If we’re only as strong as our weakest link, shouldn’t we find that faulty link fast and bring it up to par? With 2009 quickly coming to a close, it’s a perfect time for marketing professionals to evaluate this past year and see where they can best focus their efforts in 2010. What was a weak link in your marketing program?

I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of B2B companies felt they didn’t invest as much time or energy as they would have liked to in social media. While tight budgets may have limited companies’ abilities to devote resources to exploring social media, its application and value to B2B marketers continue to progress. 

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There continues to be a lot of chatter on the social media front about Google Wave, which was opened up to a meager 100,000 users last week via private invitations. But the verdict is still out. Some users already call it a game changer, while others openly question its practicality and usefulness compared to existing online communication (email, instant messaging, etc.) and social media technologies. It begs to question if Google has developed a collaboration tool that society still needs to grow into.

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As an animal lover, I’ve found it increasingly difficult to refrain from tying my six-month-old puppy into a blog post somehow. I’ve decided to stop fighting it, as I think the little Yorkie (weighing in at less than 3 pounds) has proved a valuable point to me over the past few months. 

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I’m not a web developer by any means, and I don’t design Web sites for a living. My agency has some very talented people on hand to handle those areas. But I am a marketer, and I visit hundreds of Web sites a day, both at work and on my own time. Like most individuals, I’m on a mission to find specific information on every site I visit. It sounds easy enough, but far too often, when it comes to B2B Web sites, it’s not that simple.

Many things can distract from a good Web site visit by prospects, business partners, potential employees and members of the media. As a marketer, I understand how sites can fall short. Tight budgets, decisions made by committee and restrictions from parent companies can all crack away at the vision of a dream Web site. But sometimes, the Web user in me just gets plain old frustrated.

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There is a misconception that a blog is a good PR strategy for everyone. Everyone should have a blog, they say. A blog allows businesses to curtail traditional media and reach their prospects directly, they say. But do blogs really make sense for all companies? In my personal opinion … absolutely not.

I’m a huge proponent of the transparency, candidness and two-way communication that a B2B blog invokes. There are also some real benefits of blogs in terms of SEO and visibility on the web. Done properly, a company’s blog can become a destination on the web for a particular industry. But a blog is much more of a commitment than organizations often expect, and it adds an entirely new level of accountability.

So what companies are NOT good candidates for blogs?

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When our agency kicked off its blog last May, it seemed like anything and everything inspired me to blog. Current events, other blogs, articles and even just having conversations with my colleagues all made me feel like the forces of the universe were crying out for me to blog … and so I did my best to please them by participating on this blog and others. But for some reason, at the drop of a hat, I lost that momentum and electrifying urge to type away. I felt that way for several months. It begged me to wonder why I went from being so compelled to blog to feeling like there really wasn’t anything I had to say. And for people who know me… it’s very unusual for me to have nothing to say! Could it be bloggers fatigue? Nah. I think I’m too young for that …

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“Signs Point to Yes”

Is widespread adoption of new media strategy and tactics really in the horizon for the B2B world? I don’t have a Magic 8-Ball anymore (I swear), but if I did … I’m pretty sure that the response I would see through its blue, bubbly liquid-filled peep hole would in fact be “Signs point to yes.” Why such the confidence? Well, I could easily make lists of reasons — but you are probably still caught-up on trying to figure out the fate of your own Magic 8-Ball, so I’ll stick to what peaked my interest today.

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Will SEO finally put corporate marketing jargon to rest? Could public relations professionals be on the brink of securing universally clear and concise messaging at last?

The Web is an undeniable force when it comes to marketing, but this puts corporate jargon and marketing speak in quite a predicament. The vague terms and complex — yet meaningless — phrases that organization leaders have hidden behind for years to avoid establishing definitive messaging will not bid them well on the web. Although it may have never made good business sense to describe a product or service as an “innovative solution,” it may become a bit clearer to organizations when they realize that they aren’t making friends with search engines using such indirect and empty language.

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Although I’m sure that the leadership of this PR agency trying to educate the world about the “Top 10 Lies a PR Firm Will Tell their Customers and Prospects” only had the best interest of others in mind when writing and distributing this press release, I’m curious to find out what they actually deemed to be newsworthy or, for a matter of fact, of any value at all. Or is that not a qualification for press releases distributed by their agency? If so, maybe they should add an 11th lie to their list, being “Yes! This would definitely make a good press release.”

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There is something wrong with this picture …

To a client, a media placement is often just that. Without education about the overall processes of public relations, clients may never understand the leg work behind even the simplest media coverage, which can lead to a devaluation of an agency’s services in a clients mind. The way I see it, this predicament leaves us public relations professionals with two options. We can (a) commit extra time and energy into helping our clients understand the patience necessary and ultimate value associated with nurturing a long-term, strategic relationship with members of the media, or we can (b) completely sell ourselves short by unvalidating the notion of having a strategic PR partner. When you put it that way, it probably sounds absurd to move forward with the latter plan of action.

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