In the world of online marketing and lead generation, few topics generate as much hoopla as “social media”. Hardly a day goes by anymore where I’m not presented with a list of “reasons” (opinions, really) on why I “must” be on <insert social media site here>.

The question that’s hard to answer, though, is “How do I know if it’s working?” Which usually gets translated as “What’s my ROI?”

In the past, when companies launched almost any kind of marketing campaign, they had specific things they were trying to accomplish. Most often this translated into such measurements as sales closed, revenue generated, new leads captured, etc. Success and failure was determined using these measurements. So it would make sense to try to apply a similar logic to social media, right? Can’t we compare social media to any other type of lead-generation campaign and measure the ROI?

I used to think so. Now, I’m not so sure.

While reading a recent article over at Mashable, I saw an analogy that has caused me to think about this in a new light. Hal Thomas, a content manager at BFG Communications, likened social media to a business card. Business cards are passed out at every opportunity – you can pass out dozens and pick up hundreds at an industry conference. Yet when you come back to the office, you really can’t calculate the ROI of the cards you handed out. Similarly, Thomas says, you can’t measure the value of a Twitter follower or a Facebook fan.

I think the real distinction comes in recognizing that a fan or a follower is not the same as a lead. Social media fans are about as close to passive as you can get – there’s almost no effort in “liking” a page or retweeting a post. Whereas leads – qualified leads, anyway – are more “active”. They’ve had to raise a hand and say, “I’m interested.”

So can one measure ROI of social media? Thomas considers social media a communications tool, like a telephone or email. In his view, you don’t measure the ROI of the tool – you measure the ROI of the activities you do with the tool.

Whether this is a true distinction or simply a matter of semantics is debatable. Because in the end, the question is the same: does my use of social media justify the resources (time, effort, finances) that I’m giving it? Or is there a better use for those resources?

For myself, I’m still keeping an open mind. If you have thoughts on this, please share them.

(Note – a colleague of mine has recommended the book Social Media ROI as a good place to start thinking about the ROI of specific social media activities. It’s on my list, but I have yet to read it. If you have, I’d appreciate hearing what you thought of it.)

Related posts:

Effective content marketing doesn’t end with the content

Secret to B2B success in 2012: Customer loyalty supported by the right messaging

In today’s marketing world things change fast. And you want to keep pace with your content. So if you have a terrific white  paper, how do you easily keep it current with minimal effort?

Specifically, how do you update the links in your white paper that give prospects more in-depth information (e.g., product demos, special promotions, product data sheets, case studies, etc.)?

This flexibility is important because quality white papers get shared, stored, and referred to again and again over time.

And you not only want the latest information in the white papers being downloaded today, tomorrow and the next day … but you would like to also update those already in the hands of prospects.

One way to “build” a better white paper is to make it dynamic.

For example: One of the main services your company offers is oil well logging. You have a white paper that discusses the three biggest challenges in producing quality logs, and it ends with how your company does this the best.

In your white paper are links to your website with a few customer case studies and other in-depth details on your service.

But you just finished a tricky job for a customer and you want to include a new case study (client success story) because it is such a strong example of how your service is better than the competition.

How do you share the new case study without writing a new white paper?

First step (i.e., back when you first created the white paper) is to include a barcode (QR code) for your links to landing pages. Now your options are:

1.    Change the content on your landing page

2.    Create a 301 Redirect to your new landing page

3.    Use JavaScript to redirect visitors to you new landing page

These are all fine unless you have other campaigns linking to the same landing page. If you change the content on the landing page then you’ve fouled up these other campaigns. (Another good reason to create unique landing pages for each campaign.)

But if you have a mobile barcode (e.g., QR code) with enhanced capabilities, then you can repurpose that code over its lifespan. It’s possible to manage your content (white papers or anything else) in real time. The destination for a barcode can be changed easily without updating your website landing page.

More than one mobile vendor has this capability; Neustar is one good example. I met Matthew Valleskey, Director of Marketing for Mobile Services at Neustar a while back. He told me of this cool capability with mobile barcodes.

It helps make your job of generating leads easier. Plus it’s a way of producing content that meets the needs of your audience for longer periods of time.  It gives you more flexibility for leveraging content that’s already produced.

Whether linking to a case study, a product demo video, or anything else on the landing page that you may want to update in the future … mobile barcodes with enhanced capabilities are one way to keep published content current. They’re one way to build a better mousetrap with white papers.

