B2B firms led the first wave of social media adoption five years ago with aggressive blogging initiatives. More recently, Twitter, the simple yet powerful micro-blogging service, has lowered the barriers to social media entry for B2B entities almost to zero – allowing organizations to deliver sizable traffic to corporate and product Web content.  

Moreover, HR and legal departments are happy to see the ‘tweet’ alternative – diminishing any opportunity for users to provide inappropriate content with only 140 characters to get their message across.  In fact, Twitter has become a tool to point followers to safe corporate content – a means to monitor and listen to customer complaints before they get out of hand. 

Let’s not forget LinkedIn, the social network for professional adults – growing to 50 million users in 2009. The social network has become a popular destination for B2B companies in search of top talent or business professionals with areas of common interest. Moreover, LinkedIn claims its member demographics outpace those of The Wall Street Journal. 

With more than 500 million members, Facebook is the 800-pound gorilla of social networks. While it has been less popular with B2B marketers than other alternatives, companies including Ernst & Young, Forrester and IBM have built sizable fan bases there. Facebook is particularly popular with corporate recruiters trying to reach young job-seekers.  

Here are a few B2B social applications that will aid with integrated social initiatives – providing mechanisms to syndicate content, share content and monitor activity for future refinement:

SlideShare translates the popularity of PowerPoint presentations as a conversational medium into a membership that is reportedly approaching 10 million.  

BrightTALK takes the complexity out of managing an ongoing series of live and pre-recorded webcasts by consolidating them all into a single destination ‘channel’. It’s where you create webcasts and where your audience goes to see them. 

PRESSfeed, a social media newsroom, makes it easy for journalists, bloggers and site visitors to find and share your content. Content syndication through trusted channels is the next large wave for B2B social marketers. 

In the coming year, B2B marketers will turn their attention to expanding and optimizing the channels they use. Companies such as Jive are bringing tools to market that enable enterprises to manage large-scale social conversations while publishing simultaneously to multiple destinations.  

Great Resources: 

Social Media Will Change B2B Distribution Channels by Social Media B2B (Check out the entire site!)

9 Social Listening & Tracking Tools by Connected Marketer 

B2B Spending on Social Media to Explode by eMarketer

It's Official: Facebook Passes 500 Million Users by Mashable

Best

Denice MacDonald

With the social media craze in full action, how do you keep ahead of the pack relative to the best social resources? 

Below you will find my top picks that will help your organization connect social media to business initiatives – including the last resource on building influence while maintaining your brand reputation. Enjoy! 

Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel

This is the first book to integrate digital marketing, social media, personal branding, and entrepreneurship in a clear, entertaining, and instructive manner that everyone can understand and apply. 

Buy it at Amazon

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Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuck

Cash in on your passion! The social media revolution has changed the way we live our lives and conduct our business. Learn how Crush It will give you the tools to take advantage and WIN.  

Buy it at Amazon 

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Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith

Use the web to build influence, improve reputation and earn trust. 

Buy it at Amazon 

Denice MacDonald

In a recent Mashable post The Maturation of Social Media ROI; Brian Solis helps C-suite execs understand the validity and moving ROI target of social media. Is anybody getting this 'measurement thing' right? 

It is quite apparent that social media strategists in their eagerness to prove social media's importance are literally creating bogus measures of performance – not to mention their own jargon to explain results – or lack of results.   

Organizations need to establish what needs to be accomplished, what should be conveyed and what should be measured before any actual engagement. Like most campaigns that require integration and defined ROI, begin connecting social media activity with a clearly defined end game.

To learn more about ROI, social media and the strategies that bind, read The Maturation of Social Media ROI.

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Brian Solis is a principal at new media agency FutureWorks, and author of the upcoming book, Engage. You can connect with him on Twitter or Facebook. 

Best

Denice MacDonald 

Website Magazine's March, 2010 cover story is about social media for business. And, as an educated audience of Web professionals in the industry, they want your input!

Please take just a couple of minutes to take their 2010 Social Media Initiatives survey. They want to know how social media is affecting your business, and what some of your objectives might be in 2010.

