We live in an instant world. As business people, we want our business performance results to be just as snappy. And why not? Technology makes it easier and faster to get information.

That may apply to some business initiatives, but marketing doesn’t work that way, especially in the B2B space. Why? Because as I already wrote on this topic, B2B marketing is a long haul, and at the core is something called trust.

You can destroy trust in an instant, but it takes time and multiple impressions to nurture it. And even though that sounds logical, it’s amazing how many business people keep killing their voice (aka: marketing) when things don’t happen quick enough.

After working in various creative, technology, and marketing capacities over the past 25+ years, I’ve seen some of the best ideas squashed because of unrealistic expectations or unproductive taste debates.

Too often the people in charge of marketing know just enough to be dangerous and can’t seem to get out of their own way. They forget that in order to communicate effectively, people need to connect with people other than themselves.

Take Maersk Line for example. They have revolutionized B2B social media not by coming up with clever shortcuts or a magic formula.

1. They took the time to watch and listen to industry conversation (about 2 years).
2. They took the time to create a smart social strategy (about a few months).
3. They took the time to nurture their social communities (about a year).

Guess what? They are the first B2B company to earn trust on a social level faster than any other B2B company on the planet with remarkable results. Yes, you heard right: Real results. But it took time… about 3 years. Not 3 weeks. Not 3 months.

Here’s another example: One of our largest clients fired us in early 2011 because we were “too expensive” (about 2% of their annual revenue) for what they were getting back (about 20%). After six months of rebuilding their brand and only five (5) months of actual marketing, we were done. They hired us back earlier this year because they recognized the work we did two years ago actually paid back more… as in a 140% increase to their bottom line more. They spent 2% and got back 140% after two years. Yes, I know that’s not “all” marketing, but do the math!

So the next time a great idea comes along, take the time to strategically position it and give it time to earn the trust of your audience. Because the last thing we need, especially in the B2B space, is more spaghetti marketing tactics.

I leave you with the wise words from the architect of the most successful ad campaign in history…

Dullness won’t sell your product, but neither will irrelevant brilliance.

Bill Bernbach (the B in DDB)

What do you think? Is marketing a strategic business initiative that can build trust? Or is it just pretty pictures and clever buzzwords? Share your thoughts and sound off in the comments below or on Twitter (@SterlingKlor).

Today’s B2Bs can no longer rely on how fast they respond to customers, they must also do it well on a number of levels. For instance, social, mobile and video content is influencing B2B buying decisions more than ever before. Buyers want more so they seek more. Too many businesses, especially here in North America, underestimate how dialed-in their customers really are.

To be clear, I’m not talking about products or services. Every business boasts that their stuff is better than the other guy’s. I’m talking about content your buyers can USE:

• Useful content that educates, supports and services buyers so they can make informed decisions.
• Social content that creates conversation, gets shared, and puts a face to a name.
• Engaging content that tells a unique story that can’t be copied and stands out.

B2B used to be all about measuring the time and cost to service customers. Now companies must measure overall customer engagement with their brand if they hope to compete. In simple terms, customers engage with companies that are engaging.

How to be engaging in a B2B world that is bland and boring

Last June, my good pal Ann Handley over at MarketingProfs shared an awesome Slideshare on how to tell your company’s story. I’m digging it up again because of my recent experience with Maersk Line, the global Danish container shipping giant. If you take the time to answer the questions in Ann’s slide deck below and read the Maersk case study, you’ll find a lot of parallels you can use for your own business.

Let’s face it: B2B buyers are B2C consumers when they’re not at work. And since they are already interacting with new technology, it shouldn’t be a surprise that B2B buyers seek out companies that are also socially engaged. When Maersk Line launched their social media platform in late 2011, they focused on communication, not marketing. They intentionally use social networks to… wait for it… socially engage with their customers instead of hitting them up with useless social media advertising. In doing so, Maersk turned B2B social media on its head. After 11 months their customer engagement scores were through the roof. Go figure.

Today’s B2B customer is empowered by useful and engaging content. To compete in the next two to three years, B2Bs need to become content-centric organizations and start delivering content that generates demand.

