One of my favorite thought leaders and {grow} community members is John Bottom, a director at the Base One marketing agency in London.  John and I have had an on-going dialogue about the evolution of socal media and one of his recent comments caught my attention:

The people benefiting most from Twitter right now are obviously in the information businesses.  We are all marketers here and we are sharing views and ideas because that’s what we ultimately sell. If you’re selling something more physical, you need to first create the information-surround market (or at least understand the information-surround market) before you can start to get benefit from Twitter and other social media platforms.

What I mean is that, if you sell power tools, you rely on people talking about power tools online before Twitter starts to have relevance to you – and these people are taking longer to embrace Twitter than the rest of us, because our benefits are more immediate. That doesn’t mean it won’t come, but it makes it harder for us to convince them at those marketing meetings.

In this simple statement John sums up one of the biggest obstacles facing B2B marketers.

As I look at the social media landscape, at least for small and medium businesses, he appears to be correct … at least based in my own experience.  I think there are a couple of important business implications from this simple observation:

1) About 75% of Fortune 100 companies are actively involved in social media. Some of them (Boeing, GE) are industrial B2B’s.  Small businesses can learn from them to see how their brand-builidng online strategies might parallel their own.

2) This emphasizes the importance of considering social media as just one part of an overall marketing strategy.

3) It also implies the importance of doing a customer audit as part of that strategy development.  Are your customers online? If so, where?  If not, why not?  Don’t spend money in this area if the customers aren’t there.

4) One key to a successful marketing strategy is finding meaningful points of differentiation. This does not necessarily have to be in the product or service itself. It can be in HOW the goods are marketed and sold. So if competitors are not using the social web as a marketing channel and your customers are there, this can be a wonderful opportunity.

Of course this is all predicated on an assumption that B2B customers will eventually pick up on social media. I’m wondering what the timeframe will be … I have to tell you I still see a lot of blank stares at meetings with industrial clients!  What do you think about this?  Will we see a day when a larger diversity of products will benefit from the social web?

12 Comments

• 

  By Joseph Fiore, December 1, 2009 @ 8:30 am

  Mark, I see social media’s benefit serving us in so many different ways. To some extent, its utilization depends on the people using it and their position in the adoption lifecycle (i.e. leader, visionary, laggard, etc.).

  I see the benefits as a technology enthusiast, as a business owner, and in leisure pursuits and practices. As an example on the latter point, my eBay selling started sometime in 2000 and I’m still able to carry the reputation I’ve earned on eBay into other parts of the Web like a digital wallet or as some form of reference check. It’s a seed benefit which transcends service implications, and seeps into every aspect of my online identity.

  On top of the unblemished reputation in serving online community interests with utmost satisfaction, it speaks on my ambition, early adoption, vision, and willingness to take that road test others might not be ready to take in virtual environments.

  Because social media can mean different things to different people, not all its benefits can be measured and quantified. Rather its the intangibles and the more abstract benefits where its untapped potential lies. Personally, I’m rooting for social media’s greatest benefit to arise from the notions of share and care, and to help unleash the philanthropic, charitable and heroic good that’s in each one of us.

  It’s also the intangibles that keep us most interested in studying and learning about all its excitement and opportunity, and its through these teachings and experiences that we often find the motivation to assume the role of native guide or evangelist.

  Joseph
  @RepuTrack
• 

  By Dan Levine @schoolmarketer, December 1, 2009 @ 8:35 am

  Great questions. I have no doubt social media can positively affect a biz’s bottom line — if used well and, as you suggest, as a part of an overall marketing plan. What I struggle with is the following: *how* does a biz create the conversation effectively and engage folks who are not engaged with the social web rather than waiting for the conversation to happen or for its customers to begin to engage?

  I work at an independent K-8 school. How does a school (or other small biz) generate conversation that will affect its bottom line? It’s about creating a different kind of conversation — one that builds community, opens new avenues of information sharing, and hopefully extends the school experience in some way. But creating new business out of it? A long, slow process. Our product is a long-term investment for a niche market and more often than not, our bosses expect (and need — for a variety of reasons) immediate results. They can’t see the value in “developing” a presence. It takes too long and we don’t have the resources (time and dollars) to invest in such a long-term strategy. Not the right mentality, but a fact. A real challenge for many of us in small biz’s.

  Thanks for another great post, Mark.
• 

  By Mark, December 1, 2009 @ 9:01 am

  @Joseph You took us down the philosophical lane today! As usual, a wonderful and thought-provoking comment. I share your passion and hope for social media but also have a steely eye on the practical side. I’m responsible for measurable customer results in my business! Which brings us to …
• 

  By Mark, December 1, 2009 @ 9:04 am

  @Dan Always providing a great real-world perspective to the community! I think these very practical issues of time, budget, politics and priorities are missing from the dialogue of many blogs out there. It’s personally frustrating to hear some of these naieve and disconnected bloggers pontificate about the panacea of social media. It’s not and the numbers show it, especially in B2B.

