But while B2C marketers are tapping mobile tools and technologies in earnest, B2B marketers have not yet fully recognized *WHY* mobile poses a robust, revenue-generating channel for their efforts. After all, with a new set of media comes a brand new learning curve.

As with all emerging technologies (like B2B social media), building the the business case begins with answering the fundamental questions of: "Why Mobile for B2B companies? How do business professionals benefit from mobile marketing programs? And what types of value do B2Bs stand to gain from integrating mobile tools, technologies and approaches into their marketing activities?"

Since there are many answers to those questions (and many reasons to integrate mobile!), it warranted an entire page... which is located here.

• B2B Social Media • B2B Mobile • About CK • Services • Contact •

I'm happy to announce that I'll be participating in the MarketingProfs Business-To-Business Forum 2010 this May 4th-5th in Boston. And I'm even happier to announce the subject matter I'll be presenting on, being it's a subject that every single B2B marketer—and every single one of their bosses!—is interested in learning a ton more about: Social Media ROI.

We're even coining the session a "Case-Study Swap Meet". That means I'll be moderating a panel covering several case studies from several companies covering several points of ROI. We're not shying away from the ROI discussion. Not a chance, marketers. We're tackling it head-on and spotlighting 4 companies in the process... and YOURS could be one of them!

•What does the session entail? 

Featuring big and small businesses alike, you’ll discover 4 very *different* case studies where social media was integrated into marketing programs, along with more traditional marketing channels, and how it yielded ROI. Specifically we'll cover:

• Goals and Strategies. Each businesses' over-arching business goals, their respective marketing strategies, and how they integrated their unique programs into their marketing plans.
• Metrics. The metrics and measurement results that show the success of each campaign and how the integration of social media led to that success.
• ROI. Both qualitative and quantitative points of ROI.
• Lessons and Tips. Key lessons learned from each company—and top tips they learned from their time spent deep in the social media trenches.
• All panelists will be shortly announced (and the winner of the Case Study Challenge will be announced April 1st!)

•What will you leave the session understanding?

You'll leave this session having a better understanding of how you can integrate social media into YOUR marketing and gain similar results. And you'll also leave with rock-solid examples of how other B2Bs, both large and small, used social media to generate awareness and leads and grew relationships and revenues for their organizations.

•How can You enter your company for the challenge?

It's easy, fast and free. To enter the B2B Social Media Case Study Challenge just fill out the form located here. Businesses large, small and in-between are encouraged to enter as the criterion for the winner is (1) how well you demonstrate the measurable value of how the integration of social media raised the ROI of your marketing program and (2) the *uniqueness* of the social media strategy you implemented. It's truly a chance to show-off all your hard work and clever programs, so c'mon and join the challenge!

You need to submit your entry no later than March 12th, with the winner announced April 1st. Enter here.

•How can you SAVE up to $300 off the event registration fee?

If you register BEFORE March 4th there is a $100 early-bird discount AND when you go to register, input the promo code of "B2BSPK" to save ANOTHER $200 off the current registration fee. So register early, use the promo code and save $300 when registering!

To learn more about the many sessions and speakers at the MarketingProfs Business-to-Business Forum 2010, please go here.  And if you have any questions? Just leave them in the comments or email me here.

... and I'll have MORE exciting news on more content I'll be covering at the MarketingProfs Business-To-Business Forum coming your way soon!

• B2B Social Media • B2B Mobile • About CK • Services • Contact •

And while the shared findings from the study have produced a whole lotta happy for my world, the implications should definitely be taken to heart by all marketers in the B2B world.

Why? Several reasons that we'll get to in short order. But first, let me provide IDC's explanation of the study for some background:

Broad in scope, The State of Social Business: 2009 Survey Results represents the current state of SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE FOR BUSINESSES in the United States, providing a profile of BUSINESS WORKERS leveraging these newer tools, and an understanding of the use cases for each social tool, including blogs, microblogs, discussion forums, photo/video sharing sites, social bookmarking tools, social networks, Web chats/instant messages, wikis, and virtual worlds.

