Comments on: UPDATED: Draft Outline B2B Social Marketing Book

By: Barbara Bix

Barbara Bix — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 02:27:39 +0000

Under what’s next, the shift from external to internal. Today, most social media posts are from Marketing or Customer Service and target external audiences. Tomorrow, will social media replace email and application portals used for internal conversations?

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:20:30 +0000

Interesting question, Pat. We certainly will be including material on regulatory restrictions, which are germane to many B2B companies. We’ll make a note to mention the specific conditions around an IPO, although a quiet period usually involves total radio silence and I don’t think social media affects that one way or the other.

By: Pat Bitton

Pat Bitton — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:56:42 +0000

Paul, this appears very comprehensive and I look forward to a sneak peek! Were you planning to include anything on managing social media activities in the context of the quiet period in the run-up to an IPO? Maybe too specialized a topic?

By: Amberly Cassilano

Amberly Cassilano — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:37:30 +0000

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By: Danny Schaeffler

Danny Schaeffler — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:50:28 +0000

I own a sheet metal formability consulting firm (somewhat of a niche market as you might imagine), and among the issues I face is that my peer-to-peer communications are with the engineers/technicians experiencing the shop floor problems. Unfortunately, if they have an issue on which they can use my consulting services, they usually need to move mountains to get their management to approve some budget. My social media efforts (blog/newsletter/etc) all help to increase visibility, but ultimately it’s the one who controls the money that needs to be engaged.

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:54:23 +0000

This is such a pervasive issue that it didn’t really occur to us to make it an outline item. It will absolutely be a key part of the book. Thanks.

By: Michael Terpin

Michael Terpin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:35:29 +0000

One interesting area that you might consider including is the growing convergence between B2B social media and leadgen. One of our clients is the CMO Club and they found those to be the top two areas the typical CMO wants to spend more money on in 2010. If you can bring a new company a qualified B2B lead on a lead-gen basis, the floodgates of budget open up.

By: Randal Weidenaar

Randal Weidenaar — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:02:43 +0000

Great topic.
I am interested in a focus on what makes a community attractive to a business person. Someone who answers 100s of emails why would they want more? What compels someone to join in? What are the dynamics that make that happen? A bit of Malcolm Gladwell deep analysis as to what makes people do what they do. So that we have the think behind the tools. So that we will be applying things that work when the newness rubs off.

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:16:06 +0000

Anyone know any companies that are doing a good job of managing branded B2B customer communities? There are plenty of examples in the B2C area, but not many that I’ve seen for business customers. SAP comes to mind…

By: Barbara Bix

Barbara Bix — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 02:52:31 +0000

Of course, let me know what days and times would work for you. In the meantime, there’s an article on my website entitled, “How can businesses use Social Media to Shorten the Sales Cycle” (which was originally published in Marketing Profs on May 5) that covers some of my early ideas on the subject. When we speak, I’d welcome the chance to hear your perspectives on how to flesh this out and operationalize it…