The rules of customer engagement have changed. Is your business prepared? Share your thoughts and sound off in the comments below or on Twitter (@SterlingKlor).

Ever since the social media tsunami hit the corporate boardroom in 2008, B2B social media discussions have been usually met with rolling eyes and smug grins. After all, B2B is all about business, not fans, likes, and followers. Right?

At first, one would think the B2B skeptics were right, but Maersk Line, the global Danish shipping giant, is proving all the naysayers wrong.

Maersk Line is pioneering the use of social networking and in doing so is likely putting a huge culture clash to bed… Your stereotypical shipowner… would likely view social networking a confine for geeks. The very idea of “blasting” information about themselves or their companies over the Internet could still be considered anathema.

Social Media Gets Maersk Plugged In, by Ian Lewis, TradeWinds

Maersk believes that their customers, like consumers, are people who would also like to interact with them. Based on the tremendous response to their social media activity, it looks like they’re right. Since integrating social media into the corporate content ecosystem in late 2011, Maersk has completely transformed the way they interact with customers, vendors, partners, and employees. In global engagement scoring, they are 2nd only to fellow Danish B2C brand, Lego. The Danes obviously know a thing or two about B2C and B2B customer engagement.

So what is Maersk doing differently? Here are a few insights:

Be Strategic

Have a goal in mind before launching into tactics that may or may not get you anywhere. It’s shocking how many B2B companies venture into social media without a strategy and then get frustrated with their results. Like the old saying goes, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there”. If you want results, create the proper road map.

In our original strategy, we accounted for what we could achieve via social media, including brand awareness, insight into the market and increased employee satisfaction. But our primary goal has always been “to get closer to our customers”.

Jonathan Wichmann, Head of Social Media, Maersk Line

Start From the Inside

Authenticity and transparency are absolutely critical when executing a B2B social media strategy. There are certain things you can outsource, like developing your social media strategy, shooting video, creating graphics, but the voice must come from internal subject matter experts. The more you can do yourself, the better.

Firstly, we did it all from within. What happened was that I was ‘in-sourced’ to manage the project, as it would not have been credible and vibrant otherwise. I have pretty much done everything myself, which of course is one of the ideas behind social media, where everything seems to have become accessible to everyone.

Jonathan Wichmann

Tell Stories

Because B2B is traditionally bland and boring, you’d think a container shipping brand would be no different; however, Maersk embraces social media as a way to connect with its business communities by telling engaging stories and sharing useful content – content that not only provides knowledge and support, but, more importantly, sparks dialogue and gets shared.

By telling the stories Wichmann makes the firm more human. He stresses the importance of showing the many faces of the firm. “Instead of just being a business and a portal, with people alienated, they are now a network. It becomes refined.” Companies need to find out whether they will be corporate or social. “Social media is like a dining table with some special social codes. The rules of marketing do not apply. This challenges many industries. It is about creating meaning in a new world order. It is the firm you have a relation to. Not the advertising agency. The latter shall help with strategy and creativity, but the focus needs to be on what is best for the company. That kind of thinking needs to be present throughout the company.”

Telling the story of Maersk Line, by Anders Møller, Grasp Magazine

Listen and Respond

Believe me, Maersk is listening. Just this week I had a very responsive Twitter interaction with them even though there’s an eight hour time difference between Vancouver and Copenhagen. For Jonathan, Maersk Line’s social media is all about quality and engagement, rather than quantity. It’s communication, not marketing. He’s bang on.

From the outset, we have been conscious of the widespread (and misunderstood) tendency to regard social media as nothing more than the sum of a series of digital platforms on which companies can disseminate their news and campaigns directly to users of the various networks.