According to IDC's Michael Fauscette, group vice president, Software Business Strategies: "If you look deep into the social business movement you will see that we are on the brink of a fundamental change in the way businesses interact with customers, partners, suppliers, and employees. Businesses today fall into three camps – the social 'denyer', the accidental socialite, and the socially aware. Regardless of where a company falls in these categories, customers expectations of technologies and the way they interact with suppliers have changed, driven greatly by the social Web."

As for the study's findings, let's begin on this gem...

57% of U.S. workers, that's a significant number—given that's more than half and at a highly engaged rate of at least once weekly. Let's put that in perspective, shall we? Think of any business that holds over 50% market share in any given sector and what do we call them?

Behemoths. Best-In-Class. Captains of Industry. Leaders. The 800-Pound Gorilla. And so on. The point is, we take those businesses VERY seriously. We don't label them fads, fly-by-nights or even trends. Nope. They're permanent and they permanently change the (business) world. Same too with social media's effect on the B2B world, both internally to organizations from process and productivity standpoints, and externally from a profit standpoint on attracting and maintaining customers.

Here's another epiphany...

Gaining ground with Executive Managers, eh? Hold up there, aren't those the "suits" who purportedly make the bigger bucks, get the good offices and have the power to make decisions? And don't their decisions include purchasing, vendor assessment and selection?

Yes, those questions are rhetorical. But without question, the gravity of this finding on B2Bs' bottom lines speaks for itself, as more executives, in higher levels of authority, are seeking recommendations from other professionals and can now use social tools to more easily research their feedback online, with that feedback informing and influencing their own decisions. Onto the next nugget...

*Finding* The NUMBER ONE reason cited by U.S. workers for using social tools for business purposes was to acquire knowledge and ask questions from a community.

It's important to understand that when workers (professionals) use social tools to acquire knowledge and ask questions they do so for very PRACTICAL reasons, and are guided by crystal-clear goals. They yearn to gain insight, recommendations and answers that affect and EFFECT their product purchases, business practices and brand perceptions. And when business workers ask questions of public communities (vs. private communities created solely for company employees) it enables business representatives—that have established themselves as valued, trusted participants in online communities—to build relationships with those professionals and, many times, to create more prospects for their own business development pipelines.

This chain of events can produce a magical and fortuitous byproduct. It encourages the community members that acquired knowledge and had their questions answered by company representatives to ALSO spread favorable WOM (both offline and online) about them that creates yet *MORE* prospects for their organizations. And here's more magic: because those prospects, and the prospects that their WOM facilitated, are inbound leads, they decrease B2Bs' cost-per-acquisition which means B2Bs increase their profit margins. 

Phew! That was a long-winded way of saying that interacting in online communities improves B2Bs chances of building brand equity that increases their rates of generating leads at much lower costs (thus, higher profit margins!). And this I promise to my last breath: everyone is happy with higher profit margins. Like surprise pizza day at the office, there's not a sad face to be found.

OK, findings aside. Where, praytel, have I been saying, stressing, positing, opining, explaining and downright insisting on points that support these implications, and social media overall, for B2Bs? Well...

I've definitely hit on them here.

I said them rather boldly here.

Rallied the B2B ROI case studies here.

Darn if I didn't develop a fancy slideshow discussing the B2B social media business case here.

And I've talked many arguments to get the B2B boardroom on board over at MarketingProfs in a 2-Parter (here and here).

How about here? Yup! Even hit on how to overcome the most prevalent B2B social-media objections (lions and twitter and blogs, oh my!) right here.

Here I framed it from the vantage point of how age-old B2B behaviors are being met through new-age media. And speaking of old, I wrote a special paper to this point way back in January ’08 here. Farther back still to '06, how about this collage created by way of the marketing community's feedback on the value social media brings them?

Flash-forward to an article that aired yesterday over here at Inc. Magazine on "Lead Gen For The New Economy," where I remarked “[Prospects] take to the Web and seek online opinions shared from other professionals before they make purchases, and that feedback significantly influences their purchasing decisions.”

Also, in a couple weeks I have a series of B2B-centric social media video segments airing with other professionals. And since the segments were taped earlier this month, I can tell you now, that I said this stuff then, too. (As the camera doesn't lie.)

