The slightly modified “B2B” blogosphere
September 6th, 2007 posted by Lorena CrowleyI recently came across an interesting measuring tool for social media involvement by David Gammel. He identified four levels of engagement in the blogosphere. According to David, blog participation is ranked from 0 to 3, Unengaged to Fully Engaged. On behalf of the business-to-business word, I would like to propose an intermediate, fifth level, and a very populated one at that. Level .5.
David identifies the following levels:
0: Unengaged
1: Listening
2: Commenting and Connecting
3: Fully Engaged
Although most b2b professionals, particularly marketers, are shifting away from the unengaged category, there seems to be a steep transition to even reach the listening stage. There is so much resistance that perhaps an entire new level is warranted. People within b2b are educated on what blogs are and may even recognize the value they bring to the consumer world. However, a disconnect occurs when translating the power that blogs have on the b2b buying cycle. That leaves a mass of b2b professionals hanging out at .5 of the blogosphere, a level I will refer to as unconvinced.
For communicators, this can be frustrating. B2B blogs are an opportunity to display thought leadership, touch new and existing customers and engage an organization’s industry more personally than every before. Although some organizations often fear the time commitment of monitoring (forget participating) online media and doubt the return on investment, the truth is that early adopting b2b companies are going to reap the benefits of the blogosphere on a “first-come, first-serve” basis.
By taking the step from .5 to level 1 and increasing awareness of what is being communicated via blogs and online media, I predict that b2b professionals will end up looking back at the jump and just thinking, “Hmm. That wasn’t so bad.” And moving to level 2, commenting and connecting, will feel much more natural.
Bottom line: Whether your b2c or b2b, it just makes sense to embrace the blogosphere. And although you have to believe before you blog, sooner may very well turn out to be better than later for the blossoming b2b blogosphere.