Latest Updates: WOM B2B RSS

• 15 Easy Fixes to B2B Blogs
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 11:10 am on January 16, 2012 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Blog Marketing (201), Blogs (42), WOM B2B, WOM How-to (575)

  It’s one thing to start a B2B blog. The work really begins when creating and promoting the content. Done correctly, a blog can generate a lot of leads. Consider this:

  

  Hubspot recently released an eBook that offers easy fixes to common blog problems. Among their tips were:

  1. Too Much Promotion – You like leads, but your reader wants to learn. Post content that shows your expertise. People like to hire experts, not relentless self-promoters.

  2. Publishing Infrequently/Inconsistently – Pick a schedule and stick to it. People expect a regular frequency for blogs. You don’t have to post every day. Just stay on top of it.

  

  3. Failing to Cross Promote – If you have a blog, you probably have a Facebook page and Twitter account. Share your new posts to cross pollinate your audiences. It will strengthen engagement and reduce the amount of time spent on generating content.

  Download the full eBook from HubSpot

  

  

   

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• 10 Ways to “Solve” Facebook for B2B
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 11:35 am on December 2, 2011 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Community Management (123), Content Marketing (38), WOM B2B

  Let’s face it, Oreo and Coke have it easy when it comes to Facebook. Their community is huge because their price point is low and they have millions of customers. But B2B companies have a much harder nut to crack.

  Eloqua, with the aid of JESS3 and PageLever, developed a great presentation deck for B2B marketers who yearn for vibrant Facebook engagement.

  

  Read more about their findings at It’s All About Revenue, Eloqua’s blog

  Eloqua and JESS3 are WOMMA members.

  

  

   

• B2B and Social Share the Love
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 9:00 am on November 7, 2011 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Content Marketing (38), WOM B2B

  Social strategy makes a big splash for B2C brands, but many B2B companies are left scratching their heads. The problem lies largely in the misconception that when people are on unprofessional social networks like Facebook, they are in social mode, not business mode. Yet a recent stat from eMarketer found that 86% of technology buyers at B2B companies use social media over the course of their workday.

  B2B brands that develop useful content will find the most success. In the cited article, Aaron Strout offered a useful example:

  “If I’m a marketer and I’m looking for a new e-mail service provider (ESP) and I see that one of my professional friends has just “liked” a Constant Contact video on “10 Things You Should Know When Evaluating an ESP,” I’m heading over to check it out. If the video provides useful information how which ESP criteria I should be using, there is a good chance that Constant Contact is going into my consideration set.”

  Key Takeaway: B2B social media marketing is fueled by content and oiled by sharing. Developing useful content will drive eyes to your site and leads to your door.

  Read more at CommonSense, WCG’s blog

  WCG is a WOMMA governing member.

  

  

   

• B2B & Location-Based Marketing
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 9:22 am on November 4, 2011 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Location-Based Marketing (14), WOM B2B

  Local brick and mortar stores along with national chains have embraced location-based technologies to market their wares. One of the key reasons is because, well, they have a location that needs their customers to physically be in the store to make a purchase. This has left thousands of B2B companies wondering how they can use location to generate leads and sales.

  Aaron Strout, Co-author of Location-Based Marketing for Dummies, touched on the B2B question in an interview with Eloqua. He suggested thinking about where your customer goes and striking partnerships with those places. In his example:

  “Maybe my customer makes Windows, right?  So where is it that I can impact them, where can I have a conversation with them?  They go to tradeshows, right, they go to Home Depot, or they go to wherever it is that they’re buying and selling their particular wares.”

  

  Watch the full interview at It’s All About Revenue, Eloqua’s blog

  

  

   

• B2B Has a Human Element BTW
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 10:11 am on September 21, 2011 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Research (498), WOM B2B

  The buyer dictates the method of sales. Ages ago, salespeople didn’t start calling leads until the leads had phones. They didn’t email before leads had email. But a shift in B2B has happened. Potential buyers can now do a ton of research online without the help of salespeople.

  This time, the buyer advanced quicker than the salesperson. According to a recent Televerde survey of B2B sales and marketing professionals (from the cited post on MarketingProfs):

  · Over 60% of those surveyed stated incomplete data and poor data hygiene as their biggest marketing challenge when it came to data.

  · Only 29% stated that more effective and relevant customer touches should be the highest priority for lead nurturing. (For that 29%, conversion rates ranked the highest. This indicates that  more effective and relevant touches lead to higher conversions.)