Many thanks to IDC for conducting the study and for sharing several key findings which shed more light on how social media produces fundamental changes for organizations, both to their internal processes and to their external, market-facing programs. While the productivity and revenue arguments for B2Bs to get in the social media game is certainly not a hypothesis that I alone have held, I'm pleased that the hypothesis holds water, continues to gain momentum and along with it, respect from the business community.

To B2Bs, I implore you: Please, take this study's findings and, moreover, the positive implications that these disruptive media have upon your businesses seriously—and take mobile media seriously, too. Because business professionals, which are B2Bs' target audience, are already quite serious about them.

And darn't, if for no other reason... because I told ya so. (Would I steer you wrong?)

The press release on the study with the findings referenced in this post is here and I encourage you to follow IDC's Michael Fauscette on twitter here. And for a whole lotta B2B Social Media, just go here.

• B2B Social Media • B2B Mobile • About CK • Services • Contact •

In the B2C space there's a lot of buzz around mobile marketing, but in the B2B sector it's more likened to a whisper.

Yet amid the low level of mobile chatter, B2Bs are missing out on SUPER-sized opportunities for integrating a valuable new brand touch point for their customers and establishing a dynamic new communications channel with professional audiences.

Make no mistake about it, mobile has arrived—and it's changing how (and where) business professionals communicate with one another and how (and why) they interact with B2B brands. 

On that imperative, in my most recent piece for MarketingProfs I'm highlighting 5 reasons *Why* mobile marketing is PRIME for B2Bs and 5 *Questions* that every B2B marketer should be asking.

The content, insights and ideas are free to all... and if you're a B2B Marketer you best be getting on over there as new ways to increase ROI await you: The article is located here.

(Oh, and if you missed my 10-Step Starter Guide for Integrating Mobile Into The Marketing Mix then just go here.)

• B2B Social Media • B2B Mobile • About CK • Services • Contact •

Why?

Because mobile is an emerging new space with entirely new constraints on SPACE. And for complex B2B offerings requiring a lot of explanation for buyers, this is a BIG learning curve for B2B marketers who will need to start thinking "small".

Take a look at that mobile device up there. Pretty snazzy, eh? To be sure, it's visually stunning and all sorts of cool. It's also very small. After all, it's designed for mobility. But what our B2B target audience of business executives really need—due to now having to manage larger amounts of information on smaller screens—is for their content to be delivered in ‘bite-sized chunks’ and to be optimized for mobile environments. Whether that content is delivered through text, audio or video formats.

Why?

Because even when business professionals are off-site but on-the-clock they’re still seeking information that will inform their work, improve their efficiency and influence their purchasing decisions. And purchasing leads to ROI... which is exactly what B2B companies need. B2Bs, however, are notorious for producing content-heavy collateral.

Why?

For the very simple reason that B2B offerings are wholly complex. Think about it, we B2B marketers aren’t selling ninety-nine cent song downloads, we're selling more along the lines of nine MILLION-dollar enterprise software systems. And while most B2C offerings don't involve a great deal of scrutiny or a high level of buyer involvement (save for buying a house or car), B2B business offerings are subject to a tremendous degree of risk vs. reward assessment. And enterprise audiences need data to assess risk and reward. Ergo, business audiences still very much need the content we produce, but on their mobile devices they now need content available in different lengths and formats.

It's not that B2B marketers should stop creating text-heavy content, it's that they'll ALSO need to create content that shows more, tells less. The BIG action point here is that B2Bs need to constantly consider the small mobile-viewing experience by developing marketing and sales content that is optimized for handheld screens.

How?