Jonathan Wichmann

How Maersk Line strategically uses social channels to engage customers

• Facebook: Attracts attention by not being afraid to share both positive and negative newsworthy stories, including users’ own images and stories, reflecting Maersk’s efforts to be vibrant as well as credible. And being a global company, Maersk also set up global employees to post local news on Maersk’s global Facebook page so that their posts are only visible to their own region.
• Twitter: Shares more serious news with the shipping press and other industry people with a panel of employees to bring expertise and diversity into play and foster a transparent social corporate culture.
• Instagram: Started a #maersk spotting trend where people around the world take pictures of Maersk ships and containers with their mobile phone and share it on Instagram, which are then shared on Facebook, Twitter, etc.
• LinkedIn: Set up The Shipping Circle LinkedIn group to invite shipping experts from around the world to debate industry challenges, opportunities, etc. It’s a fantastic way for Maersk to gain knowledge alongside experts they would not otherwise encounter.
• Google+: Uses Hangouts to hold smaller press briefings where a few journalists can video conference with executives when the company is launching new initiatives.

Maersk Line is setting new standards for B2B customer engagement by using various social media channels strategically. It won’t be long before more North American businesses take notice and begin to rethink their approach to using social channels to generate demand proactively instead of posting jobs or self serving content. Companies that resist will eventually disappear.

For businesses that don’t jump in, in the next two to three to four years… non-engagement will be seen as, “Wow, this company really doesn’t get it.”

Richard Lui, MSNBC Anchor

Maersk’s advice to other B2Bs: Be ambitious and take some chances. No one wants to interact with a business without face.

Do you think B2B companies in North American can learn from Maersk’s example? How does your company approach social media? Share your thoughts and sound off in the comments below or on Twitter (@SterlingKlor).

For more information, I encourage you to read Jonathan’s blog, The Digital Blueprint. It is packed with nuggets of wisdom.

Today in the B2B world, content marketing is recognized as a strategic sales generation initiative. Many B2Bs are focusing on delivering valuable content throughout the content ecosystem to help customers make better business decisions. One of the most powerful and popular B2B content marketing tactics to emerge recently is video.

The infographic below, courtesy of Brainshark, and recently featured on Eloqua’s Blog, illustrates a few compelling statistics about the benefits of using video in B2B marketing. And although the stats are juicy, I want to focus on five key reasons why you should consider integrating online video into your marketing mix.

1. Economics. Advancements in camera technology and software has provided marketers the ability to create high quality video content at a fraction of what it used to cost.
2. Influence. Today, online video reaches more people than ever before, resulting in higher viewer retention.
3. Mobility. More and more B2B buyers rely on mobile devices to watch and share video content when making buying decisions.
4. Integration. Video integrates seamlessly into inbound and outbound marketing campaign tactics such as email and landing pages.
5. Versatility. Video allows companies to not only sell, but also educate and entertain all at the same time.

In short…

If an image is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a million… 1.8 million words to be exact.

Today’s HD video cameras allow almost anyone to create terrific online video content. If you know what you’re doing, it’s never been easier to create rich video content.

But let me be clear: although producing video may be much simpler and accessible than it used to be, crafting engaging and compelling video stories is not for the faint of heart. Content, whether it be words, photos, or videos, requires skilled content developers that can connect the company’s brand promise to the target audience using any medium.

Do you have any insights or opinions on the use of video in B2B marketing? Share your thoughts and sound off in the comments below or on Twitter (@SterlingKlor).

Throwing B2B tactics at Facebook is like fishing for trout in the middle of the ocean

Go to Google and search for “B2B” and “Facebook”. You will quickly find an endless sea of stats and figures that show how Facebook “generates this” and “increases that” (traffic mostly, but I’ll get to that later).

For example:

• Study: Photos on Facebook generate more engagement
• Study: Mobile ads making large inroads on Facebook
• Five Ways to Boost B2B Fan Engagement on Facebook
• How Facebook Just Became Critical for B2B
• Facebook vs. LinkedIn – 10 B2B Marketing Resources [with Infographic]

There is so much hype that it is of little surprise that many B2Bs have jumped on the Facebook bandwagon – without a strategy – hoping that by simply copying their B2C cousins, the social network behemoth will bestow endless qualified leads upon them.

Wrong.

“Facebook, bless it’s heart, desperately wants to be relevant to B2B marketers. But several times this year, I’ve been in large rooms of people when someone has asked anyone asked to raise their hand if they have found new business from Facebook. Never have a I seen a hand go up.”

