Show and tell

Of the social media tools, YouTube is one that offers a new, different, affordable and useful marketing channel.

Telling a story on video can add greatly to showcasing products and interviewing satisfied customers who are endorsing your products. So why are many b-2-b companies slow to utilise this great communications channel? There are many online video sites, but YouTube seems to be the leader and allows companies - well anyone really - to present and share their movie content online. Founded in February 2005 and bought by Google for $1.65 billion in November 2006 it is also not surprisingly given the ownership,  an important channel for search results. It offers a useful technology platform that neatly solves many production and delivery problems of the past.  Back in the 1970s VHS had won the format battle over Betamax as the de-facto market standard and marketing departments experimented with video in various ways. But production was then expensive. Cameras were expensive. Creative capability was expensive. Talent was expensive. So was post production, packaging, duplication and all the other stuff that had to be done, because most companies were aiming to produce broadcast standard work. And the reason they needed high quality material is because that was what people expected. It was what they were used to on their television at home as it was through the domestic television/VCR combination that customers would need to view the company video. Oh and because you had to hire cameramen, actors and some production crew the videos were quite long and of course had to compete with more compelling content served up by broadcasters. So video never really gained traction as a standard b-2-b marketing tool - it was an indulgence, a luxury.

But so much has happened since then. You no longer need the family VCR and TV to view content - more likely video content will be consumed on a PC, laptop, tablet or smart phone. Viewers are used to programme material that is user produced thanks to the popularity of reality TV. Cameras are more forgiving about lighting levels and quality and most people own one as well. To sum up - creation of content, delivery to users and options for users to view have created an opportunity to reconsider video. In fact not using video as a marketing tool is to pass up on a great communications opportunity.

Video allows products to be demonstrated to show functionality that static images would otherwise struggle to convey. It is also useful to to show how products are installed, or can be used as a service guide. Video for PR is taking off too through interviews, showing recent projects or explaining new ideas. Of the new social media sites YouTube provides a convenient means to get today's inexpensive video content online and distributed.

B-2-B blogging

Of the leading social media tools mentioned previously, the blog is possibly the easiest to include in a b-2-b marketing programme.

The blog can be regarded as an informal publishing tool for press releases - but there are important differences. A Virtual News Office (VNO) is better for publishing formal news releases as it caters for the needs of the press, such as offering downloads of high resolution images, background and contact information. But a VNO could also be used as a blog. The big step between publication of a formal press release and blogging is the delegation of authority to the blog author or authors. Although b-2-b businesses are generally used to working with PR agencies, nothing is usually approved for publication until the content has been carefully scrutinised and signed off. Because a blog invites comment and comment calls for response and moderation, this formal process is unrealistic to implement for blogs. Content may touch on some of the subjects that press releases address, but more likely the blog will evolve as a commentary about the company itself, the industry it operates  in and support for the users of the products. Probably one of the blogs most useful roles is to develop an awareness of the company's expertise, establish authority and create a level of trust that extends into a desire to purchase products.

Content is also valuable for search as the scope may be wider than that covered by the company web site and discussing issues from a different perspective may provide links from users that may not otherwise discover your company. But a blog does require time to write and manage and commitment - this is where companies are not so good.

Continuing the social media question - Facebook.

Columnist Mark Ritson writing recently in Marketing Week - The seven dumbest sins of social media - sparked off considerable debate about the effectiveness and value of social media as a marketing tool, not least in eliciting a response from the publication's editor who replied: "But all three of these social networks (Facebook, Twitter and Google+) are still in their infancy. We’re still finding new ways for them to add relevance to our lives as users. The fact that brands haven’t yet figured out how best to exploit social media channels is no reason to rule them out as valuable to marketers just yet." Ritson previously had written " If you have opted for a social media budget that is going to be allocated exclusively on Twitter and Facebook, you are not budgeting or planning your marketing properly." A telling point that emerged was the absence of real success for brands and examples of some downright and expensive failures. Clearly there are success stories as others have documented, for example David Meerman Scott in his best seller book "The New Rules of Marketing & PR".

With the major brands still trying to figure out the best use of social media, it is perhaps unsurprising many b-2-b marketers are still proceeding warily. In the last blog we pointed out how Twitter could be useful as another self published channel for headline news and links back to your main site's news office or blog. The next one to think about is Facebook. Undoubtably  it is extremely popular as a social media tool, but does that make it a marketing tool? And if it does is it relevant for b-2-b marketing? With 750 million accounts by July the numbers are compelling but how many of these are buyers of industrial components for example? Some clients enthuse about Facebook and maintain a company page while others scorn the idea of association of their company with such a site. As yet we have still to see any sales that can be attributed to a Facebook lead for our clients that use Facebook. Typically b-2-b marketing is not about gossip, so the more common use is news stories, snippets of news that don't rate a real press release and general chit chat rather than actual campaigns that involve the 'friends' and test the strength of their interest. 

