Organizations: Business in Bare Feet, Nano-Nouvelle, Owner Media Group, Publet, TalentVine
Industry: B2B Marketing
Name of Contacts: Mark Phillips – Business in Bare Feet; Stephanie Moroz – Nano-Nouvelle; Chris Brogan – Owner Media Group; Christie Nicholson – Publet; Justin Falk – TalentVine,
Web References: Publet Website, Christie Nicholson Nano-Nouvelle Website, Stephanie Moroz LinkedIn, TalentVine Website, Justin Falk LinkedIn, Business in Bare Feet Website, Mark Phillips LinkedIn, Social Media B2B, Predictions Blog, Owner Media Group Website, Content Strategies, 50 Best Strategies, B2B Digital Marketing, B2B Visual Content, Myth vs Reality Infographic, 6 Laws Infographic, New B2B Research: Documenting, Future of B2B Marketing, Fasten Seat Belt, Why SM, How to run successful campaigns, How to Use SM
Description:
The future is foretold.
There are believers around the globe.
You cannot escape.
Join the movement or your demise is imminent!
Business to business marketers have heeded this warning and now, like business to consumer marketers, are taking full advantage of opportunities social media platforms offer. Since B2B companies are not looking for mass communication like B2C organizations B2B marketers generally use social media most often to become thought leaders in an industry and then generate leads. But what is becoming even more evident is the need to humanize brands in the B2B sector because ultimately it is people who make the business decisions for companies.
In the following video a contingent of business leaders from the Sunshine Coast of Australia were asked their thoughts about how social media will be used for B2B marketing in the future – each outlined the importance of personalizing the social media experience. It features Stephanie Moroz, CEO of Nano-Nouvelle; Mark Phillips, Mentor, Entrepreneur and Founder of Business in Bare Feet; and Justin Falk, Founder and Managing Director of TalentVine.
Predictions on the future of B2B marketing can sometimes look like science fiction though. In the following eBook 31 of the top B2B marketers make their prophecies. Their dreams of the future can certainly ignite our imagination about what is possible.
Chris Brogan, speaker, best-selling author and CEO of Owner Media Group Inc. says,
“Social media tools are part of the landscape as a means of wiring together people and content. It won’t matter which ones, just like we no longer know which channel our favorite TV show is on because we watch it on Hulu or Netflix. B2B isn’t any different than B2C when it comes to delivery and sharing of content.”
That sharing of content is key. Christie Nicholson, Co-founder of Publet (a marketing platform that enables major B2B firms and brands to increase sales by providing effective, data-driven research for digital audiences), explains that as a start-up Publet’s use of social media will only increase exponentially. Now Publet uses social media to talk about its offerings and content marketing in general – anything that helps customers do their job better. In the following audio clip Christie, based out of New York, explains how she sees the B2B marketing landscape changing.
The following infographic from Business.com showcases how content marketing is changing the game of business.
It should be noted that while we can anticipate some future gadgets and B2B marketing trends, it may not be smooth sailing. Christie identifies two challenges facing B2B content marketing on social media.
There are many social media B2B marketing strategies to help businesses today run successful campaigns that will surely continue to grow – from creating more visual B2B content marketing, engaging on mobile, to documenting one’s content marketing strategy. Joining groups online is one that Stephanie highlights as very useful for Nano-Nouvelle. As a materials technology company developing products for its 3D nano-porous conductive membranes for energy, environmental, chemical and biomedical applications it has a small number of potential customers – the large battery makers.
“Where we use social media mostly is for gathering information about what is going on in the industry. So following all our suppliers and competitors and customers and also joining groups where we can find out what people’s opinions are on different topics. If there is a new technology announcement then a lot of people will write different opinions and analysis of that. So we’re able to find out a lot of what is going on without having to wait and physically attend a conference.”
Justin agrees that while social media is effective in building TalentVine’s brand presence on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter pages, and positioning the company as a thought leader across the recruitment outsourcing space, joining groups is particularly effective. He can answer questions within small business groups and recruiter groups which really offer value to those individuals.
Mark’s personal twitter account is Australia’s largest user base for “innovation.” He has 14 different twitter accounts for his various ventures and also uses Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram extensively. He puts it succinctly:
“Social media is fun but it is also productive from a business perspective. It will continue to expand horizons and network people of different areas of specialization around the world which elevates the conversation.”
For example, a Canadian business may run across a particular problem, an employee can now reach out to his network and in this case one of his contacts in Australia may know someone in Europe who fixed the same issue in a creative way. That Australian can hook up the individual with her contact in Europe. Suddenly the level of ideas is elevated higher than if the Canadian had remained in his own community. This could be why Linkedin is one of the favourite channels for B2B marketers.
Of course there are a myriad of other social media channels on which people communicate. Business.com produced the following infographic to help B2B businesses navigate the digitial landscape going forward.
Lessons For Others:
- Best piece of advice for B2B marketers is to fasten your seatbelt! The future of B2B marketing is moving fast and constantly evolving. The old paradigm – where businesses produced, marketers talked, consumers listened and sales followed – has given way to an economy where customers co-create, marketing involves two-way interactions, and customized product offerings move into the marketplace via new and emerging channels.
- Since 60-70% of decision-making in B2B is made before the supplier is even approached, content marketing is key.
- At the end of the day remember with B2B marketing you are ultimately dealing with people so make communication engaging and informative. Humanize your brand.
Submitted By: Toby Little, SMBP Student
To contact the author of this entry please email at: williams286@rogers.com
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