– Matt Heinz, Heinz Marketing

Unless you have a specific need to attract the Facebook crowd (an event, perhaps), throwing B2B tactics at Facebook is like fishing for trout in the middle of the ocean. Sure, you may attract tons of other eyeballs, but what’s the point if all those eyeballs bounce? No wonder B2Bs say things like, “We tried social media but it doesn’t work.” Um… yeah. Try fishing in the right pond and with the right bait and you will sing a different tune.

LinkedIn: where the B2B fish hang out

It’s true that Facebook is an ocean compared to LinkedIn. All the traffic stats are bang on: Facebook generates four times more traffic than LinkedIn. That makes sense: Facebook has over 1 Billion users where LinkedIn has 200 Million. But as I already mentioned, what’s the point of spending all that time and effort to generate traffic that results in unqualified leads? That’s just not good business. How many high-school students need B2B products? How many OEMs use Facebook when procuring a million dollar account? Strategic, targeted campaigns using the right tactics for the right demographic will always net higher returns. The chart from Hubspot on the right is a perfect case in point. Although LinkedIn only drives 1/4 of the traffic that Facebook generates, it yields four times more lead conversions than Facebook. Which would you rather have? Four times more traffic or four times more conversions?

Why is LinkedIn more effective than Facebook for B2B?

• LinkedIn is a business network, Facebook is a social network.
• LinkedIn has a higher conversion rate (2.6% vs. Facebook’s 0.39%).
• LinkedIn is growing faster (60.7% YOY vs. Facebook’s 20.7% YOY).

Source: Hubspot

I know I’m going upset some B2Bs that are seeing some success with Facebook. The point of this post is to focus on strategy before jumping into tactics, a common B2B marketing mistake. Facebook can work if it’s done right and for the right audience. For example, Dell created an excellent campaign for their Dell For Business division by integrating a targeted inbound strategy for both Facebook and YouTube. It can work if you plan your work and work your plan. It also helps if you have the brand awareness Dell does (that’s a tip).

Your Turn

Last time I checked, lonely single people, students, and retired seniors don’t make good B2B leads. If you’re going to hunt for B2B leads on Facebook be sure to have the market research in your corner to back you up when you start spending your hard-earned dollars. LinkedIn is a better choice but it too requires proper planning and execution in order to make it work.

What are your experiences in driving qualified leads on Facebook and LinkedIn? Share your thoughts and sound off in the comments below or on Twitter (@SterlingKlor).

For many B2Bs struggling with today’s new marketing innovations such as marketing automation, social media, mobile and video, Dayna Rothman over at Marketo has provided an excellent visual summary of how modern marketing has evolved over the past century.

Upon closer examination to the timeline presented in the infographic, notice how technology changes the marketing landscape and how dramatically the speed of new innovations increases as technology advances:

• 1900s Print Era (magazines and newspaper)
• 1920s Radio Era
• 1960s TV Era
• 1990s Internet Era (web, email, SEO)
• 2000s Social Era (blogs, social networks)
• 2010s Mobile Era (apps, inbound marketing, marketing automation)

The point I want to make is this: change is inevitable so don’t resist it. Embrace it and make it work for your business. My parents used to roll their eyes over this “internets thing”. Their parents used to roll their eyes over this “television thing”. Businesses need to embrace new innovations like social marketing just like our parents and grandparents did with TV and Radio.

Every generation resists the changes that new generations impose. But like it or not, the new innovations available to us all are not going away. In fact they are only going to get bigger and better with each passing generation. I leave you with this:

“Although technology keeps changing the way we communicate, the guiding principals of communication and connection never change.”

Got any insights or opinions on the evolution of modern marketing? Share your thoughts and sound off in the comments below or on Twitter (@SterlingKlor).

Traditional business-to-business lead generation strategies like cold calling and unsolicited site visits and email worked a few years ago but will not deliver results today. Social media, mobile technology and content marketing has changed the B2B landscape forever.

Inbound marketing strategies are now generating more demand for business products and services than traditional marketing ever could because more and more B2B buyers are influenced by social, mobile and video. That means B2B firms need to catch up and adapt by creating useful content that nurtures relationships along the long sales cycle.

