Socializing Solutions Marketing: What’s Working and What’s Next

Presented to: Hult International School of Business Solutions Marketing Course May 28, 2010

Rob Leavitt, Principal Solutions Insights

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Social media represents a big challenge for solutions (and all) marketing

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Social Media Marketing, circa 2010: Paul Dunay meets himself on Facebook

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Introductions

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What should we talk about today?

●  Trends ●  Challenges and

Opportunities ●  Examples! ●  Strategy and Organization ●  Metrics ●  Getting Started ●  What else?

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The debate over social media is over; the question now is HOW

*Chart for illustrative purposes only

2007 2008 2009 2010

Buzz

Consultants

Budgets

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But many B2B marketers are still just starting to explore

Source: B2B Marketing Goes Social: A White Horse Survey Report © May 2009

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Amid the crush of tools and channels, what to actually do is far from clear

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The opportunity for solutions marketers seems huge

Identifying New Opportunities

Developing the Right Solutions

Connecting with Customers

Enabling Solutions Selling

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The challenges are just as big

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What’s Working Now

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Building awareness and connections: Blogs @ Emerson Process Management

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Driving leads and sales: HubSpot’s pervasive presence

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Generating new ideas: Cisco’s I-Prize

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Building customer community: CHA’s Drug Safety Executive Council

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Mobilizing employees: Intel’s social media training

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Moving Forward

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Strategy and organization matter most

• Where are your customers, partners, and influencers now? Stakeholders

• What are the priorities for solutions marketing? Priorities

• Who will do the work; what skills are required? Resources

• Who is accountable, with what objectives? Governance

• How ready is the organization? Culture

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Next Steps

●  Audit existing activities ●  Bring together champions (COP) ●  Recruit/ensure executive sponsorship and

governance ●  Invest in listening and internal

engagement ●  Pick your spots ●  Build a content engine ●  Always deliver value!

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Questions

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Thank you!

Rob Leavitt Principal

Solutions Insights

rleavitt@solutionsinsights.com www.solutionsinsights.com

www.reputationtorevenue.com www.twitter.com/robleavitt

www.linkedin.com/in/rleavitt