Devoid of statistically sound findings, however, we're left relying on gut feelings and our personal views of how we perceive things to be... which can turn out to be perfectly correct or miserably myopic. So research gives us insight, reduces uncertainty and lends credibility to our business arguments.

And that brings me to the facts and findings from the just-released Consumer New Media 3-Part Study (by Cone Inc.), which are too good not to share--but I'm going to do so with a bit of a twist. As the report is a consumer-oriented study, I'm going to extrapolate some of the study's findings to cite implications for business audiences. Because the fact is, B2C gets the lion's share of social media marketing attention and while B2B social media studies are popping up more, marketers still have to dig deeper for social media data that speaks to the needs, challenges and profit potential inherent to professional audiences. So let's get started...

*Online Brand Engagement*

• Fact: "Almost 80% (78%) of new media users interact with companies or brands via new media sites and tools, an increase of 32% from 2008 (59%)."

• Fact: “Users are conversing with brands more often: Some 37% say they do so at least once a week -- up from one in four when Cone did the study last year.”

B2B implications: Consumers communicating directly with brands is new, some might say it's revolutionary. But professionals dialogue with brands all the time—they always have. Why? Because when professionals make a purchase, they interact with the company that produces the product, service or solution as a matter of course since B2B purchases involve long purchasing cycles, lots of questions and developing relationships with company representatives. B2B branding, in other words, is very high touch.

Moreover, business purchases many times involve aftermarket maintenance contracts which means professionals continue to interact with brand representatives after the sale (How well do you know your copier maintenance guy?). Thus, social media gives professional markets an online channel to do the very same activities they've been accustomed to doing offline for decades and is a natural extension to the other communications channels they use.

*Influence/Power*

• Fact: "Perhaps the most intriguing part of Cone's data, however, is that consumers strongly believe that new media is a two-way street, with 62% saying they can influence business decisions by voicing their opinions through new media."

enterprise.

*Purchasing Behavior/Decisions*

• Fact: "Consumers are most interested in information that will inform their purchasing decisions. Respondents said they want companies to tell them what is in products and how they are made (85%) and provide additional details about information, labels and claims shared offline (e.g., in the store, on the package, in an advertisement) (83%)."

• Fact: "30% have made a purchase based on POSITIVE information learned about a product, company or brand; and, 23% have switched brands or boycotted a company based on NEGATIVE information learned about a product, company or brand."

B2B Implications: If 30% of consumers have made purchases due to positive information learned about a product online and 23% have switched or abandoned brands due to negative feedback, then I argue the same, if not much higher, applies to professionals. Why? Because professionals have always placed a great deal of clout on third-party feedback with every purchase they make... be the third-party feedback from analysts, journalists, industry thought leaders, colleagues or through other professionals posting opinions online.

As explained earlier, professionals are risk-averse and seek high levels of assurance (positive WOM) before making purchases, with negative reviews also of great interest to them as they weigh product alternatives. Now, more than ever, B2B marketers must ensure that (1) their offerings are high in quality, (2) their customer service processes are operating at optimal levels and (3) all of their marketing messages live up to their claims. Said another way: You can effect positive online WOM or negative online WOM, the outcome (and resulting revenues) are still very much within companies' control.

• Fact: "Consumers still feel companies’ or brands’ top priorities within new media should be to problem solve and provide information (61%, up from 43% in 2008)."

B2B Implications: Problem solving and information gathering are absolutely core to B2B jobs and purchasing—after all, professionals are busy and they need information that will help them make decisions quickly and solve challenges even faster.

Many of the B2B social media strategies I recommend to clients and colleagues are based around programs that facilitate a high transfer of knowledge and solve problems, as these attributes are valuable to professionals and are areas that they consistently engage around (just look at agendas for any major conference and you'll see that speeches and workshops are primarily based around communicating new opportunities, new methodologies or new ways to solve problems).

• “'Consumers haven’t yet been exhausted by brand oversaturation in the new media space,” says Mike Hollywood, Cone’s director of new media. “There is still an opportunity for forward-thinking companies to establish a presence and earn a competitive advantage. Based on the growth of user interactions with companies, countless purchase decisions are being influenced by new media. It’s imperative to get on board now that the train has left the station."

