360DigitalInfluence

While sitting in a Facebook seminar the other day, someone in the audience asked about the success of Facebook pages for B2B companies. Beyond some of the very obvious Fortune 500 B2B companies such as Cisco, Intel and IBM, I found myself struggling to answer this question. It got me thinking about the topic and why B2B organizations should do some planning before launching a page on Facebook.

1. Who is your target audience? Did you know that the average Facebook user is 26 years old and most users are women (57%)? (Source: SocialMediaToday.com) On the other hand, the average users of LinkedIn are men and women, age 46 (Source: Marketing.LinkedIn.com).  It’s important to understand who your customers are and where they’re hanging out.

2. What is the primary purpose of the page? Thought leadership? Recruiting? General company information? Customer service? Again, is your target demographic already using Facebook to collect this information or are they currently getting it somewhere else? A small percentage (11.9%) of Fan pages on Facebook are for products, the majority (46%) are for entertainment (Source: TechCrunch/Sysomos). Ensure that your organization has a clear vision for what the page will be used for.

3. Do you have a steady stream of remarkable and unique content to engage a fan base? Facebook users are returning to Facebook 40 times/month, spending 23 minutes per visit and expect frequent updates that are of value to them (Source: SocialMediaToday.com). If you’re struggling to think about what you would say on your page or the type of content you will create, you may want to consider a different platform that does not have such demanding content expectations. The average Facebook user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events, which means that you’re competing with that much more content (Source: Facebook Press Room).

4. Is your Facebook page going to be supported by a larger campaign or initiative to help amplify activity and awareness about your company? While integral to launching a page, promoting a Facebook page can be challenging, particularly if your organization is one that is not already in front of customers on a daily basis like a consumer brand may be. Consider how the page will be promoted once you have launched it.

Before engaging in any social initiatives you should set out some goals for what you want to accomplish. If Facebook is not going to be able to help you achieve those goals, it’s worth a second look.

If you are considering launching a Facebook page, still a good idea to do your due diligence and think through the above questions to ensure it’s the right platform for your organization to show its true business value and to be successful. Many B2B organizations have found success communicating with their audience on Facebook through proper listening and planning.

Earlier this week, the AP Stylebook announced its second round of updates for social media entries, plus a number of food guidelines for all you foodies out there. Personally, I welcome the second round of social media entries as I find myself constantly contemplating how to accurately write “Tweet” or “tweet.” For the record, proper AP style is lowercase “tweet.” And for those of you who are still spelling website as two words, the AP changed it to all lowercase, one word last year. 

With social media increasingly being incorporated into how we write, blog and talk, I wanted to share some of the updates. In addition to some older social media entries, the 2011 AP Stylebook now has entries related to the following social media activities:
• Location-based services
• Recently released consumer electronics
• Blogging platforms
• Twitter

While many of you may have outdated hard copy books, you can also purchase an online subscription to the AP Stylebook, which allows you to search for terms and provides email updates with the latest entries. Of course, you can also download an app for iPhone and BlackBerry smartphones with Stylebook Mobile.

Brands are notorious for announcing a new product months in advance prior to it being available to consumers. This usually means that only a few prototypes of the product are available so we can’t offer one to every loyal influencer for review. So how do we get influencers excited and talking about a product or service when it won’t be available for awhile?

Having been recently tasked with doing exactly just this, we wanted to build buzz and word-of-mouth before the announcement was made of an upcoming product.  Rather than the usual press release, images, video, screen shots, etc, we decided to use one of the available prototypes and actually show our influencers the product. However, with limited functionality and using one of the only few products in existence, we decided to conduct one-on-one briefings with the influencers via Skype. This would allow us to show the influencers an exclusive first look at the product in a controlled environment. Additionally, it finally put a face to a name both for us and the influencers whom we have been working with for awhile now.

The feedback from our one-on-one Skype demonstrations was resounding. One of our influencers said, “It is our opinion that it is so much better hearing/seeing the information opposed to just getting an email full of press or an envelope full of brochures. We give it two thumbs up!” Another influencer noted, “Using Skype is a great way to communicate with us bloggers. It is a great way to put a face to the name. As far as feedback, I think it was great.”