Related posts:

QR codes … How easy-to-use technology generates leads and builds loyalty

Is the White Paper an Endangered Species?

Top 5 B2B White Paper Mistakes

With the demise of the Borders Books chain, the closest physical book store is now about an hour’s drive from my home. I was bemoaning this fact to a neighbor, who replied simply: “It doesn’t matter – paper books are outdated anyway.”

This conversation came to mind as I was reading a blog post recently. The author (who was unfamiliar to me) was taking the stance that the traditional white paper is losing its effectiveness and therefore is slowly going the way of the paper book. The popularity of video, today’s shorter attention spans, and “social media” were all cited as reasons. I couldn’t tell if he sincerely believed this, or was just trying to start a discussion. He did succeed, though, in getting me to think.

As Karen discussed earlier, white papers – “true” white papers, that is – are information packages that provide answers to questions and/or solutions to problems. They are limited in scope yet very specific, both in content and in the audience to whom they’re addressed. They may cite research and offer additional resources. But they are self-contained documents. You should be able to read one and get the answers that it promises – and some specific actions you can take.

If a white paper can do that, nearly any member of that audience would gladly exchange contact information for a copy – and be thrilled about it.

If – and I say “if” – white papers are indeed losing effectiveness, it’s not because of video; it’s not because of social media; it’s not because of short, energy-drink-charged attention spans. It’s not even because of over-use. Rather, it’s because they’re misused.

In other words: it’s not that there are too many white papers out there – it’s that there are too many bad ones.

Case in point – I recently signed up to receive a white paper by a software company, offering tactics to improve a specific metric in paid search campaigns. The first half defined the metric, explained why it was important, how it was calculated and how it was managed. Mildly interesting, but not in itself useful.

In the second half the discussion finally turned to the advertised tactics. And yes, I did learn a few things I could do – but only if I used their software. A full eight pages were devoted to showing me how their software would help me do my job faster. That’s not a white paper: that’s an advertisement.

People aren’t tired of white papers – they’re tired of brochures masquerading as white papers.

Of course you want to show the reader their “next steps”. Readers get that. And if the white paper is crafted correctly, the reader’s response will be, “Wow! That’s great! Can you help me do that?”

But you don’t get there by standing up like a carnival barker hawking your wares. You get there by giving the reader a solution – one they can achieve for themselves without your assistance. And then you end with an “if you’d like help with this, here’s what we can do” offer.

It may be counter-intuitive, but it’s true: show people how to solve their pressing problems on their own – and you’ll be the one they turn to for help.

White papers and paper books may or may not be evolving. But if you continually provide true value, your white papers will always be in demand – no matter what their form.

Related posts:

Top 5 B2B White Paper Mistakes

Acquire your target. Take aim. Fire.

Here’s a hypothetical situation: a B2B website sells physical products. You know: aircraft fasteners, pressure valves, anything “physical”. People purchase product online, and it’s shipped to the customer.

In our scenario, the company is advertising via paid search. The campaign is doing well – when someone searches for something in the product line, there’s the company’s ad. People are clicking the ad, and the company is making sales. So far, so good.

B2B Company #2 is selling similar product online, but it isn’t doing paid search. Yet every time someone searches for something in its product line, the company’s product is right there in the search results – including a photo of the product, a brief description, and the price. One click and the searcher is taken right to the product page. And depending on the search engine, that click is free.

So what’s Company #2′s secret? It has incorporated a product feed.

A product feed is essentially a database of product information. This database contains any number of details about each product the company sells, including brand names, UPC/bar codes, descriptions, shipping costs, etc. Depending on the type of product, it can also contain such data as size (like tires, for instance), color, etc. This database of information is then submitted to a search engine through a special interface. The search engine takes this data and, when appropriate, places it in online search results pages.

Product feeds have been around for a while in B2C ecommerce. Price-conscious purchasers, aided by the speed and convenience of their mobile devices, are increasingly searching online – not only for researching solutions, but also for price comparisons and deals. Product feeds offer a one-click access to all the specific information about the desired product. Pair it with a well-designed web store, and the purchase can be made within 3 clicks of the initial search.

My own research – admittedly very unscientific – leads me to believe that B2B ecommerce is still lagging behind its B2C counterpart in this area. Just yesterday I was searching online for tires for a Cessna 172RG aircraft. Among the paid advertising were two text ads from major online tire suppliers. Yet when I look at the product search results on the same page, their listings are nowhere to be seen. What a lost opportunity.