The survey is very brief, and they will share responses (anonymously, in aggregate) with all of their readers in the upcoming issue of Website Magazine. 

Take the survey now.  

Why should you care?

Social Media is getting quite a bit of hype – but is anyone truly doing it correctly?  With a lot of chatter and just plain noise – web strategist may need to get back to the basics: who is the intended audience and is the organization creating the right conversation that invokes engagement and sharing? I’ll be anxious to share the results of what others are doing in 2010.

More About Website Magazine (Denice's favorite web resource)

Website Magazine is the one magazine to focus exclusively on the business of running a website: tips for successful websites, solutions for enhancing website traffic, the latest Internet industry trends and statistics, as well as news analysis on the Internet industry.

Subscriptions (complimentary and professional/print and online)

Advertise (lots of opportunities and great pricing)

Best

Denice MacDonald

As always in January, we start to see a plethora of web predictions for the year. This year is not any different with the marked transition of mobile video, Android technology and geo mapping. In my estimation, the top technology to watch will be Social CRM.

We’ve seen the rise of Twitter and Facebook as social communication tools. This year, those modes of real-time communication will find their way deeper into the enterprise. Salesforce.com is set to launch Chatter, its real-time stream of enterprise data which interfaces with Twitter and Facebook and turn them into business tools. Startups like Yammer and Bantam Live are also making business more social.

As recently as last March, Jeremiah Owyang was blogging on The Future of Twitter: Social CRM. In that blog, Jeremiah inferred the various directions Twitter could go: create their own brand management system that they can resell to the world’s companies to monitor, alert, track, prioritize, triage, assign, follow-up, and report on the interactions with brands.

However, there is still one huge quandary – can CRM be ‘automated’ – that is, respond fast enough (daily, by the hour, by the minute) while still providing a personal touch to help and assist customers, continue to build relations and trust?

Again, Jeremiah Owyang presents and interesting blog on Matrix: The Four Social Support Strategies wherein he discusses the various ways in which to interact with customers – specifically the fourth strategy (automated social support) – companies will have the ability to quickly scale by responding to customers faster, and more accurately, using automated responses.

Bottom-line – whatever your social media strategies are for 2010, you’ll need to watch closely the rapidly changing landscape of Social CRM.

Best

Denice MacDonald

Sources:

10 Technologies That Will Rock 2010 by Erick Schonfeld, January, 2010

The Future of Twitter: Social CRM by Jeremiah Owyang, March, 2009

Matrix: The Four Social Support Strategies by Jeremiah Owyang, November, 2009

We all have seen the surge in the use of social networks like Facebook and MySpace allowing us to connect in unprecedented ways. The acceptance of social networks has allowed niche networks to flourish - offering topics and resources to specific targeted markets. 

Marketing through social sites 

While these sites' traffic may pale in comparison to the big networks, there's a good opportunity to connect and market to a dedicated audience who might be more open to learning a little more about your product, services or offerings. If you provide real value to members, they will be much more willing to engage your brand. 

Finding that 'niche' social network 

Try spending a some time investigating your industry - chances are there's a network out there where you can promote and/or brand your business to a specific target audience. Begin with associations or affiliations that are tied to your industry segment. Then, research specific topics or issues that resonate with your customers. Yes, your competitors will be right alongside you, but consumers will be there too. And they will be looking for an expert in the field.  

Lastly, if you can’t find a specialized community for your industry, you could always create one.   

Get started: Learning from the best 

How to Identify & Target the Right Niche Social Media Sites  by Chris Winfield

Fastest Growing Niche Social Media Sites and Networks by Jessica Merritt

Nine Ways to Build Your Own Social Network by Mark Hendrickson

Best,

Denice MacDonald

When you mix Jeremiah Owyang, Charlene Li and Forbes – you know for sure that the dialogue on social media and social media marketing has definitely elevated to a fever-pitch.  

In a recent article posted at Forbes, Owyang was able to provide readers a summation of the Forbes CMO Summit recently held in Palm Beach.     