**********

And if that data didn’t convince you that your markets have changed--and it's time to change your B2B marketing accordingly--then I have plenty of B2B-centric information archived for you right here.

Social Media Tips • Social Media *Extras* • Social Media Training • Contact CK

So instead of sending them a long list of links, I've compiled a collection of posts, presentations and series into this slideshow... as it seems a better format for marketers to pick and choose where they want to begin. And you might just enjoy it, too.

The slideshow is below (and is best viewed in full-screen format). RSS and email subscribers, just click here to view.

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What do they need to make this leap? Rationale. B2Bs need the business case explained to them in a way that speaks to the unique objectives, needs and challenges of B2B companies (vs. those of B2Cs). To that end, I've developed this presentation for "Building the B2B Business Case for Social Media." Here's the description:

This presentation illuminates the tremendous opportunities that social media affords B2B companies by building a strong business case, punctuated by 10 key benefits, that explains why B2B marketers should be leveraging these tools to engage with their audiences, grow profits and increase their reach. 

In the chance that you are also working to nudge more B2B companies away from the social media sidelines and into this brave new world of revenue potential--or are a marketing executive championing the social media marketing cause inside your own B2B organization--perhaps these arguments and benefits will help you build your social media business case, too.

Viewing the slides below in full-screen mode is recommended--but if you would prefer to view the presentation in PDF format, just click here to download the slides.

Social Media Tips • Social Media *Extras* • Social Media Training • Contact CK

Web 2.0 Rule #8: Social media gives people more control over brand messages... but marketers (still!) ultimately influence what those messages will be.

The tools of social media are empowering because they give everyone with access to the Web a voice. From corporate professionals to college students, seniors to teens and everyone in-between, people are flocking online and using these new tools to voice their passions, ideas, opinions and, yes, brand experiences.

All of these conversations equate to millions of brand-centric messages--both favorable and unfavorable--circulating across the Web every single day. And these messages are not just shared between two persons, but are amplified across entire communities that have hundreds, thousands or millions of members. Moreover, these messages "live on" since they are permanently indexed by search engines for still more people to view when researching brands. Thus, these messages serve to greatly influence brand perceptions... and while positive buzz can bolster brand awareness and profit, negative word-of-mouth can hurt brand reputations and revenues.

As a result, the level of control that Web 2.0 has transferred to the public at large has rocked marketers' foundations. This shell shock is understandable given that marketers have historically controlled what the message is, who it's heard by and where it's placed. Enter social media and that control is now (poof!) history. 

So it's no surprise that we hear grave concern from marketers over "losing control!" of their brand's message. What is surprising, however, is how few marketers realize the tremendous level of power that they still have.

Marketers, you still hold the greatest level of influence over the messages that the public creates and spreads about your brands. Yes, YOU. The nature of these messages, be they positive or negative, is far more within your control than out of it. Why? Because your company is wholly and fully in control of the quality of its brands, customer care efforts and marketing programs.

Even in an era where customers possess the tools of message creation, marketers still hold the power over the nature of those messages, because they are 100% in control over whether they:

• use social media to engage in conversations with prospective customers or broadcast advertisements and SPAM their online communities.
• ensure their brands live up to the messages they promote, or serve to deceive.
• are transparent in their communications or work to game the system (it's a losing game but it certainly makes for a bunch of bad buzz).
• maintain a dynamic online presence or create static pages across several social networks that are updated only with new press announcements. 
• actively monitor online feedback or ignore it altogether.
• mine the vast amount of freely available market insights that customers are sharing through social media or let their competitors leverage these rich opportunities.
• use unfavorable feedback as a catalyst to improve their brands, or hope it will go away instead of actually fixing the problems.
• set a social media policy and identify online brand spokespersons or lock-down the organization from the Internet and let the conversation and their relevance flow on withOUT them.
• train employees on respectful and compelling ways to use these tools or hire summer interns to "blog good stuff about us!"
• make needed improvements to customer-centric processes or maintain the status quo and increase their risks of negative WOM.