  · 83% described their definition as providing educational and collateral (i.e., one-way communication).

  Key Takeaway: The salesperson is still critical, but having a robust online profile of your goods/services is critical for the large end of the sales funnel.

  Read more at MarketingProfs

  

  

   

• Linkedin: A B2B Dream
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 10:44 am on August 8, 2011 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Linkedin (2), WOM B2B, WOM How-to (575)

  At 100 million users, Linkedin is a major social network. And its purpose is focused on business, careers and professional connections. This is fertile ground for any B2B marketer.

  MarketingProfs made a great 2-minute summary of an episode of This Week in Digital Media. Listen to the clip here. Some of the most useful points were:

  1. Linkedin factors into SEO – Fit your company and employees’ description of your company to your keywords.

  2. Post in Groups – 57% of links posted to Linkedin Groups convert. Just keep it relevant and don’t spam.

  3. Don’t Be Generic – You get three links per profile. Name your blog or website instead of just calling them “Blog” or “Website.”

  For more tips, read the full post at MarketingProfs

  

  

   

• Banking on WOM: Finance is More Talkable Than You Think
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 6:48 am on August 3, 2011 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Research (498), WOM B2B

  29 percent of Americans have had a conversation about financial services within the last 24 hours. 43 percent in the UK. And despite all the economic trouble of the world and wide belief that Wall Street was a main cause, positive sentiment trumps negative 3 to 1.

  This data, from a Keller Fay-UK study, did find that online sentiment was more negative than offline. However, this isn’t surprising considering ranting about a malfunctioning ATM works much better online than, say, discussing the details of your 401k.

  Read more about the study at Keller Fay

  

  

   

• Make your Events Talkable
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 9:30 am on April 8, 2011 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Offline WOM (52), WOM B2B, WOM How-to (575)

  We plan two major conferences every year and marketing them has its difficulties. I saw this post on MarketingProfs and had to share because it’s full of great tips.

  1. Hustle – Put your iPad down and talk to people. Offline events are offline. If you want to make an event pop and get people coming back, you’re going to need to engage.

  2. Have Clear Messaging – Sending an promotional email? The receiver should know what it’s about based on the subject line. Have a booth? Don’t go cryptic with your look and feel. Make your event as easy to approach as possible at all times and in all messaging.

  3. Listen (!) – Missed opportunities often happen when you aren’t listening. Your attendees have a lot of great ideas. Ask them before, during and after your event about how you could make it better. When you use their ideas, point it out. Send them an email to the tune of – I liked your idea and this is how we used it. Thanks! They’ll tell colleagues, attend future events and keep sending suggestions.

  For two more tips, visit MarketingProfs

  

  

   

• Social – Less Tech, More Anthropology
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 10:21 am on March 25, 2011 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Creative WOM Ideas (244), Research (498), School of WOM (135), WOM B2B

  Brian Solis, who will Keynote at School of WOM, recently spoke at 1000heads about B2B in the social world. One stat that surprised me was that 46% of B2B professionals said social media is irrelevant to their company. Yet 93% of business buyers believe all companies should have a social media presence.

  How do these stats occupy the same room? Effectively utilizing social and digital media is certainly more difficult for B2B companies, but irrelevant? That’s a stretch. We’ve seen companies like Eloqua and Intuit create content and communities that have shown measurable and successful results.

  Key Takeaway: B2B companies can be successful in the social and digital realm. It just takes a bit of creativity and ambition.

  Read more about social B2B at 1000heads

  Read Eloqua’s Content Development Case Study

  Read Intuit’s Community Development Case Study

  

  

   

• New Decks in the WOMMA Member Center
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 10:54 am on March 4, 2011 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Content Marketing (38), Member Benefits (69), WOM B2B

  These WOMMA Summit 2010 decks are now available in the WOMMA Member Center:

  IBM – Getting Social with B2B Marketing

  Presenters:
  George Gallate, Global Chairman, Euro RSCG 4D
  Adam Christensen, VP of Digital Strategy at IBM

  —–

  Eloqua & JESS3 – Turning Free Content into Business Success

  Presenters:
  Joe Chernov, Director Content Marketing, Eloqua
  Leslie Bradshaw, President, JESS3

  ——————-

  This is WOMMA member exclusive content. For more info on becoming a member, contact Tarah Remington Brown, our Member Relations Director, at Tarah@WOMMA.org or 312-853-4400 x. 205.