To successfully convert B2B leads today, you have to strike a balance between traditional and digital marketing techniques. But instead of using the phone and email for cold calls or unproductive site visits, rejuvenate your sales and marketing by following these five steps:

1. Elevate Your Brand Image. Imagine doing the most important business presentation of your life in a faded suit, wrinkled shirt, B.O. and bad breath. It wouldn’t matter how good your stuff is, your credibility would suffer. Corporate “Image Hygiene” is no different. Clean up your brand image so your company looks credible. Check out 3 Ways to Improve B2B Brand Experience for more help on elevating your brand.
2. Create Useful Content. Don’t write content to fill up another blog or publish a bunch of techno-mumbo-jumbo whitepapers that only Sheldon Copper could understand. Many times the people (remember we are dealing with people) tasked to research B2B products and services for their peers don’t have PhD’s. Content is not easy but it is vital for B2Bs to succeed today. Check out B2B Content Marketing: 3 Steps to a Content-Centric Organization for more info.
3. Improve Your SEO. The whole point of creating a web presence is to be found. Google is always changing it’s search algorithms to weed out the riffraff and ensure relevant and meaningful search results land on page 1. You need to be on top of these ever-changing SEO standards so that your page rankings don’t suffer. Check out B2B Inbound Marketing: How to get your brand into the mix for details on why inbound marketing helps improve search results.
4. Cultivate Your Social B2B Communities. If you still think social marketing does not apply to your business, stop reading now. Instead, I urge you to read this post from ExploreB2B: 8 Arguments for Companies to Stay Out of Social Media – And Why You Should Ignore Them. Then come back and finish this post.
5. Follow up with Email and Phone calls. Now that your credible company is providing useful content that can be easy found and is a hot topic in social B2B channels, your sales team can use the phone and email to nurture leads throughout your long sales cycles by providing additional information, detailed tech specs, 1-to-1 assistance, etc.

In a nutshell, successful companies generate demand for their products and services by publishing useful content that gets their brand noticed and found. This content takes on many forms in both desktop and mobile formats:

• whitepapers
• blogs
• tweets
• video
• etc…

All of it is designed to work in unison and provide B2B buyers with a rich experience and as much research material as required so they look like rock stars to their peers when it comes time to make the purchase.

Is any of this easy? No. Is it simple? Yes. In fact it’s Marketing 101 updated for today’s technology. If it sounds daunting, ask for help. For example, outscouring the inbound strategy and planning steps can save you a lot of frustration and aggravation.

What are your experiences with traditional and digital B2B marketing? How is your organization integrating inbound marketing programs to generate and nurture leads? Share your thoughts and sound off in the comments below or on Twitter (@SterlingKlor).

Since the release of Google’s Panda and Penguin search algorithms last year, much has changed for B2B companies – how they go to market; how they generate leads; how they keep leads. In fact, a recent IDG report shows that B2B buyers are influenced by social, mobile and video content more than ever before. Useful content, it seems, is what Google and B2B buyers want most.

To complicate matters further, Google’s latest algorithm upgrades will now rank websites based on design. Yes, design. That means B2B firms will need to change they way they approach design, especially those that design by committee. Kent Lewis over at iMediaConnection provides some timely advice about 9 marketing strategies you must stop using now if you want to avoid seeing your website tossed to the back of the SEO bus.

“The enemy of good design is groupthink. The larger the organization, the more likely the corporate website will lack creativity, consistency, and clear messaging. Google’s latest algorithm updates now reward exceptionally designed websites that provide an optimal user experience. Google’s algorithm is now the new stakeholder, which will reward well-designed sites with high rankings.”

- Kent Lewis, iMediaConnection

Inbound Marketing to the Rescue

In a recent inbound marketing whitepaper, Optify points out that 81% of business buyers start their quest for a solution with a general web search. A sound inbound marketing strategy can save a B2B company’s search rankings because effective inbound marketing delivers useful content that helps buyers research the products and services they need.