All told, as it pertains to controlling the message and social media, marketers should shift their focus from what has been "lost" to what can be gained now that their messages can be spread further, faster and with more credibility since it comes from the public. Yes, you want those messages to be positive but that's an area you can absolutely influence through exemplary products, promotions and experiences.

And isn't it nice to know you're still in control?

More posts providing insight and direction stemming from this rule:

• Find out the whole story regarding "online influencers" (and how much internal influence social media gives marketers) right here.
• Learn the many social media ironies and how you can use them to succeed--right here.
• Learn the full story on the "New Transparency" in Web 2.0 right here.

Rule #9 comes your way next....

(Psst! all posts in this series are archived here)

Social Media Tips • Social Media *Extras* • Social Media Training • Contact CK

Knowledge is powerful. But when it comes to companies moving into social media, lack of knowledge is absolutely paralyzing.

While social media adoption rates are exploding among consumer and professional audiences alike--and companies are attributing far more attention and budget to social media efforts--education remains one of the biggest barriers to social media adoption.

More to the point, lack of know-how is one of the biggest reasons that so many social media programs fail to perform. Take these recent findings on the knowledge barrier:

• According to a recent study by Russell Herder and Ethos Business Law, the marketing and HR executives surveyed who are not using social media on a corporate basis say non-implementation is primarily due to concern about confidentiality or security issues (40%), employee  productivity (37%) or simply not knowing enough about it (51%).

• As the "2009 Marketing Industry Trends Report by Equation Research illuminated, the leading barriers to corporate social media adoption are knowledge, measurement, and funding/time-resources.

Since one of my practice areas is social media marketing training, I wanted to share 5 key training tips on how best to educate, prepare and guide companies to succeed in the Social Web:

•#1: Transitioning is the goal--training is the vehicle that gets us there.

When I'm educating clients, my focus is shifting their thinking not just their marketing activities. Thus, while the sessions are categorized under "training" my goal is transitioning them to new mindsets, practices and programs.

Fact is, because the complex, customer-driven Web 2.0 landscape is so vastly different from all other media and environments, companies can't otherwise succeed by simply going through the marketing motions. And I measure my success on how many "a-ha!" moments I witness when... *poof*...all of a sudden, social media and the BIG shift that's driving this space truly clicks with my clients. Because in order to transition, a meaningful change in one's mindset and views must first take place.

•#2: Don’t start with tools. Tools are the end of the educational process, not the beginning.

As I often say, the tools are easy, the environment is tough. Plus, tools change all the time. Many training programs focus specifically on learning how to use a tool, and they have much merit... it's just not at all where I advocate starting the educational process. Until companies have established a set of goals, a viable strategy and a unique program set, they won't know which tools are even appropriate for them (especially given there are so many tools, and more debuting daily).

And a company can't determine any of these tactics until they firmly grasp the profound shifts in trends, mindsets, markets, rules of customer engagement and purchasing behaviors--and understand how those changes specifically affect their marketing practices and internal processes.

•#3: Address fears early and often. Knowledge is a barrier, but fear is a brick wall.

Telling executives to "Put their fears to the side and focus on joining the social media conversation!" doesn't work. Why? Because humans aren't wired that way and businesses absolutely, positively must limit risk as they have a responsibility to their stakeholders.

Instead, bring the fears front and center and walk them through each and every one of them so as to teach them how to (1) avoid and dramatically decrease risks and (2) overcome a troubling situation if one should occur.  When you address the fears--no matter if those fears are real or perceived--you'll come a long way in replacing concern with confidence. So slay all those "fear demons" because while knowledge is a barrier, fear is a BIG brick wall.

•#4: Make everything hyper-relevant and be prepared to go old school when explaining new media.

For those of us who are highly engaged with these media, they're so natural to us and we frequently wonk out with our geek speak. But, that is not the case for 99% of the world. When you're educating, you're a guide, and a guide needs to show the way by using examples, analogies and metaphors that students ALREADY understand so that they have a basis from which to learn, and build upon their existing knowledge.

Here you'll likely need to go analog and use plenty of metaphors and off-line examples so that all the "Web 2.0 wonky stuff" becomes relevant and meaningful. Otherwise you're talking another language and so much will be lost in translation.

