Twitter on November 3rd (mid-day):
I couldn't predict what happened next. In my opinion, I think the following events and findings are an example of the real-time power of trust and influence in online communities.
Thursday, November 4th (approximately 10:30 AM Central Time) My wife calls me at work and says my blog post is posted on Oogy's Facebook Page! Unbelievable! I was busy at work so I couldn't go to Facebook until later in the afternoon.
Thursday, November 4th (a little after 4 PM Central Time) I checked Oogy's Facebook Page and look what I find — I was thrilled and honored! People even commented on the link posted by Mr. Levin (the author of the book and Oogy's owner). I left my own Facebook comment thanking Mr. Levin and Oogy for their kindness and generosity in linking to my blog, and I commented on how Oogy's book genuinely inspired and moved me.
That evening and over the next few days, I asked myself the following questions:
* What could be the potential impact on my blog post traffic due to Oogy's inbound link and personal referral to his growing legion of Facebook Fans (9,550+ and growing)?
* What type of real-time influence do Oogy and Mr. Levin have with their Facebook Fans online behaviors (i.e., positive / negative)?
* Is there a way to quickly measure the impact of this real-time influence?
Here's my analysis in addressing these questions using some of the basic features of Google Analytics.
Finding #1: Oogy's Facebook Fans Trusted His Referral to My Post
Why? Mr. Levin inserted the link to my blog post on his own. In my tweet, I made no solicitation or request for an inbound link. The purpose of my tweet was to bring the attention of Mr. Levin's book and my blog post to my Twitter Followers (and it's a modest 400+ following). Mr. Levin and Oogy's inbound link was confirmation that I wasn't some spammy website.
And maybe, they thought I had some worthwhile content to share …
As a bonus, here are some of my favorite articles covering trust and online word-of-mouth (WOM):
Finding #2: If Readers Trust the Source, Positive Word Travels at Real-Time Speed
Here's some back-of-the envelope analysis with Google Analytics on how quickly Oogy's Facebook Fans clicked on Mr. Levin's inbound link to access my blog post. These fans were clearly positively influenced by Mr. Levin and Oogy's referral because they didn't take long in accessing my blog:
* Date/Time Inbound Link was Posted on Oogy's Facebook Page – November 4th, 8:31 AM Eastern Time (assumption because Mr. Levin lives in the Philadelphia, PA area)
* Date/Time of 1st Facebook Visitor's Click to My Blog Post – November 4th, 9:00 AM Eastern Time (my Google Analytics Time Settings are in Central Time so I did the conversion here)
* Real-Time Elapsed Between Inbound Link Post and 1st Visitor Visits – Less than 30 minutes. This 1st visit could have come even faster but I can only measure visitor traffic in Google Analytics on an hourly basis. I examined data from another web analytics tool, and that tool tells me the post was accessed six (6) times within the first 5 minutes of the Facebook inbound link's placement.
The swift reaction by Oogy's Facebook Fans to access my blog post emphasizes the real-time speed of the World Wide Web. David Meerman Scott has published a recent series of blog posts and a new eBook on the World Wide Web's power in real-time marketing and communications for individuals and organizations. You can access the links here:
Finding #3: Oogy's Fans Actually Read The Blog Post — How Cool!
This made me feel really good. It looks like these new visitors took time to read the article, and I believe the referral from Mr. Levin and Oogy had a lot to do with that.
Conclusion
Oogy's Facebook Fans came to my blog and read my post because they trusted the referral from Oogy and Mr. Levin. These fans didn't come to my blog because they knew me, or because I'm a widely known blogger. I'm just starting out in blogging, and I'm trying to build a loyal following and positive reputation one blog post at a time.
It's telling how Oogy's Fans literally arrived at my site in 30 minutes or less after Mr. Levin posted his inbound link to my blog. The real-time power and influence of trust is truly a driving and powerful force in online communities.