While they can be a boon for ecommerce, product feeds are not without their own unique set of challenges:

• The database is populated by querying the site’s online shopping cart. Shopping cart data is often supplied by the product manufacturers, and is written in language that makes perfect sense to the seller. But it’s not very buyer-friendly;
• Shopping cart information is often built with the web page in mind. Therefore when this data is taken away from the context of the web page, and displayed on its own, it often becomes meaningless;
• Shopping carts were not designed with product feeds in mind. Therefore they often cannot easily output data in a form recognized by the search engine;
• Each search engine has its own unique data requirements. The database has to essentially be reconfigured for each one.

As ecommerce store owners know, these challenges are significant but not insurmountable. They’ll also tell you that the payoff is worth it. Indeed, in today’s mobile search environment, having a functioning product feed is no longer a luxury but a necessity – even in the B2B space.

No; I’m not talking about firing a weapon. I am referring to how you ought to start creating a white paper. If you want your white paper to deliver results, then it’s crucial to begin correctly.

One of the first steps is … Determine what type of white paper you need and for what audience.

Just as you can’t score a bulls-eye unless you’ve sighted the target; you can’t expect a white paper to do its job if you’re not targeting the right audience with the correct information.

Two questions to answer before you talk to a copywriter about writing a white paper for your B2B company:

1. How do you intend to use it?
For lead generation, thought leadership, or to close sales?

2. Who is going to read your white paper?
Engineers? Scientists? Decision-makers in management positions? Government personnel?

Those aren’t the only two questions you’ll need to answer before the project is done! But these two answers identify your target audience so you can start talking to a copywriter on the type of white paper you need.

Generally speaking, there are four basic types of white papers:

Government – Often you’re explaining to government decision makers, policy makers, etc. … the implications of a proposed policy.

Technical – Target audience is usually engineers, scientists or other technically oriented prospects. A process is typically described in precise detail. You’re explaining how things work to prospects. You might include schematics, performance data, diagrams, and other technical illustrations.

Managers ask their technical staff what they think of a solution and you want to influence the response engineers give through your white paper. (Often used in sales process but could also be lead generation.)

Business Benefits – Here the focus is on the business benefits of implementing a solution as opposed to the technical details of how the solution works. The target audience is usually decision-makers in management positions. Your illustrations and data show how implementing the solution reduces costs; saves time; improves the bottom line; or other business related benefits. (Most often used as lead generation.)

Hybrid – This is a blend of the technical and the business benefit white papers. It’s more common to have the business benefits at the beginning, followed by the technical info on the process. You’re targeting both the decision-maker and the engineer. (Could be used for both lead generation and during the sales process.)

The basic type of white paper you need is identified once you know the basics of how you’re going to use the white paper in your marketing, as well as who you want to read it. Figure this out right away because these will be some of the first questions your copywriter asks. So many subsequent questions are based on these first two.

Acquire your target … how and who?

Take aim … copywriter does research, interviews, writing, etc. to present the information in the most effective way.

Fire … you start to use the white paper in your marketing. Yet it can’t deliver your desired results unless you first acquired the right target.

Related posts:

Top 5 B2B White Paper Mistakes

Create Landing Pages for Each Phase of the Lead Buying Cycle

Effective content marketing doesn’t end with the content

Even in today’s digital marketing world, white papers fill a critical role for B2B companies. They are most often used in the earlier stages of the buying cycle to help educate prospects.

But regardless of the goal you have for a white paper, you’ll fall way short of that business goal unless you avoid these five most common mistakes in B2B white papers:

1 – Lousy title. It’s filled with corporate jargon, marketing terms, or other tongue-twisting phrases and it’s too long.

First and foremost write a title that clearly and succinctly spells out the prime benefit to the reader. What will they get in return for sharing their valuable contact information, and for reading your white paper?

And don’t get too clever or too cute. This often clouds the prime benefit and doesn’t entice as many prospects to download your paper. Titles make or break your white papers. Prospects won’t download your paper if the title doesn’t grab them with promising relevance.

2 – All self-promotion. The white paper doesn’t focus on the reader and what problem of theirs is being solved.

This isn’t a corporate brochure or a sell sheet that features one of your products or services. A white paper falls into the “education” category. Only on the last page or two do you talk about your company’s specific solution to the problem discussed in the rest of the white paper.

3 – Poorly written. For example:

> Someone on your staff may be a whiz with your product and know it inside and out … but he can’t write so anyone else understands it or can weed through the rambling text.