•#5: All silos and specialties must come together. (Yes, in the same room!)

There needs to be at least one session with all departments who will be affected by the company's use  and participation with social media. Because it's unrealistic to believe that Legal won't need to be a part of the discussion around setting the organization's social media policy, and it's imperative that the Research & Development Group understands that the feedback from social media monitoring will help them in their jobs.

From customer service to corporate communications to management and more, a company's social media efforts affect all these groups in some fashion and thus, they all need to be involved. If you can't get representatives from all departments in the same room, then prepare the marketing team for the conversations that they'll need to hold with these groups--because everyone needs to feel comfortable, be heard, have their concerns (and fears!) addressed and learn how social media can make their jobs better, instead of feeling like it's an added burden.

•Bonus Tip! Build the business case for how social media improves business performance. Because that's your audience's imperative.

Make no mistake about it, you're building a business case on how these media can improve business performance. As such, you'll need to clearly outline the benefits that are important to them, including how to increase revenues, how the company can build new customer relationships and exponentially broaden its reach, how to facilitate positive online WOM that will lead to purchases, and how the company must remain relevant... and not let their competitors gain ground while they remain asleep at the Web 2.0 wheel. (And for the B2Bs out there: this post will help you build your business case).

Even though the professionals that you are training are interested in and excited about social media, they will more than likely need to champion this business case to other departments in their organization, so arm them well.

I'll likely outline more social media marketing tips in future posts, but these are my BIG ones for breaking through the knowledge barrier. Hope they serve you well.

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The question, then, is what information marketers should be monitoring for across the Social Web. And the answer is a wide range of information that spans their own brands, competitive brands, their target audiences and the overall landscape, including:

• Keeping abreast of brand mentions and remaining keenly aware as to whether the feedback is positive, negative or indifferent. You've worked mighty hard on building and protecting your brand's reputation, and now you're afforded the knowledge of what others are saying, thinking and feeling about it.
  

• Identifying brand advocates and relevant communities with which you should be engaging and pinpointing potential candidates for your company's Customer Advisory Board. (No matter if you're a B2C or B2B company, in addition to monitoring all companies should have a Customer Advisory Board, too.)
  

• Understanding if there are needed improvements to existing products, as well as demands for features and functions that could be used to architect future products.

• Conducting market research on emerging wants, needs, trends and preferences of your target market, as well as emerging markets that might prove to be a viable new audience for your marketing efforts.

• Tracking your competitors' brands, following how receptive audiences are to them, how active they are in online communities and the success and failure rates of their marketing programs.

• Monitoring for real-time opportunities that enable you to "sell without selling." What do I mean by this? It is very common for people to ask questions in online forums or on a platform like Twitter when they have a need or need a solution to a problem--in these cases you can give them advice since they asked for information pertaining to your expertise and offerings... and you might just get a sale, start a relationship or receive a referral to another sale from that information exchange.
  

• Understanding how well your customer service efforts are performing and when customer service representatives (or marketers) need to step in to remedy a negative situation or respond to a question or comment. This will be a case-by-case basis, thus you need to know of each case in order to properly assess and act.
  

• Understanding which social media tools your customers are using, most comfortable with and most active in (some audience segments prefer blogs or forums, while others are more comfortable using social networks).
  

• Identifying new products, services and solutions for your Research & Development Group based upon the aforementioned market research and feedback.

• Staving off a crisis or turning a negative situation around. In a crisis situation, both the response (your message/actions/communications) and the timing of it are nothing short of critical--and the Web is already littered with many war stories on how the company was the last to know of its brand reputation being publicly crucified because executives didn't establish the simplest of monitoring feeds and alerts.
  

While the practice of monitoring applies to all companies, the monitoring tools that marketers will use (be they free, paid, or a blend of both), will vary from organization to organization. A simple Google search will point you to many monitoring tools and services and I advise that you ask your colleagues which monitoring solutions they're using and their specific experiences with them. Also, a terrific social media monitoring Wiki that objectively aggregates a host of tools, and adds more all the time, is located here.

