B2B Web Strategy Blog - eMagine

Marketing on the Social Web: it’s not your father’s Oldsmobile

May 23rd, 2008 Posted by: Bill Gadless

Suddenly, there’s no end of buzz around social media… companies are scratching their (metaphoric) heads and saying things like, “Surely there must be some effective way to leverage these vehicles like Facebook and MySpace…”

We all kinda knew this day would come, for the simple reason that buyers are people, too. In fact, they’re people first, and consumers and/or employees later. If you don’t think the day has arrived, take a look around LinkedIn; there will almost certainly be some content about your company there, and most likely it wasn’t generated by your current HR or marketing folks.

It’s become a predictable pattern with Web marketing that new capabilities tend to be adopted first by the B-to-C crowd, then somewhat gingerly picked up by B2Bs some time later; and we seem to be in the early part of that gap with social media. One virtue of this pattern is that the B2Bs can generally look to the B2Cs for generally proven usage models that they can then adapt to their business environment.

A different kind of medium
Problem is, a lot of B2C’s and/or their agencies don’t really understand this new medium and are misusing it, according to Harry Gold’s piece for ClickZ, “Tips for Marketing on the Social Web.” Some companies view it as just another one-way ad channel, using it as a place to hang static banners; or push campaigns that are little changed from their print versions, only to be abandoned after “nothing happened.” Others are engaging in the dubious practice of “SMO” (Social Media Optimization), trying to use it mainly to build inbound links and get bloggers to talk about their company or its products.

But the point about social media is… it’s social; or as Harry puts it, “Social media marketing isn’t about optimizing or advertising. It’s about socializing!” So the proper model is not talking at, but talking with …much as you would do at a party. Think of it as a less formal, decentralized, unmanaged, unscheduled blog, with many more likely contributors; your goal is simply to make friends and fans of as many of them as possible.

That makes tactics like running warmed-over print ad campaigns wildly inappropriate. And as for “SMO”… well, Harry put it this way: “The social media channel is way too important and visible to be viewed only from the perspective of how it affects your search rankings on Google.”

So what should you be doing?

• Your task is to make friends and fans and stay in touch with them …sort of like a super-interactive, individualized-yet-public email newsletter. Be aware that you’re putting copy and content into a very robust environment, where people will be quick to become advocates for your brand – or complain about it.
• Create reporting dashboards that track page views, video plays, and friend and fan totals. Use tracking URLs in your channels and profiles whenever possible to track traffic from the social Web back to your site.
• Listen to your friends and see what they are posting about your company, brand and communication style. If they don’t like it, figure out why and fix it! (This low-cost mass feedback mechanism alone can make the entire venture worthwhile.)

Your Web marketing consultants should be able to help you best leverage social media in your particular business context.

Entry Filed under: B2B Web Strategy, Internet Marketing