Social Media Sanity for B2B
An open letter to our B2B clients: we know you’ve been peering over the fence at your B2C counterparts, eyeing their Facebook fan pages, checking out their YouTube channels, and reading their Twitter posts.
And – admit it – you’ve been wondering, “How do I get me some of this?”
And yeah, for the past few years, social has been sexy. And for some clients, it’s a gimme. Entertainment would be missing a huge opportunity if they didn’t use social tools. After all, if you already have fans, there’s no easier way to keep in touch with them than with Facebook or Twitter.
And some consumer brands have had success in the social spaces. It’s hard to ignore Starbucks’ millions of fans.
But, just like the mistake of copying your B2B brand development from P&G, you may be making a huge mistake in copying what entertainment and consumer brands are doing in the social spaces. A mistake that can cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, and set your marketing off on a dead-end road.
“Whoa,” you say. “What about, like, WillItBlend?”
Well, yeah, and what about that dude that just won $250 million in the lottery? Sure, there will be winners. There will be a lot more losers.
So, before you take your B2B company down the social media road, ask yourself these questions:
1. If I didn’t work here, would I Like or Follow my company?
Be honest. If the answer is no, stop now. You don’t need to deal with Facebook or Twitter. Period.
Yes? Cool. Write down all the reasons why. Then ask yourself if your customers are really going to be (a) on Facebook and (b) distracted from their friends enough to care.
Yeah. Not looking good, is it?
2. Is there anyone here crazy and charismatic enough to become the personal face of the company?
No? Good. YouTube is out.
Yes? Cool. Do you have internal video resources to produce videos every week or so, indefinitely, and is your wacky charismatic spokesperson willing to do it?
No? Then yeah, YouTube is still out.
3. Can I spare the internal resources to produce unique, valuable content (blogposts, instructional videos) on an ongoing basis, or pay an agency to do this for me?
No? Cool. Blogs and how-tos are out.
Yes. Great. You may have found a truly relevant social media niche.
But then again, ask yourself: will this get me more customers than demand generation, direct marketing, CRM, industry vertical advertising and sponsorship, and other proven B2B marketing tactics?
The honest answer? There’s no guarantee.
So, do you want to roll the dice, or keep your social media sanity?
I have to say you’re right. You highlight the need to strategize a bit before jumping into the ‘me too’ bandwagon and that this has to be done channel by channel and more. The ‘why’ question is clearly critical for a good ‘what’. From where I sit, B2B companies, at least in high tech where i have exposure and social media has been around for quite bit, are looking to understand better and engage with relevant virtual communities that have formed over the years. Those communities are made of 100s of individuals who have a deep expertise and passion for their work plus the desire to share their experience/opinions.
I always advise B2B clients to do something but put a premium on relevance and relationships: i.e: find the communities and influencers that matter to them.
What do you think?