But--and this is a BIG but--once marketers begin receiving the results from these monitoring activities, it's paramount for them to understand that the job of these tools is to alert them to the information in near real time and to provide an aggregation of raw data. And as any good marketer knows, information is not the end, it's merely the beginning.

To turn information into actionable intelligence that serves to improves business performance--which is a core part of a marketer's job--marketers need to establish a process (or, more likely, a set of processes) to further mine the data for insights, establish findings, identify next steps and communicate results and needed actions to all departments involved. Those next steps may be to optimize a particular program, launch a new program, create a new product to satisfy customer needs, develop a campaign to reach an emerging target audience or one of many, many other actions.

Thus, marketers' job is two-fold as it pertains to social media monitoring:

1. Identify a set of monitoring tools/services and a thorough set of keywords with which to monitor the Social Web.

2. Establish a set of processes to identify findings, implications and action points from the data that you can use to improve your brands and, in turn, increase market share.

All told, the irony that we mouthy marketers get the furthest not by talking, but in listening, is certainly not lost on me. Part of my role is to ensure that it's not lost on other marketers, either.

More posts providing insight and direction stemming from this rule:

• Learn the importance of listening processes here.
• Learn how bad feedback can be good for your brand here.
  
• Learn how monitoring gives marketers more internal influence inside their organizations here.

Rule #8 comes your way next....

(Psst! all posts in this series are archived here)

Social Media Tips • Social Media *Extras* • Social Media Training • Contact CK

Companies can manage risk through establishing a social media policy, identifying a handful of employees to be the brand's spokespersons on social media platforms and provide social media training for their employees so that they're not flying blind in this thriving, dynamic new region that is The Social Web. Plus, companies can start out through small steps and, once they gain a comfort level, they can broaden the volume of initiatives they implement and the resources and budget they attribute to them.

And the best way for companies to manage risk? Ensure that their company, and all of its departments, are delivering upon their brand's promise, value proposition and customer expectations (which are expectations that the company has set through its marketing, sales and communications, so the company should be consistently delivering upon them).

But when it comes to relevance? Folks, once you've lost relevance with current and prospective buying audiences, then it's--poof!--gone. And at that point you'll need to build it back inch by inch, while your competitors are already miles ahead of you. They're gaining market share while you're working to gain ground. Where's the innovation in that strategy?

Remember, just because your company is not actively participating in these media does not mean that the conversation waits for you. Conversely, the conversation just flows on without you. I'll repeat that last part as it's pivotal to understand... it flows on withOUT you.

In fact it's flowing on without you right now.

What's worse? Your competitors aren't awaiting your participation, either. Nope. They're enjoying first-mover advantages, as they already conducted the risk vs. reward assessment. So you can imagine my delight when I ran across this article citing feedback from companies on this very point. According to the piece:

"Last week, executives from companies as varied as Wal-Mart, McDonalds, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Mayo Clinic gathered at General Mills’ headquarters in Minnetonka to discuss the opportunities and concerns presented by social media. And one thing became clear: For now, companies seem more fearful of being left behind than they do of losing control."

While relevance isn't necessarily calculated as a "hard" performance benchmark like, say, revenues, much like trust (and ergo, credibility), once relevance is lost, it's amazing just how important "Getting it back!" becomes. So make sure that the social media conversation that you hold inside your organization about the social media conversations you wish to hold outside your company does not only focus on the concern of how to manage risk--and the fear of losing control-- but also on the very real threat of losing relevance.

Because losing relevance is the biggest risk of all, no?

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That mindset, however, is costing B2B companies potential revenues, new customer relationships, unparalleled reach and, quite frankly, their relevance. Even worse when B2B companies realize that this opportunity loss isn't something that's being done to them... but due to something that they're simply not doing.

While I'm pleased to see quite a bit more Web 2.0 movement and participation from B2B players, I frequently find myself building the "B2B Social Media Business Case" when walking professionals through the multitude of programs, tools and strategies now afforded to them. I'm happy to have these discussions as, aside from it being part of my role to transition companies to these new media and new practices, it's rewarding to see the looks on executives' faces when they connect the dots and ... poof!... social media becomes (really) relevant to them.

