Social Media for B2B Tech at PRSA 2013 Digital Impact Conference
1. Social Media for B2B
What Works – and What Doesn’t –
In The Tech Sector
2. David Smith
2
Creative Director, McClenahan Bruer
david@mcbru.com
@davidtweets
McClenahan Bruer, or McBru to our
friends, is a full-service, integrated tech
B2B marketing agency. It’s all we do,
so we do it extremely well. We sharpen
strategy. We build, deploy and ride
herd on programs. We scrutinize
results to build a springboard to even
better results.
Strategy + creativity + innovation.
That’s how we add up.
www.mcbru.com
3. @davidtweets at #PRSADIconf
Social Media for Tech B2B Buyers
oWHAT DO THEY WANT?
• Tech B2B content needs
oHOW SHOULD YOU ENGAGE WITH THEM?
• Tools and tactics to address the needs
oWHAT SHOULD HAPPEN?
• Defining analytics, goals and KPIs
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4. @davidtweets at #PRSADIconf
B2C vs. B2B
4
Social
contact
Awareness Intent Action Satisfaction
One decision maker
Seconds, minutes, days
B2C
Many influencers and decision makers
Days, weeks, months
B2B
11. @davidtweets at #PRSADIconf
B2B buyers are searching for information
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The Demand Gen 2012 “Inside The Mind Of the B2B Buyer” Survey
72%
research solution purchase
54%
follow discussions to learn more about a topic
24%
connected to topic thought leaders
12. @davidtweets at #PRSADIconf
What B2B buyers want via social media
12
IDG Echo Effect Study, 2012
#1. Respond to questions
#2. Resolve issues
#3. Provide specs
#4. Share reviews/rankings
#5. Let them review products
#6. Take their feedback and opinions
13. @davidtweets at #PRSADIconf
B2B buyers want lots of information
13
2013 B2B Content Preferences Survey, Demand Gen Report
“When asked about overall value, three formats stand
out in 2013: white papers, E-books and webinars.”
17. @davidtweets at #PRSADIconf
Tech B2B pros favor LinkedIn
17
40%
53%
46%
26%
11%
11%
14%
23%
0% 20% 40% 60%
Google+
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
Use All The
Time For
Work
Never Use
For Work
IDG Connect, based on Global IT and Business Respondents
“LinkedIn and YouTube
are the most popular
social networking
services [for engineers].”
- UBM Tech Mind of the
Engineer, 2012
19. @davidtweets at #PRSADIconf
Build a network of tech B2B stars
YOUR CUSTOMERS
YOUR PROSPECTS
YOUR COWORKERS
YOUR BUSINESS PARTNERS
YOUR COMPETITORS
NOW, WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE WORLD?
FIND THE TOP INFLUENCERS WITH TOOLS: LITTLE
BIRD, TELLAGENCE, ETC.
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25. @davidtweets at #PRSADIconf
Content that B2B marketers offer
25
Top Tactics
Social media (other than blogs)
Articles on own website
eNewsletters
Blogs
Important Tactics
Case studies
Videos
Articles on other websites
In Person Events
White Papers
2013 Content Marketing Benchmarks, CMI and MarketingProfs
28. @davidtweets at #PRSADIconf
Facilitate “peer power”
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“The primary barrier to finding credible information is ITDMs’ perception
of vendor bias. Not surprisingly, they rely on more trusted sources—
friends, business colleagues, and other people in their personal
and professional networks—to help them cut through the clutter and
gather what they see as trustworthy quality information.
These decision-makers also use social media to share the content
they find valuable.”
Connecting the Dots Between Content and Sales, IDG Enterprise
35. Objective Definition Q113 Goal
Q113
Actual
Q213 Goal
Q213 QTD
Actual
2013 Goal Q313 Q413
Social Media
Community
Aggregate of new and unique
members/followers/subscribers/fans/visito
rs across all Product and Personal channels
650 649 500 609 1200 300 500
Broadcast
Aggregate of total impressions (potential
views) across all Product and Personal
channels 5000 4,526 5000 215,000 23,500 6500 7000
Engagement
Aggregate of individual social interactions
(RTs, @mentions, shares, comments, likes,
+1s and link clicks)
1000 1,171 1200 1630 5200 1400 1600
Influence
Personal brand
Goal is based on Personal Klout Score 48 46 50 48 55 52 55
Example scorecard for social contacts
35
40. @davidtweets at #PRSADIconf
Outputs vs outcomes
40
Tactic Output Outcome
Blog 2X weekly Page views
Comments
Requests
Twitter 2-4 interactions/day New followers
RTs
Clicks to landing page
LinkedIn 2X weekly Comments
Followers
YouTube As soon as available (at
least 1 mo)
Views
Comments
Clicks to site
Slideshare As soon as available (at
least 1/mo)
Views
Downloads
Leads
Google+ 2X weekly +1s
Comments
Followers
KPIs
41. @davidtweets at #PRSADIconf
Planning for outputs
oEDITORIAL CALENDAR
o+ EVENTS
o+ PARTNER AND CUSTOMER ACTIVITY
o+ INDUSTRY NEWS AND EVENTS
o+ CHARITABLE CAUSES, PERSONNEL NEWS…
oMIX IT UP – PROMOTION, THANKS, ENGAGEMENT
oSOCIAL MEDIA IS “PEOPLE TO PEOPLE”
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44. Social Media for B2B
What Works – and What Doesn’t – In The
Tech Sector
David Smith, david@mcbru.com
@davidtweets
Notas do Editor
B2B marketing remains the same.Long sales cycle, lots of decision makers, lots of informationEvidence says B2B buyers want even more information, before they ever talk to you
That hasn’t changed for a long time.We’re in the information business.We need to be in the right place, at the right time, with the right information.Use mobile and social technologies to keep your brand useful to buyers, no matter where they are, or when they need you.
http://www.demandgenreport.com/industry-resources/research/1782-the-2012-b2b-buyer-behavior-survey.html#.UZ02YoKzoYsContrary to what you might hear, B2B buyers do use social media.’Most do some searching. More than half follow discussions, and more and more are connecting.So of course, you need to build out your Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook networks.
But what kind of content do they look for? Answers to questions.So a broadcast mentality – let’s repost our announcements – is not enough.You need to respond with real answers.Now, if you look at 4, 5, and 6, I think you see a bigger opportunity.
While we’re on the subject of videos, research and experience is proving that video is a very effective way to educate B2B buyers suffering from information overload.They watch them, they learn and – very important – they share them.Sharing content is one of the keys to B2B social media success, as we’lll see.
Discovering Additional Related CommunitiesWho is Talking About What and Where
Who is Talking About What and Where
Connecting the Dots Between Content and Sales, IDG EnterpriseThere’sa simple way to do this: monitor what types of contentITDMs are sharing—by topic or format—andcreate more of it. Our
B2B buyers are starting to sharing content with their networks.Peer-peer sharing and recommendation has been consistently shown to be the most trustworthy content.Look there’s email! We already covered that.Now, over 70% share content on LinkedIn, and 50% on Twitter.Your strategy – help them share your content better.
On average, ITDMs needto consume five pieces of content before they areready to be contacted by a sales rep.
Here’s an example: we set up a LinkedIn Group for a software client. And then very carefully built and controlled membership to only real users and buyers. We feed high-quality topics and questions. Now they interact with each other, and our client, and get their answers.