Basically, Owyang contends, the dialogue on social marketing has elevated:  

1. CMOs are on a holding pattern for growth
2. CMOs admitted they were losing power to the empowered consumer
3. Social media was on the lips of nearly everyone
4. Social media is difficult to measure--yet marketers know
   they must be there
5. Beyond monitoring, insight from the social sphere is untapped 

READ THE FULL ARTICLE: 

Behind Closed Doors: What's On The Mind Of Chief Marketing Officers?   

New to Forbes.com? Become a member for free! 

[Article and Photo Credit: Jeremiah Owyang, a Web strategist, is partner, Customer Strategy, at Altimeter Group]

Best

Denice MacDonald

You were just notified from your department head or the CFO that you budget for fourth quarter 2009 has been reduced – or worse yet, eliminated. What do you do now?

Like most organizations I consult with, marketing budgets are defined by reactionary initiatives. What can you do to safeguard your marketing initiatives and still get results?

The Power of Three

It is always advisable to do any type of marketing initiative that will yield three defined uses (create it once, pay for it once, use many ways). That is, if you do a direct marketing piece, you may consider an on-line version and an e-mail version to select recipients. If you’re doing a trade show (money already appropriated), consider some type of interaction at the show that will draw visitors to your online presence and a creative way in which to follow-up with trade show leads. 

Maximize Alternatives and Options

In the case of advertising dollars, some media outlets will allow you to ‘refine’ your budget so that you can reallocate resources to other initiatives – in lieu of one costly ad space, consider spreading your advertising dollars to smaller focused banner ads or thru the media outlet's e-mail/direct mail efforts. Staying connected over time and with more frequency will yield a higher return on investment against budget dollars. (Hint: reconsider costly yellow page ads that can't be tracked and are overpriced!)

Get Others to Pay for It

Lastly, collaborate with all departments and determine what channel partners, associations, or vendors you may have that may garner visibility for your organization. Online reciprocal links, shared webinars, speakerships, collaborative user groups and even shared web pages will multiply your efforts and the bottom-line without incurring any additional budget dollars.

You would be surprised how many organizations within your network are in the same situation and would welcome a joint campaign to elevate marketing efforts.

Best,

Denice MacDonald 

Is Social Media a fad or is it the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution?

Check out this latest YouTube video by Socialnomics to learn how this amazing trend is now a mainstay.

New to Social Media?

Social in Plain English by Commoncraft.com

A simple story that illustrates the forces shaping social media.This video comes in an unbranded "presentation quality" version that can be licensed for use in the workplace - simply go to Common Craft to learn more.

MacDonald Consulting Related Blogs:

Social Media as a Primary Business Tool

Social Networking Can Boost Your Business  

Best

Denice MacDonald

RazorFish just released their latest report "Social Influence Marketing" - a 'must-read' for all brand marketers looking to forge Social Influence Marketing within their businesses.  

The essence of this 54-page report (clickable image at the right) can be summed up simply: 

"Being an active brand means accepting the fact that the days of formulating one big idea with multiple executions are behind us.  Being an active brand means that each day you interact with your consumers based on how they interact with you and with each other." 

To learn more about RazorFish, go to their web site or download their fact sheet. 

Best

Denice MacDonald

Facebook is allowing members to reserve vanity URLs - that is, customized Web addresses that Facebook followers can easily identify and connect to your profile. The feature went live at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Saturday June 13, 2009. The question is - did yours yet? 

What is a Facebook username?

You can personalize your Facebook URL (web address) by selecting a unique username. It will appear in the location bar of your browser after "http://www.facebook.com/" when you view your profile.

What does this mean for your profile?

Facebook usernames are an attempt to make Facebook profiles and pages easily shareable. Basically, usernames affect your profile’s URL. Currently, a URL Facebook profile may be Facebook.com/people/Joe-Smith/496824. Not exactly the easiest URL to recognize or share. After reserving the new URL, the Facebook URL would be Facebook.com/JoeSmith. 