Through such mobile-friendly approaches as:

• Mobile Web Sites. Developing Mobile Web Sites (or "mobisites") that are slimmed-down versions of wordy corporate Web sites. You'll still promote your key messages and communicate your key offerings, but you'll need to do so in a streamlined manner.
• Video Case Studies. Creating 2-minute video case studies (in addition to 2-page text documents available at your regular Web site), that are far easier for your executive audience to watch on their mobile devices when they're on a layover between Denver and Detroit.
• Video Demos. Producing short demos that are graphical in nature and can be uploaded to video sites like YouTube and easily embedded and accessed from your mobile Web site.
• Audio Podcasts. Recording short audio podcasts that encapsulate the key industry tips you already publish in your monthly email newsletters, as these can be listened to during executives' daily commutes.
• Shorter Content "Bursts." Writing 100-word snapshots (or what I call content "bursts") of 10,000 word thought-leadership pieces that executives can read when they're out in the field. Keep in mind that these bursts can provide an incentive to "read the full version for even more insights!" when they're back in the office and are afforded the luxury of 15" screens from which to view.
• SMS Alerts. Offering 160-character SMS alerts of breaking developments in the industry, on the competition or the overall profession. You can always elaborate on and aggregate these in longer blog posts, too. But in keeping them short, keeps your target audience informed wherever they might be at the time the news breaks.
• And so on and so forth...

Remember, B2B marketers, your business audiences aren’t always at their desktop computers when they require your information—but that information still very much influences their purchases. In fact, they're at their desks less and less. So, when you're creating and promoting content, you now need to be forever mindful that someone, somewhere on the other side of the data you publish will be accessing it by way of a device that's very small.

Thus, the Anytime/Anywhere Web Necessitates “More Show, Less Tell” from B2B Marketers.

Your audiences will thank you. More to the point, your audiences will actually be able to consume your content from the one device that never leaves their sides (or their pockets).

Note: A terrific post by Chris Koch on mobile B2Bs going more visual is located here. And a 10-Step Starter Guide on Integrating Mobile Into The B2B Marketing Mix is located here.

• B2B Social Media • B2B Mobile • About CK • Services • Contact •

That post focused on the battles (and obstacles!) we face as they pertain to acceptance from the corporate community and standards from the industry's players. It was more internally based vs. outwardly, market based. So in this post I want to turn my attention away from captains of industry to focus squarely on CUSTOMERS.

I want to look at marketing goals, not marketers' missions. And while B2B marketing is my preferred focus, I should point out that this advice wholly applies to B2C marketing as well. That said, my advice is this:

In Social Media and Mobile Media, your *Goal* with your target audiences is exactly the same: To Get YOUR Brands Into THEIR Worlds.

And the way into their worlds—whether as part of their online communities (social media) or securing a presence on their Web-enabled handheld devices (mobile media)—is through the value your brands provide them. High levels of value will get your brands into their worlds, lack thereof will get your brands ignored.

In older forms of marketing with only one-way communications systems at our disposal, we marketers didn’t ask our target audiences to be invited into their worlds. Not really. Sure, we still asked them for their time, attention, and, of course, their money! But we didn’t need to be invited because the technologies of the time didn't give us the ability to interact with them, nor did it give them the level of control to invite or ignore us.

And through disruptive media, be it social and/or mobile technologies, that has all changed. So now the critical success factor becomes that YOUR brands must make THEIR worlds BETTER.

The value you'll provide your target audiences will range a wide spectrum. It could take the form of making everyday tasks easier or more entertaining, making professionals smarter in their career paths, keeping them informed of breaking developments important to their jobs, assisting them in their product-based needs or helping them lower their purchasing risk, removing obstacles and lessening "pain points" inherent to their industries and functions, giving them new channels for customer service, enabling new ways for them to find like-minded peers/professionals such as in subject-matter online forums or through location-based mobile applications. And so on and so forth.

The value that you'll provide your audiences will always be case-specific to, and contingent upon, your company + your brand's benefits + your market + your competitors. But your goal will be the same. And while your brand may play a big part or small role in their worlds, your goal will always be to play some part.

And once inside their worlds? You need to maintain that brand presence and develop those relationships so as to grow revenue for YOUR world. Otherwise, in social media, they'll just ignore you, or even mock you. And in mobile media they'll just opt-out from your message alerts and delete those fancy mobile apps you worked so hard on.

*Net net* In these disruptive media, whether you're tapping social tech or mobile tools as your strategy, use value to get into the worlds of your target audiences... to increase your presence in their worlds... and don't take your place in their worlds for granted. Because if you do they'll simply un-follow you on their social networks, drop you from their feed readers, opt-out of your SMS alerts and delete your apps.