Yet along with explaining the world of social media opportunities now available to B2B companies, I also need to illuminate that the world is not awaiting their involvement. Nope. Because unlike all other media, customers now have the very same tools of creation, communication and sharing that companies do and thus, customers are moving forward at unprecedented rates and quite potentially moving onto other companies that are actively using social media to build relationships with them. 

Moreover, their competitors aren't waiting on them, either. Hardly. Those smart companies are rightfully enjoying first-mover advantages in their respective sectors due to so many companies sitting on the social media sidelines waiting for others to move first. But what is innovative about waiting for those you compete with to make the first move into qualified markets? You guessed it, not a single thing.

So, in the case that you, too, are working to nudge more B2B companies into Web 2.0, here are 10 key points to help you build the B2B Business Case for using Social Media:

•#1: Tap into highly ENGAGED audiences and communities. The Social Web is not another marketing channel but a thriving place of active, passionate communities, both consumer and professional. And it's essential to understand that professionals are “communal” by nature since they automatically qualify as engaged around their functions, disciplines and professions to ensure their ongoing career development and the best interests of their companies. Unlike consumers who are lured by the latest fad, professionals are committed to their professions and the online communities that can further their growth.

•#2: Over 90% of B2B buyers are ALREADY using these tools--you need to be where your buyers are. In February 2009, Forrester Research data found that 91% of B2B buyers are using social media tools, often to research and execute purchases, hailing the segment as "One of the most active groups of people when it comes to social participation." As businesses, it's just plain common sense to have a strong presence in the places where our markets present themselves.

•#3: Help DEMYSTIFY complex brands for your buyer audiences. B2B products and services are many times very complex and warrant a lot of analysis--and often necessitate a steep learning curve for buyers. The information exchanges delivered through these conversational media help to decrease confusion and, in turn, increase the purchasing rates of B2B products, services and offerings.

•#4: Lower buyer-side RISK. Favorable online WOM reduces buyer risk for big-ticket B2B items because customers are avidly speaking with one another about their interests, experiences, preferences, likes and dislikes--and credible, third-party referrals encourage enterprise purchases. So your objective is to encourage positive online WOM that lowers risk for potential buyers as risk is a particularly important factor in B2B purchasing behavior.

•#5: Social media are the most COST-EFFECTIVE media... EVER. While social media does require an investment of both budget and resources, it's nowhere near the equivalent of a large media buy. Thus, companies can implement social media programs even in times of tough economic climates and use the media to strongly position themselves going forward.

•#6: Build new customer RELATIONSHIPS across an exponentially broader reach. Through social media you now have access to the world and new ways to find new customers that have previously been "out of reach" for you. Whether it's Boise, Bangladesh or Belgium, it's just as easy to reach out both far and wide to build new relationships across once-distant regions.

•#7: Extend your THOUGHT LEADERSHIP efforts to a new medium that celebrates ideas and conversation. With social media, B2B companies have the ability to leverage their existing thought leadership efforts and share them with a wider audience while generating true conversation around them, resulting in more exposure and generating more prospective clients. Additionally, through social media programs company executives can prove their savvy and know-how, rather than rely on Web sites that only tell of competencies and benefits.

•#8: Gain (and maintain) COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE--and you might just enjoy a first-mover advantage, too. Due to many B2B companies dismissing social media as merely a "consumer play," the prime time is NOW for first-mover advantages--but there's a limited window of opportunity before competitors move into this space. And apart from competitive advantage, as with any company be they B2B or B2C, executives need to remain highly mindful of remaining relevant (i.e. top-of-mind) with prospects... and in order to be on their minds, you need to be active in their media.

•#9: Decrease lengthy SALES CYCLES. The B2B sales cycle is far longer than the B2C sales cycle, but in using social media tools and platforms to build relationships and extend greater levels of value, you can gain trust and credibility which strategically work to decrease sales cycles--especially given that B2B purchase decisions are rationally based (vs emotionally-based like many B2C purchases) and necessitate more far more data and trust to support purchases.

•#10: A new way to nurture HIGH-VALUE customers. The B2B market is much smaller than the B2C market and thus, the value of each customer is far greater to companies. It's why Customer Relationship Management (CRM), both before and after the sale, is critical for B2B companies. Through Web 2.0 tools and platforms, companies are enabled new CRM methods for communications, customer connections, service, support and knowledge share.