> Poor formatting to include long paragraphs, no white space and tiny print.

> No graphs, charts, illustrations, etc. Nothing to catch the eye and help make it engaging.

> It’s all fluff and not enough useful, valuable, relevant content.

Relatively few B2B companies have the in-house staff with the time, experience, and expertise for writing compelling white papers that get the job done.  Out source this to a professional. Sure I’d like to have you contact John or I about writing your white papers. But whether it’s us or another copywriting pro…out source this critical content marketing piece.

4 – It’s boring. Closely related to #3 is the fact that these days your B2B company benefits by including an aspect of entertainment, engagement … something unique in its content marketing. B2B should not be boring!

Today you can even make white papers interactive. For example: Based on how a prospect answers questions in the sign-up form, you deliver a white paper tailored to their responses.

5 – Not tailored to the right audience. The CMO or CEO seldom has the same focus as the engineer in the trenches or the mid-level manager. They ought to receive different white papers. Plus, where are they in the buying cycle? Making your white paper interactive is one way you can help solve this problem up front.

Don’t lose opportunities by publishing white papers riddled with the five most common mistakes outlined above. White papers play a vital lead generation role and often times also a sales role. Meet and exceed your marketing and business goals with top-notch white papers.

Related posts:

How to address white paper landing page anxiety

Lead gen for the all-too-human B2B buyer

Qualified leads are better then cheap leads

One of my “fun things” to do is writing for my college’s alumni association magazine. Every month I keep in touch with as many members of my class as I can, and report on what they’re up to.

To prepare for this I end up reading a lot of press releases. I mean a LOT of them! And for the most part they all follow the same general formula:

• big announcement
• brief explanation of the announcement
• quote by the person featured in the announcement
• quote by the boss, praising this person
• brief bio of the person
• brief, jargon-laden description of the company involved

This de facto formula is a leftover from the days when companies would send their announcements to traditional media outlets, who would then repackage and broadcast them through their channels. The audience for which these press releases were prepared was the media themselves.

Online press release services, however, have changed all that. They still reach the traditional media, but thanks to online search engines they are also seen by many other audiences as well.

For example, I entered the phrase “aircraft fasteners” in a popular search engine. Among the results was a link to this press release about an aircraft fastener manufacturer winning a contract. And sure enough, this press release is written in the old “announcement” style listed earlier.

The reality is that, for non-media audiences, the old press release format is . . . so . . . boring. It doesn’t really say much, and it certainly offers little value to me.

And therein lies the problem: today’s releases are being found by prospects, customers and clients – yet they’re written in such a way as to essentially be invisible. So how can we change that? How can we use online press releases to engage with our prospects and customers, and bring them into our fold?

We have to write them in a different way. We have to think less about “publicity” and more about “lead generation”. There are many different ways to go about it, but here are three key steps to get you started:

1) Write with your desired audience in mind. Sure, we want all our press releases to be seen by the entire world. We also want our website landing pages to be seen by the world, too. Yet one landing page just won’t resonate with everyone. So we must choose one target audience and design a page that speaks specifically to them. The same is true for press releases. If you’re creating a press release to bring customers and prospects to your site, the content and style must be presented in a way that’s appealing to them. (Note – you can still use the old “tried and true” to reach the media – if that’s what they’re looking for.)

2) As my friend Marc Harty over at Main Topic Media is fond of saying: “Build the story – ditch the announcement.” Since anyone can write a press release, the “big announcement” style is becoming less effective. But people – all people – love stories. Write something with a real story – especially one with a twist, or that ties into a current event – and you’ve got something with a better chance of going viral and gaining extra exposure.

3) Add a call to action. Yeah, I know: press releases aren’t supposed to be “salesy”. What I mean is, be proactive and give your reader a reason to come to your site. Conclude your press release by inviting her to pick up your lead generating device. Describe its benefit to her in compelling terms, so that she’ll raise her hand and say “that’s for me.”

“If you want to attract people, you have to be attractive.” Online press releases, written specifically to appeal to your prospects, are one way to attract more of those prospects directly to you. They are a key component of today’s comprehensive b2b marketing strategy.

Related post:

Secret to B2B success in 2012: Customer loyalty supported by the right messaging

B2B marketing is complex. The wide variety of marketing channels and crafting messages that resonate with prospects and clients within each channel is demanding. Consequently it’s easy to have flaws in your marketing plan and strategy.

I saw a post on Mashable a few days ago, 5 Flaws in Your Mobile Marketing Strategy. All good points that I agree with.

