building b2b relationships through social

Building B2B Relationships through Social

Cliff KinnardIBM

@cliffkinnard

Jon SanderMason Zimbler@thejonsander

Rohit BhargavaOgilvy

@rohitbhargava

© 2012 Mason Zimbler CONFIDENTIAL

October 4, 2012


OUR FOCUS We build B2B relationships through social media

with a data-centric approach


B2B is a better fit for Social Media than B2C.


84% of B2B buyers say word-of-mouth recommendations influence their purchase decisions.


59% of B2B buyers engage with peers.48% of B2B buyers follow industry conversations.41% of B2B buyers read research papers and postings from thought leaders.37% of B2B buyers ask questions on social networking sites.


Long Sales Cycle = Relationships are more important

More Complexity in Purchase Decisions = Deeper need for quality content

Most Purchases are Group Decisions = Social data and personas essential

WHY B2B IS THE BEST FIT FOR SOCIAL MEDIA


IN A NUTSHELLWe monitor data to give us insight into our B2B

target audience


WHY DOES DATA MATTER?

SOCIAL DATA AND ATTRIBUTES CAN GUIDE THE CREATION AND SHARING OF SOCIAL CONTENT

TO FOSTER B2B RELATIONSHIPS.

The right time: B2B buying cycle can be months, not days.

The right topic: B2B audience can be more technical.

The right channel: B2B audience can be found on LinkedIn, forums and communities.

The right creative and format: B2B audience wants to repackage and repurpose.


WHAT CAN WE KNOW ABOUT TARGET AUDIENCES?

A LOT.

Are they on social? If so, what is their social footprint?

What topics do they post the most about?

What industry topics do they care about?

What type of content are they consuming? And where?

Whom are they connected to? Who are their competitors and influencers?

What groups or forums are they most active in?


WHAT ARE B2B AUDIENCE TYPES?

B2B BRANDS FOCUS ON BUILDING THREE CORE TYPES OF EXTERNAL RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA.

ProspectsBDMs vs. TDMs

CustomersRetention and Upsell

InfluencersSocial, Analysts, Online/Offline


HOW CAN THE RELATIONSHIP BE QUANTIFIED?

WE CAN MEASURE RELATIONSHIPS USING SOCIAL ATTRIBUTES.

Social footprint: Reach, resonance and relevance

Areas of expertise: Groups, forums, background

Social connections: Followers, mentions, RTs

Top online sources: URLs, relevancy, influence

Influencer relationships: Historical mentions, sentiment

Competitor relationships: Historical mentions, sentiment


HERE’S AN EXAMPLE OF AN INFLUENCER’S SOCIAL ATTRIBUTES.

HOW CAN THE RELATIONSHIP BE QUANTIFIED?


OUR WORKHere are examples of how we use social media

to fuel B2B relationships


IF YOU KNEW, BASED ON INDUSTRY BUZZ AND POST ANALYSIS, THAT…

Many individuals were still asking questions about fixed assets and the benefits of a fixed asset management

software.

SOCIAL DATA IN ACTION



THEN YOU COULD CREATE…

• Almost 455,000 brand impressions• 66 social shares, including 49 RTs and 12

inShares on LinkedIn• 2,500% increase in new blog visitors• 600% increase in average daily visitors

over the pre-posting average



AND LEVERAGE IT IN SOCIAL AND B2B TACTICS TO FURTHER BUILD RELATIONSHIPS.

Video Email + Landing Page

Influencer SeedingBlog Post



OR IF YOU KNEW, BASED ON INDUSTRY BUZZ AND POST ANALYSIS, THAT…

There were key pain points and conversation topics your audience had related to cloud computing, and that they

varied by industry.



THEN YOU COULD CREATE…

Industry-specific infographics linking to a white paper.



AND…

• Why is the banking and financial industry “quickly” adopting cloud computing?

• Is driving the idea of using cloud computing for business ventures a stronger point to make for skeptics in the finance and banking industry who are focused on the security issue of cloud computing?

• What business case can be presented to convince finance professionals of the advantages of cloud computing?

A script for tailored video content that answers key questions your audience has.



AND LEVERAGE IT IN SOCIAL AND WEB PROPERTIES TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS AND POSITION THE BRAND

AS A THOUGHT LEADER TO B2B BUYERS.


THANK YOU

Enterprise Social MediaUnvarnished Truth

Cliff Kinard - IBMThe views expressed in this presentation are mine and not those of IBM

Did I say?

The views expressed in this presentation are mine and not those

of IBM

IBM external social footprint• 300,000 IBMers on Linkedin• 198,000 IBMers on FB• 25,000 IBMers on Twitter

IBM’s internal social footprint• 17,000 individual blogs• 1 million daily page views of

internal wikis, info websites• 15 million downloads of

employee-generated videos/podcasts

• 20 million minutes of eMeetings every month int/external

• 40-50 million instant messages per day

IBM’s Social Footprint

Welcome to my world!

• Tech experts usually “suck” at being social• Social is NOT free or “just” a marketing channel• Lawyers, process junkies and policy gurus are

everywhere• You really need the bean counters to be your friends• Outsourcing and interns are dangerous bedfellows

“Jump in! The water is warm.”

Expert recruiting is very, very hard

• Use existing programs, sites and pubs

• Tech experts can be coached

• Give them guidelines• Tools for execution

and measurement• Promote their

content and provide incentives

• Be Flexible

IBM Redbooks, Forums• Every month over 500,000 IBM

Redbooks are downloaded• Over 100,000 Redpapers are

downloaded per month• Over 4,800 IBM Redbooks have

been published• Over 1,100 residents participate in

the program per year• 80,000+ technical professionals

subscribe to the IBM Redbooks Weekly Newsletter

Four million developers, IT professionals, and students in 195 countries use developerWorks each month

Fishing where the expert fish are!

