lead generation in b2b communities
DESCRIPTION
Presentation on how companies can leverage online communities for lead generation. Examples use B2B and B2B communities.TRANSCRIPT
Driving Lead Generation Through B2B Communities
George Krautzel, Co-Founder and President
2
Contents
1. Toolbox.com Background
2. Trends in the Marketplace
3. Determining the Right Environment
4. Lead Generation in B2B Communities
5. Swing Thought – Where This is Going
6. Q&A
3
Toolbox.com Background
4
Who is Toolbox.com?
• Mission— Provide an online platform that
enables professionals to easily share knowledge with their peers
• Existing communities— IT (11 years), HR (1 yr), and Finance
(<1 yr)— More than 3.0 million monthly unique
visitors
— Over 2.6 million pages of practical user-generated content
• Advertising services– More than 800 advertising partners,
including: IBM, HP, Oracle, Microsoft, Dell
Where Toolbox.com Lives in the Media Space
5
Consumer Business
Ed
itori
al
User-
Gen
era
ted
• Content is communication, specific appeal
• 2-way conversations between friends• Personal experiences, socially driven
• Content is communication, specific appeal
• 2-way conversations between peers• Personal experiences, best practices
• Content is carefully vetted, broad appeal• 1-way conversation from experts to
readers• News, consumer interests, and trends
• Content is carefully vetted, broad appeal• 1-way conversation from experts to
readers• News, case studies, best practices
6
Trends in the Marketplace
Shift #1: Increase in Consumption of UGC (Trend)
7
• Trend: consistent increase in social media consumption across IT job roles
Source: Toolbox.com/PJA IT Social Media Index, Wave 4, June 2009
3.48
2.882.71
3.263.06
2.88
3.74
3.35
2.85
4.72
3.54
2.79
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Social media/user-generatedcontent (Toolbox.com,
Wikipedia, LinkedIn, etc.)
Online Editorial media(InformationWeek, CNN,
WSJ.com, etc.)
Online Vendor content(vendor-produced whitepapers, webcasts, etc.)
Ho
urs
pe
r w
ee
k
How many hours during an average week do you spend online consuming or participating in the following media types?
Shift #2: Acceptance of Vendors as Participants
8
Source: Toolbox.com/PJA IT Social Media Index, Wave 4, June 2009
• More than 76% of community members believe it is important that vendors listen to their audience and participate in conversations
Which of the following statements best reflects your attitude about vendor participation in online communities? (Note: by "vendor participation," we mean the vendor may monitor or actively engage in conversations.)
Shift #3: Emergence of Brand Management (Company)
9
Background on the vendor
White papers, documents, and other
research from the vendor
Community conversation about
the vendor and products
Connections with interested community
members
10
Determining the Right Environment
All Social Media is Not the Same - Communities
11
12
Determining the Right Communities for Your Campaign
ContentContent
Context
Demographics
13
Lead Generation in B2B Communities
Tactics to Utilize in B2B Online Communities
14
• Promoting Assets in the Long Tail
• Building a Beachhead for Engagement
• Nurturing Leads Within a Community
• Creating Advocacy
Promoting Assets in the Long Tail
15
• Utilize tools to integrate your assets directly into conversations
• With proper targeting, vendor information can provide further value to the community
• Contextual Matching on Toolbox.com– Relevant information assets
from advertising partners are matched with user-generated content
– Advertising partners are integrated into conversations with target audiences
User-generated content
Relevant lead-generation assets from advertising
partners
Building a Beachhead
16
• Go where your audience is
• Build a beachhead– Establish a presence
– Promote through various channels
– Listen, listen, listen
– Tailor your interaction to your audience’s needs
• Starbucks’ Facebook Fan Page– 4.3 million fans
– Pushed beyond Coke as the most popular Facebook page in July 2009
– Discovered what works for their audience (e.g., free pastry and free ice cream giveaway
Nurturing Leads Within a Community
17
• Opportunities exist to nurture leads within a “safe environment”
• Increasing touches can improve quality
• Possibility for more intelligent lead scoring
• Toolbox.com Lead Nurturing Tool– Gives partners the ability to
segment leads by demographics
– Allows those leads to be nurtured further down the sales funnel through targeted messaging and higher engagement
Creating Advocacy
18
• Ford’s results (6 months)– 4.3 million YouTube views
– 500,000+ Flickr views
– 3.0 million Twitter impressions
– 50,000 interested customers, not current Ford owners
• Customers are your strongest brand champions
• More demand generation will come from a smart social media presence vs. traditional direct marketing
19
Swing Thought: Where This is Going
Direct Results
2004-2009 2010-2015
Experimentation
Value: Web as a promotional vehicle
Primary Goals: Trial a new media concept, gain eyeballs, build brand and drive awareness
Measurements: Cost per impression
Marketing Tactics:– Branding – buttons,
banners– E-mail – newsletters, list
rentals
1996-2003
Value: Web as a direct results platform
Primary Goals: Drive traffic and lead generation
Secondary Goals: Thought leadership and branding
Measurements: CPL, CPC, brand measurements confirmed through surveys
Marketing Tactics:– Search ads– Lead generation – white
papers, webcasts – Branding - IMUs, larger
units, microsites– E-mail – list rentals
Value: Web as a relationship management platform
Primary Goals: Engaging prospects and customers outside of their Web site
Secondary Goals: Lead generation, drive traffic, thought leadership and branding
Measurements: Cost of sales, customer retention, brand penetration and measurements from direct results stage
Marketing Tactics:– Vendor communities– Two-way ads– Messaging connections
using trigger marketing– Successful tactics from
direct results stage
Relationship
Evolution of Online Marketing
20
21
Marketing ROI – Traditional Campaigns
Impact = Site visits/leadsEffort = Funding
Traditional Campaigns
TIME
VALUE
With traditional campaigns there is a direct relationship between funding and results – once a campaign is over, that activity usually ceases (landing page visits, etc.).
Source: Pauline Ores, IBM
22
Impact = Relevance and engagement
Effort = Funding
Social Media Impact
TIME
VALUE
Marketing through an online community allows advertisers to
quickly engage and make an impact with their target
audiences.
Social media marketing requires continuous, steady investment to build and manage the network, with eventual value created as the network grows and becomes self-sustaining.
Source: Pauline Ores, IBM
Marketing ROI – Social Media Campaigns
23
• My profile on Toolbox.com: http://it.toolbox.com/people/george_krautzel
• My profile on Twitter: http://twitter.com/georgekrautzel
Q&A and Contact Information
George Krautzel
Toolbox.com Co-Founder and President