It was a win-win situation for the brand and the influencers as posts went up in advance of the press announcement and the influencers were able to get an early look at the new product.

If you’re considering introducing a new product via Skype, here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Be Prepared - Similar to a traditional media briefing, be sure you are prepared with challenging Q&A, product features, price points, etc. Additionally, make sure you are familiar with how to use the product, especially if it is a prototype.
2. Cultivate the Relationship - While you’re Skyping to discuss the product, keep in mind the meeting is also about developing the relationship with the influencer.
3. Practice - Conduct a practice session with a colleague in advance to confirm the product shows well via video.
4. Follow Up - Ensure the influencers have all of the necessary assets and information to write about the product. Since they can’t physically see the product, they will need everything afterwards to share with their audience.
5. Have a Backup Plan - It is critical to have a backup plan in the event that your prototype doesn’t arrive on time, isn’t functioning or if your influencers don’t want to take the briefings via Skype.

Brian Camen also contributed to this post.

Last month LinkedIn announced the launch of their company pages, starting with a small group of 40 companies.  Here’s why I have my eye on them (and so should you):

1. The “Products and Services” Tab – With the addition of this tab, companies will be able to showcase their offerings without looking overly promotional. The tab also makes it very easy to find what you are looking for without navigating an entire company homepage.

2. Public Recommendations – When LinkedIn members recommend products or services via the company page, their recommendation is publicly posted for all of their connections to see. Free reviews and promotions for the company.  Sound like another social network we know?

3. Company Overview – Customers and potential customers can get all the essential information about a company in one place. Yes, you could probably go to their website, but you’d have to search around to get all of the pieces. The company overview gives you a snapshot of all company activity on LinkedIn, new hires, employees, followers, statistics, recent Tweets, news articles and the latest stock updates. Most importantly, it shows you how YOU’RE connected to the company, which will prove valuable for potential employees and potential customers looking for a “connection.”

4. Your Audience is Already Here – With 75,000,000 members on LinkedIn, many of which influence or make business purchases, there’s a really good chance your target customer or employee is already engaging and connecting on LinkedIn.  And not only are they probably on LinkedIn, but they are more likely to be there for business/professional purposes.

One month later, I would love to know the impact the pages have had on their businesses. If you haven’t poked around a company page yet, I encourage you to do so.

Last year, you might remember Ian Sohn posted an interview series as part of the Search Engine Strategies Conference.

This year, I am pleased to say that Brian Camen and I will be posting a series as a lead up to this year’s conference in Chicago from October 18-22 (at the Hilton Chicago - 720 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60605).

For the first post, I interviewed Chris Long , SVP, E-Commerce and Marketing,       L-com, Inc.  Through Chris’ efforts, L-com has grown its organic search engine traffic by over 200% and has achieved triple-digit ROI in both its PPC program and its offline direct marketing programs.

Chris will be one of the speakers in a session titled “B2B Marketing Tips,” focusing on PPC and SEO best practices-specific to B2B search marketers.

Whether you are well-versed in SEO and PPC or not, I asked Chris some questions that I hope provide you with some quick takeaways in B2B search.

How does SEO differ for B2B vs. B2C? Are there different considerations when planning?

B2B SEO differs from B2C SEO in several key ways based on differences in buyer behavior.  Compared to B2C buyers, B2B buyers are:

• Less interested in brand image and/or product intangibles
• More interested in clear, measurable product superiority in terms of cost/functionality
• Driven by highly-specific product requirements (e.g., when buying a new laptop, B2B buyers’ options may be limited to just a single brand and a few model numbers).

B2C customers generally have broader options and place higher value on brand ‘look and feel,’ so B2C SEO marketers tend to spend most of their effort optimizing relatively small groups of very broad search terms that have very high volume of searches.

On the other hand, B2B SEO marketers tend to work with a much larger number of search terms that are more specific but lower volume.   Because they are lower-volume search terms, they’re less difficult to get on the first page of organic search results, and because they’re more specific, they tend to deliver traffic that is more likely to convert into sales.

If there is one thing that B2B marketers should know about search, what would it be?

Only one thing?   That’s tough.   But if I can only talk about one thing then that one thing has to be ROI.  B2B SEO marketers typically try to optimize low-volume search terms that are, by virtue of the lower search volume, less competitive.   Because they’re less competitive, it’s often possible to get onto the first page of organic results in a relatively short period of time.   And they’ll covert to sales more often, too.