One click gets your brands inside their worlds. One click gets your brands ousted from them. And as we've established, those clicks are the gateways to THEIR worlds and the path to ROI in YOURS.

Wait, there's more: For a 10-Step Starter Guide in B2B Mobile marketing (slideshow/PDF), just go here.

• B2B Social Media • B2B Mobile • About CK • Services • Contact •

There’s a lot to love about marketing in a world where everyone has a voice (Social Media) and everything is accessible from magical little devices that fit in the palms of our hands (Mobile Media).

And marketers who advocate for social or mobile technologies (or both!) are indeed fighting a common mission, which is to say: Integration of these Disruptive Media into the Marketing Mix.

After all, we're rallying our companies, clients and industries around the business case of integrating these game-changing media, we're arguing the overwhelming ROI potential of these tools, we're imploring our executives to not only institute new technologies but altogether new marketing practices, and we're pushing professionals to open their minds on how the world around them is changing... and how they must change, too.

But while our mission is the same for these media, the battles (and obstacles) are quite different. With social media, the battle is for common *ACCEPTANCE* from the corporate community that these "social" tools mean business. And with mobile media, the battle is for common *STANDARDS* from the mobile industry so as to more efficiently use these mobile tools to advance our businesses.

Marketers who have trumpeted such social media merits as transparency, authenticity and sharing to their executive committees understand this battle well. Further, they well understand the fear, uncertainty and doubt stemming from the boardrooms that they're pushing to get on board. Along the same battle lines, marketers working to migrate executives to mobile approaches understand the obstacles of a still nascent industry where the main players are competing tooth-and-nail to dominate the sector... and thus, none of them, or their platforms!, play particularly well with one another.

I’m not just speaking of the diversity of competing smartphone platforms in the U.S.—because while the U.S. is now 270 million strong for mobile phone subscribers, the real numbers are global with 3.8 BILLION subscribers, and ballooning to a projected 5.8 billion subscribers three years from now (with estimates citing 29% of those subscribers using smartphones). Thus, to plan marketing programs around the myriad of mobile platforms, both domestic and international, is nothing short of dizzying for today's marketers. Plus, marketers have to factor in that the operating systems from some of the *same* mobile phone developers (like BlackBerry and, shortly, Windows 7) aren't compatible with earlier releases. A moving mobile target if ever there was one.

And for marketers looking to leverage MMS so as to provide dynamic features to their campaigns, like voice, video and graphics, over static-text SMS alerts find they've just added yet another obstacle—given it's not just the platforms to plan for, but also the carriers. Yep, mobile subscribers using the very same make and model of phones, but who are using different carriers, can't always get the same message. In a word? Frustrating. Given two words I would be tempted to modify with an expletive (so best I stay ladylike and stick to one!).

And lest we not forget the battle I'm forever fighting with B2B companies (not just B2C companies) to integrate these new technologies into their marketing plans. Because even though the value proposition of marketing with social media and mobile media to engage enterprise audiences is enormous, ironically this is not yet been fully recognized by the very companies who court these target segments. But, just as with these disruptive media, that's a battle for which I enlisted, so I knew what I was getting myself into. (And it's an exciting crusade to be a part of and fascinating to watch more B2Bs progress in using these technologies.)

All that said and all the growing pains of this disruptive era aside, the point is the *mission*.  And these media, and the many battles they bring to bear, are well worth fighting. So keep battling, marketers. Because these media are not only the future, they’re the NOW.

And should you ever feel a little bruised from the battle? It's nothing compared to what the guy up there on the right endured.

Wait, there's plenty more!: While this post is centered on the internal battles we marketers face with companies and industry (vs. customer-focused), our *goal* in marketing to our customers with both social and mobile technologies are also exactly the same: find out more at this post. And for a 10-Step Starter Guide in B2B Mobile marketing, just go here.

Cited Stats: All stats referenced above are drawn from either here or here.

• B2B Social Media • B2B Mobile • About CK • Services • Contact •

Ah, the more times (and media!) change, the more they stay the same.

But a new year brings new opportunities and new minds to open...so, CK is back championing the B2B crusade—and this time my sights are set on B2B mobile marketing.

