Sharing B2B marketing communications insights
Most B2B companies post some news releases on their web site. Others go a step further, posting resources like corporate backgrounders and bios that are useful for trade journalists. That’s great, but do they realize how much more opportunity there is to gain a competitive advantage?
How exciting to see that B2B mainstay social networking site LinkedIn has unveiled a new mobile version for iPhones! Called LinkedIn for iPhone 3.0, the new app boasts a Facebook-like user interface and a new search interface.
Some of the most useful features for B2B marketers are the new Favorites functionality that lets you access most-used information quickly and an Updates view to highlight the most recent changes with your connections. The app also integrates Inbox and your address book so you can easily download your connections into your iPhone contacts. Another exciting feature called “In Person” mimicks the popular “Bump” iPhone app to let you instantly exchange contact information when you meet another LinkedIn member in person. It uses Bluetooth wireless technology to transfer the info from one phone to another. You can also mark profiles as favorites while on the road, so they can be added to your home screen and sync contact information with your CRM system. All in all, this is a very nice app which I recommend for all LinkedIn members. Thank you LinkedIn!
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This 1-minute video from Google shows its new real-time search feature announced last week. This is big – even for B2B marketers! Now, ”tweets” from social networking site Twitter will show up in search results as conversation bubbles. Here’s the kicker.
You used to be able to tell “hard” news by its source. If the Wall Street Journal said it, it must be right. The National Inquirer, not so much. The Internet changed all that. Credible newspapers and magazines are shrinking, and the online versions haven’t taken up the slack. The same is happening with the industry-specific news and information that B2B buyers rely on to make purchases. How does this affect B2B marketing?
Since James Suroweiski’s The Wisdom of Crowds hit the street a few years ago, the idea of crowdsourcing has taken off in the marketing world. Many companies have tried to glean low-cost creative using this technique. They wonder if they can use today’s new social media tools to get free creative ideas instead of using an expensive creative team. Why not get the collective ideas of a large, random group? Bob Garfield’s new book, The Chaos Scenario gives some recent examples of crowd failure.
At a time when athletes’ training has become so technically advanced they need charts and spreadsheets, the U.S.’s Kara Goucher is achieving success the old fashioned way. Her style is simple, “Run More. Think Less,” and it is paying off big time, giving her top three finishes in her first two marathons – the New York and Boston – and the first shot in 20 years of beating the Africans in a marathon race.
This story shows that one can still achieve success by running on instinct. And I believe the same holds true for business success. Technology has given us a wealth of information, but there is no evidence that mountains of information have actually improved our decision making skills. In fact, many times the exact opposite is true.
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What can we business people learn from thousand-year-old yogi teachings? A lot, I think, as illustrated by social networking’s growing popularity. In my last blog, Do you have good business karma (Part 1) I introduced the idea that people are driven towards both practices by the same primal need to connect, and that the yogi idea of “simplifying in order to achieve more” also holds true for business success. That is why social networking is even catching on for B2B marketers. How else are the two practices related?
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Statistics show that two practices continue to increase in popularity – yoga and social networking . That got me thinking, are the two related somehow? I do both, and so do many other business people.
The word “yoga” means to “unite” or “connect”. Ancient yoga teachings say that all people are parts of one “truth” and that we have an innate need to join with that truth to achieve inner peace . Hasn’t today’s fragile economy shown that businesses are also inter-connected, and that each healthy business contributes to industry growth and overall economic health? Can we really turn off that innate need to share with the world at large when we enter the office? Might tapping into this “truth” improve our business success?
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A recent visit with my 5-year-old nephew started me thinking. Jimmy was showing me an art project from school – a painting – and asked, “Guess what it is.” I was stumped, because it actually reminded me of one of those ink blot tests psychologists give. But I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, so I thought my answer over carefully. Finally I ventured, “a horse?” “Close!” he beamed. “What is it?” I asked. To my surprise he answered, “a hammer.”
“What?” I asked. “How is a hammer close to a horse?”
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I could relate to Margie Zable Fisher’s recent blog, “The Top Ten Reasons Why PR Doesn’t Work”. Number 2 on her list is “The scope of work is not detailed and agreed upon by both parties.” We are often caught in this chicken or the egg syndrome when ramping up a new PR client. Companies won’t hire PR firms without knowing the cost of their services. Yet, how can you estimate costs before taking on an account? This would be like telling a builder to estimate the cost of designing a skyscraper without telling him the size, type of building or even where it will be located (OK, so maybe not exactly like it, but you get my point.)
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