How can you use Twitter for b-2-b marketing?

Twitter can be useful for publishing headline news with links to a more detailed story as an extra channel in a b-2-b PR programme.

Journalists and broadcasters have latched on to Twitter in quite a big way.  Twitter appears to be a useful source of news leads so it is not surprising that journalists monitor or 'follow' various accounts and frequently news reports cite Twitter as a source. TV programmes such as the BBC and CNN actively promote the use of Twitter so it is not surprising that a great deal of hype has been generated. As with other social media, such as YouTube and Facebook, there has been a lot of talk about the rapid growth, not to mention the fortunes heading the way of their inventors. Actual numbers of registered users seem impressive - a figure of 200 million estimated for Twitter - but can that be broken down to how many engineers have specification authority in a particular UK industry sector? The main journal for that sector usually can identify their readership in that category supported by ABC certification. But Twitter is not really that sort of channel.

Although generally lumped together with other social media, Twitter is a micro-blogging site that allows you to publish a 140 character news bite or tweet. Research by Harvard suggests 90% of tweets originate from 10% of registered users, indicating a tendency to a 'one to many' broadcast medium rather than peer to peer information exchange. It kind of divides registered users into broadcasters and followers. CNN has an impressive  4.8 million followers, but a quick review of a couple of industries tells a different story. A leading global light source manufacturer shows just 2,100 followers and a leading entertainment lighting company some 1,600. A world leader in ball bearings manages a mere 20 and an equally famous name, a major British engineering group, apparently is not even on Twitter. So is it worth doing? 

The answer is yes, because amongst the followers on some of our client's Twitter sites are journalists and editors in their market sector who presumably find a convenience in receiving news this way. But at present for the typical b-2-b company it is equally not worth putting in much time or resource. Use Twitter by all means, but use the tweets to publish headlines that include links that land back on your news page or blog. And you can keep in touch with us @technicalmarket.

Are b-2-b marketers engaged in social media?

How are b-2-b marketers exploiting social media opportunities?

Many of our b-2-b clients were late adopters of web sites. Now of course the web site is probably their most important marketing tool. But at the time they saw no need for a web site, not that is until they realised that suddenly their competitors had them and what we had been telling them for years was indeed happening. It is a familiar story of the reluctance, even hostility to embrace new technology. Back in the 19th century it was the Luddites who challenged the industrial revolution as machinery took over the work of artisans. But early adopters are not always right either. Some technologies do not fulfill their promise and in hindsight were expensive mistakes. The technology opportunity that b-2-b companies are faced with for marketing communications is the second era of the Internet, web 2.0. Web 2.0 allows interaction and has made its mark most tellingly in social media - Twitter, YouTube, Blogging and Facebook, plus several hundred less familiar names. Once again b-2-b companies have been slow to become involved because social media brings new challenges to the status quo, it takes businesses and the individual out side their comfort zone.

Previously the only communication by businesses to their customers has been controlled by the company through advertising, mail shots and press releases - all checked and approved before issue. In fact a lot of smaller companies don't even do that much, rarely if ever issuing a press release. But a key feature of social media is the so called 'conversation' that provides for comment, feedback, opinions. If not properly managed, there is an opportunity for disenchanted customers to not only complain, but to do so in a public forum where other customers and prospects can be exposed to a hitherto secret process. The challenge here is what to do about it. Failing to monitor what is being said about your company, if anything, is one issue and becomes a problem once a subject gains traction.  This sort of thing has already caught some out due to their ignorance of the original problem. At the very least 'alerts' should be set up to monitor what is being said about your business on the Internet, so you are immediately aware of problems and can respond rapidly before a small irritation becomes a crisis. There needs to be an agreed process already in place to respond quickly, effectively and positively to nip the problem in the bud. Customers are realistic enough to know that things go wrong, what interests them most is how well the supplier fixes the problem.

The next matter to address is how businesses proactively use social media. Setting up a blog or Facebook page needs to be carefully thought about. In particular how to share information, what to share and who to authorise to do this. Some high profile CEOs write blogs for example, something that will probably shock many SME business owners particularly where they have traditionally played their cards close to their chest and barely communicated with their own employees let alone their customers. Actually more enlightened businesses work closely with their PR agencies and it is they who actually contribute much of the input.

Finally despite all the hype about the millions of people signed up for Facebook or followers on Twitter - are your customers and prospects at these places. In the next few blogs we will look at this in more detail and talk about specific social media channels.