Coach and teach them to fish• Learning-and-

doing• Get broad Education

on Social and Security topics

• Get detailed Enablement on specific tools and technologies

• Use Social Business resources to find official hashtags, blogs, resharable graphics, and reference materials

• Do recommended activities to improve your social footprint, then track your progress

Promote and expand expert eminence

• Homepages and community pages highlight experts

•Promote, promote, promote

•Internal and external tools for customer and peer expertise search

•Measure and give feedback

Experiment

often

SOCIAL IS NOT JUST A MARKETING CHANNELEnterprise Social Media – The Unvarnished Truth

Social Selling is the blending of digital technology, innovative web & social media techniques to increase reach, depth, leads, and expedite the sales cycle.

Reach the clients where they are … Get them to act …

Engage them and grow the relationship …

Social Media

Home Pages

E-contact

Call

Chat

Video & Web conferencing

Stay Connected

CollaborateContent should Have at least 1 call to action, which can be reinforced in all other mediums.

Virtual Briefcase

Rep Page

Rep page 1-1 chat

Client initiates chat

Invitation to chat appears in the lower right corner of your screen

Was Web Sales included in webcam distribution?

Customers are saying about the Rep Page• Customer’s are saying Simplifies my ibm.com web experience Single page for communicating my rep Interacting with my sales rep and get

the latest updates on information that is important to me

I can bookmark the page to get a hold of my rep without searching through emails or contacts

Customized information just for me and my needs!

Local & industry events that I care about• Customers do use it & do share with

others!

• The Rep Page accelerates responsiveness

Did I say?

The views expressed in this presentation are mine and not those

of IBM

Policies are painful but we need themIBM Social Computing Guidelines1. Know and follow IBM's Business Conduct Guidelines.2. IBMers are personally responsible for the content they publish on-line, whether in a blog, social computing site or

any other form of user-generated media. Be mindful that what you publish will be public for a long time—protect your privacy and take care to understand a site's terms of service.

3. Identify yourself—name and, when relevant, role at IBM—when you discuss IBM or IBM-related matters, such as IBM products or services. You must make it clear that you are speaking for yourself and not on behalf of IBM.

4. If you publish content online relevant to IBM in your personal capacity use a disclaimer such as this: "The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions."

5. Respect copyright, fair use and financial disclosure laws.6. Don't provide IBM's or another's confidential or other proprietary information and never discuss IBM business

performance or other sensitive matters publicly.7. Don't cite or reference clients, partners or suppliers without their approval. When you do make a reference, link back

to the source. Don't publish anything that might allow inferences to be drawn which could embarrass or damage a client.

8. Respect your audience. Don't use ethnic slurs, personal insults, obscenity, or engage in any conduct that would not be acceptable in IBM's workplace. You should also show proper consideration for others' privacy and for topics that may be considered objectionable or inflammatory—such as politics and religion.

9. Be aware of your association with IBM in online social networks. If you identify yourself as an IBMer, ensure your profile and related content is consistent with how you wish to present yourself with colleagues and clients.

10. Don't pick fights, be the first to correct your own mistakes.11. Try to add value. Provide worthwhile information and perspective. IBM's brand is best represented by its people and

what you publish may reflect on IBM's brand.12. Don't use use IBM logos or trademarks unless approved to do so.http://www.ibm.com/blogs/zz/en/guidelines.html

IBM enterprise social web strategy

• Enable the expert in the context of our go-to-market programs.

• Optimize engagement across owned and earned social platforms to create shared belief with IBM experts and strategic constituencies.

• Map social content and interactions to optimize the progression through the demand cycle.

MEASURE EVERYTHING REGARDLESS OF ROI CONCERNS

Enterprise Social Media- The Unvarnished Truth

Ongoing analytics

43

Acknowledgments• IBM Inside sales team – Jeanette Browning• IBM Systems management – Scott Hawkins• IBM Corporate HQ – • IBM STG team – Angie Brown, Shlomo Ron, Renee Bain and • ITSO Redbook team – Tina Williams• IBM SmartCloud and Social Business Teams• My wife – Maureen

Social Platforms

@rohitbhargavaPresented at Spredfast Social Summit , Austin – October 2012

The Beautiful Myth of B2B Social Media

The Snickers Problem …

50

What Is Visionary Measurement?

Visionary measurement focuses on business impact instead of recording volume.

51

4 Elements Of Business Value:

Increase Sales or

WOM

Increase Efficiency or Save Money

Inspire Innovation

Increase Employee Retention

52

Tip #1:Don’t start with BS …

Tip #2:Have a strategy, not a bubble.

54

Tip #3:Be Useful.

Tip #4:Redefine “conversation.”

Tip #5:Focus on the big picture.

What Am I Most Excited About?

Social media can help solvethe biggest B2B businessproblem today …

Thank you!Visit social.ogilvy.com for daily insights from the Ogilvy team!

Twitter:@rohitbhargavaDownload a free excerpt

of Likeonomics at www.likeonomics.co

m

#SFsummit

Q&ACliff Kinnard

IBM@cliffkinnard

Jon SanderMason Zimbler@thejonsander

Rohit BhargavaOgilvy

@rohitbhargava

building b2b relationships through social

Documents

enterprise

views expressed

social media

b2b buyers

cloud computing

social footprint

social data

b2b audience