Why the marketing crusade? Because business professionals, which are B2Bs' target audience, not only use mobile devices to stay connected, they rely on them to stay informed and make business decisions when not located at their place of business. And phone calls are just one part, given innovations such as smartphones have morphed our mobile devices into handheld computers that also happen to ring. Plus, since business professionals must stay connected to their communications devices, many times their mobile devices equate to their "lifelines to their livelihoods." Moreover, mobile is the most personal communications channel and the closest you'll get to your business market, other than in-person meetings.

Ergo, if business professionals are always connected to their mobile phones, why wouldn't marketers want to connect their B2B brands to these devices and, vis-a-vis, connect their B2B brands to their target markets in meaningful, helpful ways? Of course they would, that's more of a rhetorical question. But the real questions from B2B marketers is WHY mobile presents a strong business case and HOW to integrate mobile into the B2B marketing mix.

And that's exactly what I cover... step by step... in my 10-Step B2B Mobile Marketing Starter Guide.

In the guide I've set out to accomplish two goals: First, to highlight the B2B-centric opportunities in mobile marketing. And, second, to walk B2B marketers through the 10 key steps covering (A) WHAT they need to know (and what they need to ask/assess) to get started in mobile marketing, (B) HOW to approach mobile environments and audiences, (C) WHICH tools they can implement to add impact to their programs, as well as (D) key proof points to analyze WHEN measuring mobile ROI.

And contrary to much of the buzz on mobile metrics, Mobile ROI is not just analyzing number of SMS subscribers/application downloads/etc. Far from it. Mobile ROI, just like ROI from all other media and marketing programs, is the BIGGER-picture value it brings to your business. I cover that in the guide, too.

On that note, you'll see plenty of posts, presentations, videos, speeches and articles from me throughout 2010 on B2B mobile marketing. But worry not, you'll also see a great deal more B2B social media marketing content from me, as while we've come much further on that crusade we've still much further to go. After all, as a B2B marketing specialist, I need to mine all media—be it traditional, broadcast, interactive, social or mobile—to identify revenue-generating opportunities and new ways to engage our business markets.

Anything less would put my clients and me at a disadvantage during these ever-evolving, always-in-flux, disruptive times. More to the point, I need to keep moving—and keep crusading!—my clients, colleagues and community to do the same.

Please view the slideshow below, which is best viewed in FULL-screen format as slides are text-heavy to ensure an adequate level of explanation for B2Bs starting out in mobile marketing. Or download the PDF here.

• B2B Social Media • B2B Mobile • About CK • Services • Contact •

As we wrap up this year and gear-up for the next, I've compiled this nifty slideshow featuring 20 helpful B2B social media posts, presentations and series to help B2B marketers start the new year off ready to integrate social media into their marketing mix in a way that helps them transition their marketing (and their mindsets!) to the Web 2.0 environment and works to increase their rates of success within it.

Covering everything from B2B lead-generation opportunities and challenges, how these new-age media serve age-old B2B behaviors, selling B2B social media internally and overcoming the main B2B social media objections... to B2B social media case studies, social media planning checklists, Web 2.0's new marketing rules and many, many more--this is one collection that no modern-day B2B marketer should market without!

Just view the below slideshow (best viewed in FULL-screen format) or download the slides here. And should you have any B2B marketing questions, as always, just leave them in the comments below this post, ask me on twitter or drop me an email.

And now that I've talked marketing, I want to extend a HEAPING BIG Thank YOU to my colleagues, clients and the online marketing community for your smarts, support and generosity all year long. Please know that I never once take it, or each of you, for granted. As I often say, teaching people is just about the nicest (and most advancing) things we humans can do for one another... and I look forward to learning so much more from you throughout 2010.

Here's the slideshow:

• B2B Social Media • B2B Mobile • About CK • Services • Contact •

As a B2B marketer who regularly employs social media in her projects one would naturally argue, “But CK, of course you find social media applicable, profitable and meaningful for B2Bs, as that’s your focus.”

But my professional focus is not the point. 

