Exploring Social Mediaas a process for driving BtoBLead GenerationBut first a word of caution:

Leads depend as much on theMessages as they do on the Media.Maybe more.

So this will be a story about managing bothMedia and Messages within our MarcomEngine* process.

A Presentation by

Keith Bates AssociatesGROWTH CONSULTANTS TO TECHNOLOGY MARKETERS

*Details available: http://www.kbates.com/marcom.htm

Question One:

Who manages the Media?

Answer:Client based Director of CGM(Consumer-Generated Media) or the CMO.

Question Two:

Who manages the Messages?

Answer:Client’s VP Marketing, the AdAgency Creative Director, or yourCreative Consultant … and theMarket.

Partial list of Social Media,both Digital and Non-Digital

First the Digital*

Blogs—your own and compatible entitiesEmailFacebook pages for fansLinkedInMobile—meetings, eventsNewsletters onlinePodcastingPRWebSocial Networks (multiple)SurveysTwitter accountsUnique landing pagesVideo ads YouTube and/or websiteVirtual conferencesVirtual trade showsWebcasts/WebinarsWhite papersWord of mouth—29% online

Note: What makes a medium social? The ability tointeract, respond, to the marketer’s messaging. It’sdialogue, not monologue.

Social Media consists ofboth Digital, and Non-Digital

Second, the Non-Digital

By-lined articles with contact dataConsulting practicesCustomer Visitor CentersDirect mail with personal contact dataExperiential marketingFocused print media with contact dataRoad showsTelemarketingWord of mouth—71% offline

Now, where do we begin?

That’s easy…

The Messages!

Which come in two flavors:

• Client driven messaging• Consumer driven messaging

First the process of clientdriven messaging:

Client driven messages evolve from theCommunications module of our six-moduleMarcom Engine.

The Engines first three modules are Audit,Strategy, and Communications, and representthe Planning Phase.

The Engines second three modules areArsenal, Deployment, and Measurement, andrepresent the Execution Phase.

Within the Communications module weassemble a Creative Repository which ispopulated with core intelligence (extractedfrom the Audit and Strategy modules)…

which is then blended with “big idea”theme/image standards built by your artdirector, ad agency or creative consultant.

The success of this effort is heavily based onyour value proposition which should haveevolved during the development of the coreintelligence process.

Details available: You need a better Creative Repository

And then some thoughts onconsumer driven messaging:

Consumer driven messages also evolve fromour (revised) six-module Marcom Engine…butfrom the Deployment module, not the Creative!From the Execution Phase not the PlanningPhase!

Feedback is key. Content is King!

And I say “revised” because for this stageMarcom (for marketing communications)changes to Marcon (for marketingconversation).

Now, instead of controlling messages wemonitor/participate.

Books have been written on this topic. TryJoseph Jaffe’s “Join the Conversation”.

The success of this effort is heavily based onthe quality of our responses in our efforts toparticipate with contributors.

Now we move fromMessaging to MEDIA…

From BtoB Magazine’s headline story 1/18/2010Optimism, accountability, social media top trends

Integration of social media

One of the biggest trends in 2009 was theexplosion of social media as a marketing tool,as marketers took advantage of the low-costcontent distribution model through YouTubevideos, blogs, Twitter accounts and Facebookpages. This year, social media will becomemore integrated into traditional marketingplatforms as well as throughout organizations,marketers predicted.

“2010 is the year social media leaves themarketing group,” said Paul Dunay, globalmanaging director-services and socialmarketing at Avaya. “Social media has thecapability of transforming other parts of theorganization, from developing products, todoing survey research, to tweeting about billingissues.”

media continued…

media continued…

Dunay said social media also has the powerto transform the role of the CMO, asexecutives with knowledge of social mediacan evangelize its benefits to the entireorganization.

“If you have someone who really knows thesocial media landscape, they can galvanizethe company around the customer. Socialmedia is not just a marketing thing; it is afinance thing, a product thing, a customer-support thing,” he said. “Social media has theability to integrate all of these functions andget them to work in a more fluid manner.”

First lets explore some commonmisconceptions of Word of Mouth

It spreads like wildfire: WRONG— rarelyworks well without accelerated contagion.

All you need is a good product: WRONG—product needs inherent interest to inspiretalk, and activities to accelerate process.

With good PR you don’t need marketing:WRONG—traditional marcom toolsneeded to convert enthusiasts to buyers.Focus should be on sales, not contacts.

All you really need are early adopters:WRONG—visionaries only start theprocess. Think pragmatists…to get rich!

Do it online! No do it offline! WRONG—using only one is fatal. Both are needed.

And now a word aboutWord of Mouth Marketing,our passion.

What are the tools andprocesses employed byword of mouth designed toaccomplish?

According to WOMMAthere are five major activities:

IDENTIFYING PEOPLE most likely toshare their opinions.

EDUCATING PEOPLE about yourproducts and services.

PROVIDING TOOLS that make it easierto share information.

STUDYING OPINIONS as to how, where,and when they are being shared.

LISTENING AND RESPONDING tosupporters, detractors, and neutrals.

A few influencerrelations tactics*Initiating the relationship:

Personalized correspondenceE-mail correspondenceDirect response re influencer workCare packages (product trial)Information packages (FAQs)Forward articles of interestEvent interception

Contact opportunities:

Recognition awardsCompany conferencesInfluencer spotlightBriefingsWebinarsRoad showsLunch/Dinners

Involvement:

Influencer brainstormingProduct review boardSpeakers bureauTestimonialsDay at the companyCEO summit

*Courtesy of Paul Rand, Zocalo Group

Introducing the MarcomEngine as the frameworkfor embracing WOMM.

THE MARCOM ENGINE EVOLVED FROMTHE CONCEPTS of Business ProcessReengineering and Integrated MarketingCommunications

It consists of three planning modules: Audit,Strategy, Communications; and threeexecution modules: Arsenal, Deployment,Measurement.

The Marcom Engine acts as the foundation forthe Keith Bates Associates CommunicationsSupport Plan which employs WOMMthroughout.

And in conclusion BtoBvendors are increasingfocused on accountabilityFrom BtoB Magazine’s headline story 1/18/2010Optimism, accountability, social media top trends

While proving ROI on marketing performance isnothing new, the recession increased the emphasison accountability and analytics, and this will continueeven as a recovery gets under way.

“While this trend has been more emergent over thelast five years, there has been more acceleration as aconsequence of the increased capacity to doanalytics and a less friendly economic environment,”said Rick Segal, CEO at b-to-b agency Gyro- HSRNorth America, Cincinnati. “It has obligated us all topinch pennies all the more tightly and squeeze bloodfrom a rock.”

From hiring analytics experts to installing software tomeasure and optimize campaigns, marketers andagencies will increase their investment in dataanalytics and measurement processes this year.

“More clients are demanding the math behind thecreativity,” Seifert said. Ogilvy made a big investmentin analytics last year, and Seifert said this will be animportant focus for the agency this year.

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Keith Bates AssociatesGROWTH CONSULTANTS TO TECHNOLOGY MARKETERS

4319 N. Lowell Ave., Chicago, IL 60641 773.205.7992 or keithbates@kbates.com