Essential Tips for B2B Marketers on Social Media

Get on Twitter, and actually use it
Most businesses are not on Twitter as it is considered a non-b2b-centric social medium. However, Twitter can have as much impact as Facebook or LinkedIn. Sign up for a Twitter account and start engaging in conversations. Expressing your marketing message in 140 characters can be very hard, but it can be fast and straight to the point as well. Search for keywords related to your business, services, industry, etc ... and join the threads by replying to them. You DON'T need to offer a product to sell right away. Just engage with people, show them that you’re offering free professional advice, this way you will build bridges with your audience and increase their trust in you and in your company/brand. Use the hashtag to link directly to companies or people that share the same interests, services, or products as you provide. And don't forget that on Twitter you can follow anyone.

The benefit of LinkedIn
LinkedIn is growing fast; it is without a doubt the number one source for networking between businesses and employees. With LinkedIn you can view your shared connections with others. This could be a way to find potential clients, see who you have in common and ask for a recommendation or maybe a professional introduction. In the B2B world, "word of mouth" is golden, which makes those shared connections even better. Also don't be afraid to use the "LinkedIn Answers" feature: This is like a knowledge base where active participants and businesses share their knowledge and take part in public discussions.

Read more on our blog here.

The Case for Investing in a Voice of Customer Program - Part 1

In B2B marketing, is your distribution channel "playing ball" with you? Reporting back the outcomes of leads they've received? Selling your products? Protecting your brand? Did I hear you say, "NO" or maybe that was a, "Gee, I have no idea!"

You spend bucks in developing ads, placing them in vertical trade pubs, going to trade shows, executing direct mail campaigns, etc. Add to that the cost for the inside/outsourced talent to pull it off. When it's all said and done, the marketing folks have quite a chunk of change they've been entrusted to spend wisely (generate sales and reveal ROI metrics).

Then, the leads come. They are distributed to the captive sales rep who owns the opportunity, and the sales rep decides to dish some of the tasty leads off to the best-suited distributor. But, really, how well-suited is the distributor?


Is the sales rep sure that the distributor won't pull the old "bait and switch?" In other words, the distributor pushes the lead to buy a competitor's product because the competitor is offering the SPIF of the month. Or, better yet, does the internal sales rep know if the distributor partner is even picking up the phone to call or sending an email to follow-up with the opportunity?

Continue reading the article here on our blog.