This is a much easier URL to remember and share with others. It encourages sharing, friending, and increased activity on Facebook. Most importantly, it follows in the footsteps of Twitter and MySpace, both of which offer the vanity URL. 

Where can you claim a username?

Starting at 12:01 a.m. (EDT) on Saturday, June 13, 2009, you will be able to select a username at http://www.facebook.com/username. You can select a username that Facebook suggests or create your own. Select "Check availability" to check for available usernames. If the desired username is available, click "Confirm" in order to confirm your choice. 

Can you edit your username, or transfer it to another account?

Once you have claimed a username by clicking the "Confirm" button after checking for a username's availability, it is not possible to edit it, or to transfer your username to a different account on Facebook. Additionally, when an account is removed from the site, its username will not be made available. Facebook does this for security reasons.  

Great Resources: 

A users' guide to personalizing your Facebook URL  

Your Facebook business name: Already reserved?

Best

Denice MacDonald

Ahh…Social Media Today has done it again!  They, along with help from .Biz, have conducted research and created a new whitepaper with formidable insights and advice on how the fast moving world of Social Media is about to change... again. 

Specifically, they have documented some important marketing trends and shifts in the future use of social media by businesses. 

Excerpt: Social media is currently most often used as a general communications tool in public relations and marketing, but there is a major shift underway. In this research, they found that companies are now viewing social media as a primary tool of customer engagement, enabling lead generation, immediate customer contact, and customer interaction. 

Get the downloadable white paper through .Biz web site HERE. The site also allows visitors to share the white paper via twitter - so please pass along.

This study is the first to measure a coming shift in how companies will use social media. The report describes the factors driving this change, and provides valuable information that your business can use to get in front of the trend. 

Social Media Today is available on the business social network LinkedIn and I highly recommend joining the group – these guys are amazing! 

Best

Denice MacDonald

Online social networking services are becoming more popular each day. From dating, to party invites to social interactions, web sites like MySpace, Facebook and others are growing evidence that online networking is the social norm for consumers -- and now businesses.

Business social networks such as LinkedIn and Plaxo are networks that facilitate business-oriented connections and are playing a critical role in aiding businesses to connect, engage and build relationships.

How?  Each time you add a connection (qualified, by the way), you have increased visibility and access to resources, researchers, entrepreneurs and other 'like' networkers.  Moreover, some of these business networks are transitioning in functionality to enhance the social experience (blog, join groups, respond to question sets, and recruiting/job opportunities). 

How can you put your social network to use?:

Finding great partners - almost like window shopping, social networks allow you opportunities to seek out qualified partners. Depending on the 'degrees' from your existing connections, others can make introductions and facilitate recommendations. 

Reconnecting - social networks allow you to seek out valuable relationships - now and from the past. So-and-so from XYZ Company has now moved to an organization that your company is courting - reconnecting may help 'seal the deal'.

Joining groups - provides access to research, bloggers or other relevant connections to aid you in keeping current. Groups may be local or even global - offering networking beyond the scope of the initial social network. 

Recruiting - LinkedIn, for example, allows you to search histories and CVs in your network — it's great for finding people who work in a particular company, or who have worked with someone you know. It's also an interesting way to find references for people or companies you're getting to know.

Personally, I've received interview requests, forwarded several job offers, and met people who I later ended up meeting face-to-face resulting in a business relationship.  The ability to tune in to "just enough but not too much" has been a key success in business social networking.

For more info, review a prior post from MacDonald Consulting: Business Bonding on Social Networks

Best,

Denice MacDonald

In a recent article, Michael Wolf of Forbes sounds off on the momentum of social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace and the potential for these networks to become full-fledged businesses.

His contention is that the daily interactions of social networks’ vast memberships -- and their users' willingness to share their interests, tastes, relationships and intentions, and the massive amounts of data around users' behavior -- will eventually lead to substantial revenues and profits.¹

He further surmised that revenues will come from other avenues - not just from the web advertising standards of banners and contextual search links. No one's figured out the monetization answer yet, but it's likely to be one that takes advantage of the unique network effect and virtual interactions from the tens (and hundreds) of millions of members.