  Dan, I know through your comments that you’ve struggled with these issues for awhile. Let’s schedule a phone call and maybe I can help you brainstorm through a few ideas to try with your boss.
• 

  By Steve Dodd, December 1, 2009 @ 10:32 am

  Mark, this is a very challenging question: “Will we see a day when a larger diversity of products will benefit from the social web?”

  But, I believe the challenge is proving that it is happening rather than the question of it happening at all.

  It is happening right now. Maybe not to the extreme we all want but social media adoption in B2B is escalating. The problem is that it is not obvious. You tweeted this morning about HP monitoring their bloggers due to the impact of new regulations. That article discussed some of the value they are seeing from WOM and other social media activities. There are many, many more examples.

  If we as an industry want to really address this issue, we need to dig deeper into what is happening and take the responsibility to connect the dots for these industries. As we’ve “discussed” before, there’s more to this than “Marketing and Advertising”. There are so many other examples of value being generated in B2B through social media applications that are not clearly obvious. We need to find them, define them and understand that value proposition. Once they are identified and quantified, then we can replicate them.

  Like you, I’m frustrated with the pontification without proof. It all comes back to measurement. We (the SM industry) need to find it, measure it and prove it. But, we need to look past the obvious (ie: Marketing, Advertising and PR).

  A classic example of this missed focus is the never ending use of the Dell example of generating $3,000,000 in sales through Twitter. SO WHAT!!!!!!!! Does anyone talk about the huge customer service, product design and overall market shift intelligence being gained through their other (far more extensive) social media use? NO!!!!!!!

  But the impact in these other areas is far greater than the mere $3million in sales they generated through Twitter.

  Another great example is Apple. It’s been stated that Apple doesn’t use Social Media. That couldn’t be further from the truth. And, because of that, the impact Social Media has had on that company is massive.
  They just don’t use it in a way that is obvious to the marketing people trying to control this industry.
  So, I know I’m rambling….. But, please, we must dig deeper and likely in different places to really uncover these exceptional applications for Social Media in B2B.
• 

  By John Bottom, December 1, 2009 @ 11:10 am

  Mark

  I’m honoured by the mention – thank you. And the commenters above all make excellent points that, for me at least, suggest an inevitable conclusion – ie that it will happen but not yet.

  I find it easier to think of the world before social media, when B2B buyers used to attend physical conferences and discuss issues there. Now they do it online (but not very much, if we’re honest). This usage can only increase. And when it does, the range and depth of conversations surrounding product choice will increase, giving marketers many more opportunities to join in.

  If you’ll forgive a Brit using a US analogy, it’s like Pennsylvania anthracite – a slow burn but it’s not going to go out any time soon.

  Cheers

  John
• 

  By Mark, December 1, 2009 @ 2:39 pm

  @Steve — Congratulations on your first novel! : ) I ocncur and apprciate you taking the time to post these thoughtful comments.

  @John — I guess I prefer the anthracite analogy to social media being like Scottish peat — a lot of it, but it doesn’t generate much heat!
• 

  By Neicole Crepeau, December 2, 2009 @ 1:28 pm

  Great post, Mark! I think you’re dead-on regarding service industries being the primary users right now. I did a small survey of business users on Twitter a while back (http://bit.ly/2j6iye) and almost 80% of them were in the service industry. 70% were in the very small business category.
  I’m thinking some of that has to do with the fact that social media has been touted as an avenue where you build relationships–something that makes a lot of sense if your business is service. Repeat customers is an important factor for them, for instance. Word of mouth is also very important and effective for these businesses. They probably spend more time on relationship building in general and are more willing to invest in it because they know it will pay off.
  I do think we’ll see more retail and B2B use as the usability improves for Twitter and if it improves for Facebook. Some of the decisions these networks make will have a significant impact on the potential growth in small/medium business use and B2B use. To see that increase, I think we will need to see improvements in usability for end-users; we’ll need to see the big players create the right environment for businesses to make effective use of the networks (and I’m wondering if Facebook is moving in the right direction with their latest changes); and, I believe, we’ll need to see better support for Trusted Networks, specifically privacy settings and notifications that allow users to control access that companies have to them, as well as tools that easily surface the information the user cares about, from those companies. When and if those things come together, I think we’ll see expanded use by smaller, non-service business and greater B2B use.
• 

  By Mark, December 2, 2009 @ 5:07 pm

  @Neicole Have I told you lately that you are one of the smartest bloggers out there? Honored to have you come by and provide such insightful commentary! You’ve written a great stand-alone post right here!
• 

  By Neicole Crepeau, December 2, 2009 @ 5:32 pm

  Wow! You are so good for my ego. I really hope we have the chance to meet in person some day, Mark. In the meantime, I was thinking I might make a post out of these thoughts. Thanks for the nudge.

Other Links to this Post

1. Does the social web primarily benefit service companies? An interesting perspective « FASTInventors — December 7, 2009 @ 12:15 pm

2. Evolution of Social Networks as Businesses: Past, Present, and Future — December 8, 2009 @ 6:13 pm

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