And that brings us to the BIG takeaway for B2B marketers: In a world of Facebook fan pages, MySpace madness and online videos of lipsynching teenagers, you absolutely, positively should not relegate social media to the consumer corner.  Because the B2B opportunities in Web 2.0 are just as remarkable (if not more so).

So get into the Web. 2.0 World, plenty of pearls await you.

PS: To further build your social media business case, and find out the wealth of gains that companies receive through a Web 2.0 presence, just go here.

Social Media Tips • Social Media *Extras* • Social Media Training • Contact CK

If there's one thing in social media that the marketing community analyzes like crazy--and marketers target like heat-seeking missiles--it's online influencers. In building relationships and respect with online influencers, marketers work to gain entry to the communities of prospective customers within which these individuals hold influence so as to increase brand awareness and brand sales. So it's a strategy with much merit.

But as I often tell my clients, it's FAR from the whole story of “social media influence.” While the trusted, popular people that have amassed large followings are no doubt important, they are not the only influencers wrought through social media participation. Nor do they wield the only type of influence that aids marketers in their efforts, and impacts their company’s success.

You see, marketing executives have to serve and persuade several target audiences, not the least of which are their company’s management teams. When rallying for change in their companies, or advocating management's support behind a new marketing program, media investment, product improvement or product solution, marketers need to build a strong business case—and in order for that case to be strong, it needs to be steeped in solid rationale.

That rationale can be in the form of growth forecasts, statistics on emerging trends, benchmarking ROI against past initiatives or success metrics from programs launched by competitive entities. And among these various types of data, the strongest rationale we can submit, and build our cases upon, are customer-centric insights that come straight from the mouths of our markets.

Whether or not you subscribe to the maxim “The customer is always right!” one thing is sure: Without customers you have no business model. So if you want to influence positive, profitable changes within your own organization then data reflecting changes in customer behavior, attitudes, needs, wants, preferences and buying patterns are among the strongest points of support you can provide. And that’s why the findings from this recent survey by The Creative Group are so revealing:

"More than six in 10 (61%) US marketing and advertising executives believe that marketing teams within organizations have greater influence on business decisions now than they did three years ago, in part because of their leading-edge use of social media.”

The survey creators go on to further illuminate...

"Companies increasingly recognize the value that marketing and creative teams can provide in terms of finding innovative solutions to business problems," said Megan Slabinski, executive director of The Creative Group. 'In the current economy, especially, many businesses must reinvent themselves, and marketers can play an instrumental role in helping their firms identify and fill emerging needs.'"
 
Slabinski added that social media programs, which are often overseen by marketing and communications professionals, may increase the pull these staff members have in an organization. 'Many marketers are interacting directly with customers and clients through Twitter, Facebook and other social media, which gives them immediate, firsthand knowledge of how the firm's products and services are perceived and can be improved upon.'"

Here's the takeaway: While marketers should externally target online influencers to improve ROI for their brands, the feedback that they glean through their own social media interactions is equally important to Brand ROI because it can be leveraged internally to improve brands to make them more attractive to buyers, or to create new solutions that will be profitable among buyers.

Said another way, by interacting with their audiences through social media tools, platforms and programs, marketers can gain more influence among management teams and other departments inside their companies (which are sort of like their own "communities").

The fact is, when you’re active in The Social Web you’re on the front lines. You gain a direct line to your market due to actively monitoring, discussing and learning about your market’s interests, actions, preferences and needs. That front line position should not only be used to market your company to prospective customers, but to also use the information and feedback that those prospective customers share with you to influence needed changes within your own company.

Trust me, it’s really hard for management to argue with “But the data reveals that a significant percentage of our target audience is asking/saying/demanding that we [fill in here] and they're saying it in public ... on a world-wide stage.”

So the whole story on "social media influence" is that marketers shouldn't only focus on targeting online influencers as a way to use these media to gain market share, but to also focus on the vital information that their markets share with them through their use of these media--and how that, in turn, makes them influencers, too.

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