We’d be remiss as e-marketing professionals if we did not keep a close eye on the progress of social networks and the future impact they may have on our long-term online strategies.

To read the full article, click here.

¹ Direct Quote: Michael Wolf, "Will Social Networks on the Web Ever Make Money" -  Forbes February, 2009

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RELATED ARTICLES

Monetizing Social Networks: The Good, Bad and Ugly - by Barak Rabinowitz

Hitwise: Facebook Driving Traffic to Web Sites - by Helen Leggatt

Which is Best for Business: Facebook or Twitter - by Helen Leggatt

Best

Denice MacDonald

In a recent presentation, Jeremiah Owyang, Senior Analyst, Forrester shared key learning for businesses interested in leveraging and enacting a social media business strategy.

Basically, companies have historically viewed social media as strictly technology – not a business or marketing strategy. He suggests that businesses should start with their target audience and determine what kind of relationship they want to have with them.

During the presentation, Jeremy provided the six levels of participation – a segmentation of target audience by behavior known as Social Technographics^TM. In general, brands, web sites, and any other companies pursuing social technologies should analyze their customers' Social Technographics^TM first and then create a social strategy based on this profile¹.

Six Social Technographics^TM

Creators – these are individuals that are the true advocates of creating blogs, uploading video or music. Creators are individuals that want to share something they are passionate about.

Critics – these individuals provide reviews, feedback and participate in forums.

Collectors – these individuals organize and tag content, subscribe to RSS feeds and enjoy accessing polling information or other comparable data.

Joiners – these individuals are social network hounds. They enjoy belonging and participating in all types of social networks from MySpace, Facebook and others.

Spectators – these individuals are voyeurs of social media. They typically read, watch and listen.

Inactives – these individuals do not participate on any level with social media. In fact, they are the fastest growing untapped behavior.

Profile your customers' social behaviors by using this tool: Social Technology Tool.

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¹Citation/Credit

Data from Forrester Research Technographics^® surveys, 2008. For further details on the Social Technographics profile, see groundswell.forrester.com. 

Best

Denice MacDonald

Like most individuals who have invested in a weekly blog, signed on to numerous consumer and business social networking sites, I’m curious if ‘buzz’ from my product reviews or my marketing ideas are making it virally to the web through social buzz.

If you want to gauge how your ideas are spreading, you can take a look at a couple of sites that track several social media sites. Take a look at surchur.com, which returns results including photos, videos, products, blog posts, and news about what is happening right now online.

The next site to check out is serph.com, which says that it will, "track buzz in real time." Type in your keywords into either of these sites and find out who's talking about your product or idea.

For example, after typing in my URL, I found that serph.com recognized my blog topic on Amazon’s e-book “Kindle” – a product that is getting quite a bit of buzz these days. Discussing “Kindle” and sharing it with my network has elevated my blog and consequently, my business.

Best,

Denice MacDonald

In the tough economic times to come, customers will look for service and value when they choose which companies to do business with. Now’s a good time to make sure they won’t vanish when you’re not paying attention. Here are a few direct marketing suggestions to stay connected. 

Webinars with topics directly related to client economic issues  

Give the audience ideas and information in a way that will help them be successful as it relates to their issues. Provide timely updates to busy C-level and senior executives with a quick, one-hour webinar while providing smaller user groups with a live event such as a lunch-and-learn seminar. Don't worry about the number of attendees - concentrate on the quality of content and its relevance to targeted participants. 

Targeted e-mail  

Following on the footsteps of the webinar concept, provide e-mail content that is relevant to your audience. Make suggestions on repurposing existing ideas, assets or concepts (example: less branding, more targeted ad spending). Provide a case study or two with ROI and how to execute.  All of it, of course, should be free and easily accessible from the e-mail and on your web site. 

Competitors as channel partners 

This is typically a hard concept for most customers to understand. Why would anyone want to partner with their competitor? Competitors should be viewed as potential collaborators because they are experiencing the same issues you are. There may be synergy or possibly co-marketing dollars that will help both parties maintain customers during an economic downturn.  