Yet I think these five flaws are more universal and can be applied to multiple marketing channels. Plus if you overlook these flaws then your B2B marketing and lead generation efforts won’t be as effective as you need them to be.

Below you’ll see each of the five flaws Mashable cites along with their main point in a nutshell, plus comments I’ve added for other marketing channels:

1 – De-emphasizing the unique nature of the medium … recognize how “active” mobile users are and their mindset.

Examples from other B2B channels: In direct mail you’ve got to get the envelope opened. Newspaper ads have to stand out from the scanners and those who almost deliberately bypass ads. YouTube viewers often have the desire to be entertained (at least subconsciously) as well as informed about your B2B product or service. And so on.

2 – Treating connected consumers as stationary targets … they’re moving targets that you need to locate and engage at that moment.

Examples from other B2B channels: Arguably mobile is the champion of prospects who are “moving targets.” But for this item I’ll remind you that clients, customers and prospects do read newspapers on commuter trains, when visiting other cities, and in doctors’ offices. And if you’re creating video, don’t forget how much of this content is viewed on tablets and smartphones as well as PCs.

Perhaps most important of all is this … Integrate your B2B lead generation and other campaigns across multiple channels. Recognize that your prospects are moving targets and you want to reach them in as many ways and places as possible.

3 – Ignoring the power of contextual relevance … evolve with your customers and prospects and deliver messages that give the experience they expect at the time you reach them.

Examples from other B2B channels: One-size-fits-all is a lousy fit in today’s marketplace. Get away from “blast messages.” The wider your audience the more challenging this becomes (e.g., TV, radio, newspapers).

So consider pre-qualifying viewers, listeners and readers in any channel with the right headline and opening statement. And then deliver with an engaging and enticing offer. Be unique and stand out from the crowd.

You may need to send out multiple press releases with dramatically different slants and calls-to-action for the same campaign. You may need to segment your email list and send emails with dramatically different slants and calls-to-action where each email has its own landing page.

But again, consider the context in which prospects are receiving your message and give them a “… unique experience that is differentiated, highly relevant, and intensely personal” as the Mashable post states.

4 – Employing old world, unidirectional strategies … closely related to numbers 1 and 3 is the fact that you’re not simply marketing to people. You must also master marketing to a context determined by device or platform (e.g., tablet vs. smartphone; and iPhone vs. Android).

Examples from other B2B channels: In addition to what I’ve written in Flaw #1 and #3, with other channels consider that TV is different from radio; an online newspaper is different from a print newspaper; a direct mail postcard is different from a letter or a magalog; a case study is different from a white paper; the email and its corresponding landing page are each unique; and so on.

Tailor your content to the communication medium and be able to tell your story in a way that works for each medium.

5 – Not offering value in exchange for value … building relationships and getting people to “buy” requires a mutual exchange of value.

Examples from other B2B channels: I hope this one is incredibly obvious. Your clients, prospects, and customers demand value anywhere and everywhere.

If you want their email address (which is valuable), you need to deliver value and tell them in advance what it is. If you want them to give you contact info before they download your white paper, then they must believe they’ll receive value in return and you had better deliver it with your white paper. If you want them to buy your service you must exceed their expectations when you deliver it.

Marketing is marketing. Yet you need to consider what’s unique about every channel you’re working in if you want more quality B2B leads and clients. Bear these five points in mind to strengthen your B2B marketing and lead generation messages whether in mobile or any other channel.

More related posts:

How do I decide where to integrate mobile in my business?

B2B Email – Optimize based on how recipients are receiving and reading it

Retention just as important as B2B lead generation so you must deliver value

How are clients and prospects reading your B2B email? On a PC? On a smartphone? On a tablet? Or all of the above?

Odds are it’s a combination of PC and mobile (smartphones and tablets). I often refer to this group as “dual device” users.

And since email is such a vital part of your B2B lead generation and marketing … your emails need to be optimized for both mobile and PCs.

This matters because it impacts open rates, conversions, loyalty, leads generated, and the bottom line for your B2B business.

What does optimization include?

- Consistent messaging in tone and keyword phrases even though the length of the content varies (i.e., you can have more content on emails for desktop PCs).

- Yet because the mindset of a mobile user is different from a PC, you may consider testing variations of the subject line. Does the same subject line perform equally for both mobile and PC users, or do you need to vary it a bit for mobile (e.g., make it shorter)?