The point is that while I find social media applicable, profitable and meaningful for many companies—be they focused on consumer or business audiences—I posit that social media represents a veritable goldmine of potential for B2Bs. More to the point, I contend that social media is MORE opportune for B2Bs than B2Cs.

How can I say such a thing? It’s the engagement level, stupid. And for marketers? Engagement is the Holy Grail of marketing: the uber goal, the most critical of critical success factors, the paramount payoff, and the pinnacle benchmark of how well your marketing is performing (or lacking).

Which is to say, we battle our competitors not only for market share but for share of mind, we burn the midnight oil to build programs that will cut through the clutter produced by the multitude of marketing messages, and we constantly rack our brains in order produce a strong signal for our audiences, not more noise. After all, we want audiences tuned into us, not them. We want audiences focused on “me” not relegating us to a me-too offering. And we want a wide disparity in our audiences' perception of how relevant (and resonant) we are over them.

Thus, we are most intent on engaging and, ergo, maintaining high levels of engagement. But so are B2C marketers. So why do business audiences (B2Bs) qualify as MORE opportune when it comes to social media marketing?

It's the engagement level, stupid. Because business audiences are engaged by virtue of their very livelihoods. How can I say such a thing? Easy! Just look at their drivers and motivators—and how they all stem from protecting and advancing one’s livelihood, to wit:

• Business Professionals Must Lower Their Purchasing Risk. Their jobs depend upon how well they spend their budget and their purchasing decisions--and third-party WOM on products from other professionals helps them limit their risk before they make purchases.
• Business Professionals Must Increase Their Knowledge To Ensure Their Livelihoods. They must stay up-to-date in order to keep their jobs and find better jobs--and all the online sharing of information significantly increases their knowledge and expertise.
  
• In Order To Advance Their Careers, Business Professionals Must Grow Their Networks. It’s not only what you know, but who you know when it comes to career advancement; and online networks provide a tremendous vehicle to exponentially build and grow business contacts and professional relationships.
  
• To Solve Problems, Business Professionals Must Conduct Research--And Reach Out To Companies And Other Professionals. In their jobs professionals face many challenges and must constantly learn and hone new methods and methodologies for overcoming these challenges. Social media gives professionals a convenient, effective outlet for solving problems and discussing solutions to business challenges with other savvy professionals and companies.
  
• (Note: much more supporting detail on all the above bullet points is located at this post.)
  

I’ve seen this B2B social media opportunity for quite some time, in my January ’08 paper on "The Share Economy" I stressed:“If innovation drives opportunity, which in turn fuels new profit centers and lucrative market segments, why do the majority of B2B marketers view this phenomenon (social media) as merely a B2C play? Moreover, if business professionals automatically qualify as "engaged" around an expertise or practice area—unlike fickle consumers easily lured by the latest fad—why aren't more B2B marketers engaging with them?”

The lesson here my fellow marketers? It’s The Engagement Level, Stupid—and business audiences are more engaged by nature of their livelihoods and thus, social media marketing signifies a HUGE opportunity for B2B marketers. An even BIGGER opportunity, I contend, than for B2C marketers.

Rest assured that, yes indeed, social media presents a great opportunity for B2Cs, too. But the engagement level for consumers is by-and-largely based upon personal interests not professional NEEDS. And while both are important, needs always trump interests. Remember, consumers change interests frequently, especially as they age--invariably, a teen has wholly different interests than a 30-something, or a senior. But professionals are far more loyal to the profession they've chosen as their career path, no matter their age. And even though "connecting with others" is a very core need for all people (as with socially networking), without securing one's livelihood how could people purchase all those wonderful consumer goods that marketers are promoting? Yep, that's a rhetorical question.

Disclaimer: Please trust that I’m not calling anyone stupid in this post, it’s merely a takeoff of the famed political line “It’s the Economy, stupid.” I just want to clarify that I find all you savvy marketers very smart ;-).

*B2B Bonus* For a collection of 20 helpful B2B social media posts, presentations and series that no modern-day B2B marketer should market without, just go here. (And for a B2B Mobile Marketing Starter Guide, just go here.)

B2B Social Media Archive • Social Media *Extras* • Social Media Training • Contact