Simply calling 

Sounds very simple, but calling customers (both C-level and frontline personnel) during an economic downturn can be very healthy if not downright smart on your part. Discuss specific scenarios they’re liable to face during tough times like recession, layoffs, acquisition or other major organizational change and provide suggestions and solutions to overcome them (example: ask to include and/or quote them in campaign ideas above). The simple act of asking will help keep your customers connected now and in the future. 

"Must Read" Resources 

Don't Stop Marketing: Marketing During an Economic Downturn By Vista Consulting  

Marketing In An Economic Downturn By Michael J Obrien

Facts on the Value of Marketing During an Economic Downturn/Recession By Demand Telemarketing, Inc.

Best,

Denice MacDonald

Communities are about delivering game-changing results - from increasing customer revenue, to introducing product and solutions, communities aid in increasing overall brand effectiveness while decreasing costs. 

How do we know this? Well, recently, Beeline Labs, Deloitte and the Society of New Communications Research have produced a compelling study: "The 2008 Tribalization of Business study" which focuses on the early experiences of more than 140 organizations on how they’re managing communities, measuring success, and reaping business benefits. 

Great Take-away - Lessons Learned 

When asked for the most important advice they had for others starting communities, survey respondents had many good tips to share. Two of the eight "Best Practices" that emerged from the research: 

Keep it simple and intuitive: “Focus on the least common denominator first. Keep it easy to navigate with simple tools to use.” People are busy; they need information in brief, easy-to-scan bits s they can quickly choose what is interesting to them and go right to it.  

Keep it fresh and active: “Keep activity levels up, constantly add new content.” “ Think of how to create ‘events’ – what can you do to excite people and get them to share in the community.” “Update regularly, find topics for discussion’ “Content is king” 

To access the results of the study through an interactive slideshare, go here.  

More Great Resources:

The Long-tail Effectiveness of Business Communities  

Understanding the power of communities - even when you do not have a critical mass of users

Best

Denice MacDonald 

Believe it or not, you may be a SuperTron – a technology enthusiast considered part of the early adopters phenomenon.   

In his book "Click: What Millions of People Are Doing Online and Why It Matters", author Bill Tancer emphasizes the critical role that SuperTrons play. Specifically, the author analyzes the new generation of consumerism in a way no other has before, showing how we use the Internet, and how those trends provide a wealth of market research nearly as vast as the Internet itself in attracting and using SuperTrons as a defined segment to market to. 

Why does this all matter? 

The insight into the new media habits of an early adopter consumer will be valuable for media companies, tech firms and cable and satellite operations that want to reach this segment but also tap mainstream as well.   

An excellent example of a web site that resonates with early adopters is the recent launch of “Nat Geo” music service. National Geographic tapped the behavior that drives SuperTrons to ‘get the word out’ thereby pushing their web site to the mainstream.

Resources

Early Adopters - Defined

National Geographic Music Site

Buy Bill Tancer's Book

I recently joined a professional social media networking group and I am very impressed with their latest blog regarding the future of social media. They say, basicially, that we need to watch the evolution of social media very carefully, looking for trends, what’s coming next, what’s likely to bubble up. In reality, they believe that social media is in its infancy. 

In his latest blog, Jim Tobin of Ignite Social Media, provides 5 predictions on the future of social media, ranked from shortest time horizon to longest.

1. Ratings will become an expectation.

2. Content aggregation will boom.

3. New tools will replace some of the first movers.

4. Social networks become portable.

5. Virtual worlds gain traction.

What is the next big push for social media?  My opinion is mobile technology as we become more portable. Likewise, there will need to be greater synergy between networks so that I don't have to recreate profiles or refriend over and over again. Lastly, it will be a challenge to create ongoing engagement and relevancy making content aggregation a top priority.

Resources:

Join Social Media Today - the World's Greatest Thinkers on Social Media and Web 2.0

Ignite Social Media - the Original Social Media Agency

Best,

Denice MacDonald