Inbound marketing has other benefits over traditional outbound marketing. Inbound leads are higher quality and cost half as much to acquire, but the most important take-away is that a well-executed inbound marketing strategy creates content that gets your brand found and your products and services considered when buying decisions are made. The best part is Google will love you more and put you at the front of the aisle.

Have you noticed any change in search ranking for your website since Google’s release of Panda and Penguin? Have you considered inbound marketing programs to generate and nurture leads? Share your thoughts and sound off in the comments below or on Twitter (@SterlingKlor).

A guest post by Derek Singleton, analyst at Austin-based company Software Advice. To read the original article, visit The B2B Marketing Mentor at: 4 Ways B2B Companies Can Consumerize Their Marketing. You can reach Derek at derek@softwareadvice.com.

The lines between the business and consumer worlds are blurring. In the technology world, this manifests itself in what’s being called the “consumerization of IT” where popular consumer technologies (e.g. smartphones and apps) are bleeding into the enterprise. But this trend extends beyond IT and touches many facets of the business. And B2B marketing is no exception.

Today, B2B companies are borrowing marketing strategies already proven successful in the B2C marketing world. They’re using these strategies to market to the common business user, create transparent pricing and offer a frictionless buying process. Here are four ways that B2B marketers can borrow B2C strategies to consumerize their marketing.

1. Use Marketing to Reduce the Need for Outside Sales

One of the strengths of B2C marketing is that abundant product information is usually available online, pricing is transparent and it’s relatively easy to make a purchase. Of course, B2B purchases are often several orders of magnitude more complex than a B2C purchase, but B2B marketers can provide similarly detailed product specifications, demos and more on the Web to help educate buyers. In addition to providing detailed product information, publishing fixed pricing and providing Web purchasing options can go a long way toward smoothing out the buying process and reducing the need for an outside sales force.

2. Offer a Free Trial of Your Product

While it’s not possible for every B2B company (e.g. insurance companies) to offer a free product trial, companies with a low cost of goods sold (e.g. Cloud software) should consider offering their product on a free trial basis so buyers have an idea of what they can expect when they make their purchasing decision. However, in order to generate leads, it’s important that B2B marketers don’t give everything away and force a purchasing decision at some point. This can either come in the form of a trial expiration date or a only allowing paying members to use a certain product feature.

3. Create Customer Challenges to Encourage Feedback

Customer testimonials are a great marketing tactic but finding the right people to be your advocate can be difficult. To encourage more customers to get involved in marketing, B2B companies can create challenges for their customers that offer a reward upon completion of the challenge. For instance, B2B marketers can gamify their customer feedback by creating a challenge for customers provide a case study for how their product has helped them improve their operations. In exchange for offering up a compelling case study, marketers provide Amazon gift cards, or give away a service at their company.

4. Turn Your Marketing into a Game

In keeping with the gamification trend, B2B marketers can turn their educational marketing into an actual game. While this can be difficult to do in the B2B world, I recently found a great example in the networking company SonicWALL, which created a game designed for IT professionals called The Network Security Challenge. The game asks players to try and decide what to let past the firewall as potential threats come up. As the game progresses, threats come in faster and faster until you inevitably fail. The point is that no one can manually decide what to let past a firewall, so you need an enterprise network security solution like SonicWALL to automate the process. The game ultimately helped SonicWALL to sell tens of thousands of dollars of network security from the leads generated. B2B marketers everywhere should consider how they can teach the need for their product by creating a similarly educational game.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it provides a framework to help B2B marketers start to think about how they can borrow B2C strategies and roll them into their marketing. If you have any other tips to provide readers, please feel free to leave a comment below.

According to IDG, B2B tech buyers are becoming more and more influenced by social, mobile, and video content when making purchase decisions. And since B2B is all about relationships, a content ecosystem that publishes useful content in various formats is even more important than ever for fostering lasting relationships and helping buyers make informed decisions.

SterlingKlor’s very first infographic below (yay!), crafted by our stellar creative team, encapsulates IDGs findings and hopefully provides the necessary insight your organization needs to embark on creating a content-centric ecosystem.

How is social, mobile, and video content influencing buyer behaviour in your industry? Share your thoughts in the comments below or on Twitter (@SterlingKlor).