- How does your email render on an iPhone, an Android, a Blackberry, and on the various brands of tablets? How readable is it? How user-friendly is it? Content length and imaging will probably vary as you move from one to another.

- Don’t forget that emails also render differently in Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Outlook (even 2003 vs. 2007), and Gmail.

- Get right to the point in the first paragraph

- Landing pages also need to be mobile-friendly and optimized

- For mobile, include social media sharing buttons next to the content you believe readers will most likely share (don’t bury it at the bottom of the email)

- Find a way to include some degree of urgency, especially with mobile.

- Test to determine the best time of day to send emails. Mobile has modified habit patterns and mobile users check email throughout the day.

- Always include a TEXT version of your emails for mobile and PCs

From a copywriting and marketing perspective, my main point is this: Don’t lose sight of your end goal during the optimization process.

Someone needs to read over all the variations to ensure the point of the message and its corresponding call-to-action haven’t inadvertently been lost. I recommend the copywriter who first wrote the campaign be your quality control person.

Within the B2B world, email is still the prime mover for most marketers. Maximize its effectiveness by optimizing it for your recipients.

After all, don’t you want your clients and prospects to have a good experience? Giving them a good experience requires you to know how they’re reading your email (what devices, time of day, etc.), and then optimizing for your audience.

Another related post: Who is this email from?

One of the challenges with “mobile” is understanding what it is, and what it’s not.

Try this: ask people in the B2B space to list different types of marketing, and you’ll probably get a list something like:

• email marketing;
• direct (print) marketing;
• online marketing;
• offline marketing;
• mobile marketing;
• organic search marketing;
• PPC marketing;
• and there are others.

But the problem with this is that (pardon the cliché) we’re mixing apples and oranges here. Some items on this list are general categories while others are specific strategies. Organic search and PPC marketing, for example, are specific strategies in the general category of online marketing.

So what is mobile? Is it a category? Or is it a strategy? The answer is . . . “yes”.

Mobile marketing is still very immature – so much so that many terms just don’t have universally accepted definitions yet. To some, mobile marketing is a specific strategy of creating specific campaigns for mobile devices. Others believe mobile marketing is a general category, wherein one includes a mobile component to all existing marketing.

At a recent online gathering, several B2B advertising executives were asked how they defined mobile for marketing purposes: the answers ranged across the spectrum. Some thought it was enough just to be reading email on a mobile device. Others thought there had to be some sort of mobile-based interaction with a customer.

This variety of opinions makes it even more difficult for businesses that are trying to embrace mobile. Everywhere they turn, they’re getting all sorts of advice for mobile marketing. However, how can they make any sense of it all when there’s no general agreement of what mobile marketing actually “is”? Even more important, how do they incorporate mobile in such a way that it helps their ongoing marketing efforts, and not sabotages them? How do they choose the “right” advice – for them?

Even with something as unsettled as mobile, the basic tenets of marketing still apply. Here are four key questions – the answers to which will help you set your mobile priorities:

1) Who is/are my primary audience(s)? While we want out websites to be appealing to as many visitors as possible, the reality is that most B2B companies have defined target profile(s) of their customers. An aircraft fastener company, for example, knows that most of its customers are parts managers of aircraft maintenance shops and larger flight departments. Flocculant suppliers know their customers are intermediate- and senior-level municipal and industrial water treatment facility engineers.

2) What are the habit patterns of my primary audience? By this I mean, how do my customers research, shop for and ultimately choose my product? How do they prefer to interact? Is my audience primarily composed of engineers, researching at work on the company computer? Or am I targeting the busy mid-level manager who looks for options late at night on her Blackberry? (Note: apply this question to each level of your B2B buying cycle.)

3) If I don’t know, how can I find out their habit patterns? You know the answer to this one: talk to them! Engage your customers in a conversation! Ask them how you can make their buying experience simpler, more efficient, and a more profitable use of their time.

4) Knowing this, where can I use mobile to provide a more pleasant experience to my customers? If I know that engineers are using powerful PCs to so their research, then I can address that. Perhaps engineers prepare information, then pass it on to their managers via presentations on tablets. Or maybe most of your customers are sales reps that run everything through their iPhone. The point is – don’t guess.

With mobile devices becoming more and more a part of our everyday lives, it makes sense that we incorporate a mobile element into our marketing efforts. However, just because your customer owns several mobile devices, this does not mean he’s using all (or any) of them in his work. But once you understand how your customer uses his available technology, you’ll be much better equipped to decide where/how to integrate mobile into your marketing efforts.