In B2B WOM, a bad referral can do some serious damage. Unlike a friend-to-friend (F2F) referral, the consequences could seriously impact someone’s career. Linkedin and networking events help facilitate a lot of B2B referrals, but these should not be taken lightly. The relaxed nature of them could lead people to act in an F2F manner. Nothing could be more inappropriate. A bad F2F referral could set someone back a few dollars, but it probably won’t damage the friendship too much. Bad B2B referrals could cost thousands, jobs or even a whole business.
Read more about B2B referrals at Entrepreneur.com
Latest Updates: WOM B2B RSS
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The Perils of a Bad Referral
Pat McCarthy
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Enough about me, Let’s Talk about You
Pat McCarthy
In the last year we have seen two major game changers in WOM: the recession and the emergence of social media as a marketing tool. Customers are more skeptical about companies and consequently spend more time doing research before purchasing. This added with social media has antiquated practices that were the standard 12 months ago. In B2B, this means personal relationships involve social media and interactive devices on the company’s website. Every interaction the customer has must be conversational. It’s no longer show and tell. Today you have to listen then tell.
More on the changing B2B landscape at B2Bonline.com -
Buck up B2B, There’s Social Media for you too
Pat McCarthy
Many B2B companies have written off social media. It seems too impersonal, too B2C. But social media is a jack of many trades. Two of the key differences between B2B and B2C are the number of customers and the strength of the relationship. Networking sites like Linkedin can provide B2B companies with arguably more value than they can with B2C companies. Blogs and microblogging can provide an online presence that B2B companies can leverage into sales. Of course not all the tools will work, but without looking into the possible benefits, you’ve already thrown the towel in.
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POST = People, Objective, Strategy, Technology
Pat McCarthy
In a recent conference held by the Association of National Advertisers/BtoB Conference titled “B-to-B Marketing in the New World,” Josh Bernoff offered a useful acronym for any business planning a marketing campaign in the social media sphere. Assessing which social media platforms will have the greatest ROI for a brand can be very difficult. POST is an easy procedure that organizes what can be a very confusing process. With POST, you first examine the customers’ activity in social media. Once the playing field is defined, brands need to set goals and establish a strategy. The last part, technology, refers to which social media platform suits the customer, goals, and strategy. Unfortunately there is no one size fits all platform available, but this process works for nearly every type of company because it provides room for understanding the customer and tools available.
Josh Bernoff is the coauthor of “Groundswell: Winning a World Transformed by Social Technologies.”
The full story at B to B Online:
http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090805/FREE/908059995/1078 -
A New Era of Give and Take
WOMMA Editor
“Dolphin-safe tuna” is now the norm, the ubiquitous, ethical choice, for those purchasing a can of tuna. It’s been nearly 20 years since StarKist first began providing this option for tuna in 1992. And, while the implications of that once new, ethical tuna choice, may have faded away into the distant past, Richard Edelman points out in his new post “We’re Entering a New Era of Mutual Social Responsibility,” just how important that move was. The product change was the direct result of NGO pressure, and Edelman thinks we’re entering into an even more mutually interdependent stage between customers and providers of products. In his superbly insightful piece, Edelman shares his predictions for how the “era of Mutual Social Responsibility” will affect companies, pushing them to “Operate Differently, Partner Differently and Market Differently.”
The full story at Richard Edelman – 6 A.M.:
http://www.edelman.com/speak_up/blog/archives/2009/03/were_entering_a.html
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Trends Affecting the Future Value of B2B Marketers
WOMMA Editor
In the first part of what what promises to be an intriguing dialogue amongst B2B marketers, Laura Ramos of Forrester Research challenges the future relevance of B2B marketing. As Laura sees it, four macro trends are working against increasing the future value of B2B marketing. According to Laura, without a broader perspective, B2B marketing will become obsolete as the Web, blogosphere, and social networks let businesses connect buyers directly with product development and bypass marketing all together.
The full story at Forrester:
http://blogs.forrester.com/marketing/2008/10/will-b2b-market.html
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Bluetooth Wins Gold with Coca-Cola as the Trainer
WOMMA Editor
Working with Pioco, a Shanghai-based out-of-home advertising company that specializes in Bluetooth media, Coca-Cola wired some 1,500 hot spots in Beijing and Shanghai. When users of Bluetooth-enabled devices entered a hot spot, they received a message inviting them to download an Olympic-themed Coke commercial. Everybody wins.
The full story at B to B:
http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080915/FREE/809129971/1146/FREE
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Newspapers Begin Reverse-syndicating and Say Goodbye AP
WOMMA Editor
The future of newsprint has been a hot topic of debate for the last decade. So far, the papers haven’t died as some predicted, although new owners have meant smaller papers with fewer sections. Sam Zell’s thinner Chicago Tribune, is one example. On September 11, more newspaper news was made, as the New Jersey Star-Ledger printed an entire paper without any AP stories within. In the AP’s stead were shared pieces from other papers like the Washington Post and LA Times, a direct result of a hyperlink-based online economy. The more inbound links a paper has, the more revenue it generates. What better way to accomplish this than to link and share with other big news websites?
The full story at Buzz Machine:
http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/09/10/the-start-of-reverse-syndication-and-end-of-the-ap/
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Google Life Lessons for Apple
WOMMA Editor
As brands go, Google and Apple do represent the pinnacle of innovative and trendy brands. That being said, Steve Rubel, of WOMMA Member Edelman [Digital] has prepared a list of three lessons that Apple can learn from Google, and they all center around one theme: transparency. Rubel points out that Google readily admits that it’s fallible, and in fact many of its product pages include acknowledged bugs that Google is working on fixing. He suggests that Apple too should admit it makes mistakes, and also provide more forums for responding to Apple products. More Apple blogs, Rubel says, would be a great way to begin.
The full story at Micro Persuasion:
http://www.micropersuasion.com/2008/09/radical-transpa.html
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Social Media Marketing and Email: Friend or Foe?
WOMMA Editor
According to Aaron Kahlow, managing partner of consulting firm Business Online, email is the key ingredient in launching a successful social media marketing campaign. Kahlow considers email to be the “push element” in keeping members of various social platforms updated. While RSS is still evolving, nine times out of 10 email is the preferred messaging choice.
The full story at B to B:
http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080911/FREE/809119997/1084/FREE