That means that the ROI on B2B SEO can be spectacular.

Search is such an integral part of lead generation. Can you talk a little bit about what B2B marketers should take into consideration when focusing on search for generating leads?

In my experience, the two most important factors in SEO lead generation programs are:  search term selection and ‘funnel metrics.’   The rest is just fundamental execution of SEO principles.

It takes time and money to develop a strong SEO lead generation program, so you need to plan carefully.   Before you re-code a single web page or build a single back link, make sure that you:

• Test all potential SEO search terms with your PPC program to see how many leads each delivers, and
• Implement automated funnel metric reporting to measure the rate at which each search term converts from lead to customer.

If you identify the right search terms before you start on-page an off-page optimization, then your SEO program will fantastically more successful.

If you are a professional association with members around the country or world, it’s likely that your annual or regional meetings won’t be attended by all members.  Rather than leave a big chunk of your constituency in the dark, social media can be a great tool to amplify conference content to members, and beyond.

Having just helped with a live event, I wanted to share some items to consider before activating social media at your event:

Listen: What are people saying beforehand?  What are the issues that your followers in social media want to hear most about?

Plan: What is going to be your steady drumbeat of content?  Will you provide live updates from sessions?  Will you offer interviews with speakers and member attendees? What exclusive opportunity will you offer your key influencers?  What behind-the-scenes experience can you provide?

Engage:  What social platforms will you be using? Facebook? LinkedIn? Twitter? Who will be your social media “crew” to engage online and ensure all relevant content is covered?

Amplify:  How will you spread the word so event participants (both on and off line) are aware of the social networking taking place? Signage at the event? Advertising? Pre-event communications? External newsletters? Twitter hashtags? If your organization does not have a relevant hashtag, establish one beforehand and make sure people know about it and use it to help with online search results and to aggregate associated content. Also, ensure you link your various social platforms together to maximize content promotion.

If you are able to answer all of the questions above, you are probably ready to get started! If not, take some time to think through before jumping in.

A final note about technology: Ensure you plan for proper technology and resources. If you’re using flipcams, be sure to have enough memory cards and a video editor onsite. If you’re live Tweeting, be sure that reporters have a mobile device to Tweet from. iPads can be a great tool for members to take notes, Tweet, view video, etc., and can be raffled off to participants at the event.

Having worked on the traditional PR side now for so long, most people understand “what I do” when they ask about my job. I usually have to give them a few examples of specific programs or clients and help them understand how PR differs than advertising, but most are able to grasp it pretty quickly. Now that I am in my transition mode of switching from traditional PR to Ogilvy’s 360 Digital Influence in Chicago, I have been pondering how do I accurately explain digital influence to people who ask “what I do”? Of course the fundamentals of PR do not change, but the approach, tools and tactics are different. The easy answer is to say “social media.” So far, when I have told people I am going to be focusing on social media, they automatically say, “Oh yeah, ‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter,’ I get it.” While my initial answer is yes, that is true and part of it, I cringe when they say that because I want to help them understand that digital influence is so much more.

For example, one thing I am excited to explore in my new role is metrics and measurement. In PR, measurement is so crucial to every program, every launch, and every news clip, but it is often a challenge to put the right metrics in place that accurately measure those activities. In digital, metrics are equally as crucial, but I know there are new tools in place to help make measuring easier (such as Ogilvy’s Conversation Impact). I’m also looking forward to learning more about digital media relations. I have learned over time the best way to coordinate CEO media tours and secure media coverage, but I know that all changes when working with bloggers. There are new rules to abide by with bloggers (as you might know, Ogilvy abides by a blogger code of ethics), and they are not the same as working with traditional journalists. Finally, one area I have been especially interested in is thought leadership. Working with organizations and executives to pull out their unique POV that sets them apart from others in their industry. I am not sure what thought leadership means digitally. Is it the same?

So, when your Dad who still doesn’t have a Facebook page (gasp) or a person off the street who is not familiar with social media asks you “what you do”, how do you describe what you do?

What words do YOU use to describe digital influence (that aren’t’ social media)?