FIR B2B #20: Indium’s Awesome Engineers

FIR B2BIn this episode:

News & Trends

A new study finds that online customer reviews are just as important to B2B marketers as they are to B2C marketer. The finding underscores the need for B2B companies of all types to have influencer review programs.

Jon Spenceley, Community Marketing Manager at Vidyard, write an interesting piece entitled “The Optimal Length for B2B Videos Throughout the Funnel.” He suggests that while top-of-the-funnel videos should be limited to 90 seconds or so, lower-funnel videos can run much longer. It all depends on what kind of content the prospect is looking for.

Facebook is clamping down on overly promotional material in its network. The objective is to get marketers to pry open their check books, but this campaign might also drive more companies to use Facebook primarily as a customer service tool rather than a marketing instrument. Facebook also plans to launch a social network for use behind the corporate firewall, possibly as a test of a backdoor play against LinkedIn.

Twitter search now includes the entire Twitter history, which is awesome!

Special Guest: Rick Short, Director of Marketing Communications, Indium Corp.

Indium, a maker of metal alloys for high-tech manufacturing, has one of the most creative and successful inbound marketing campaigns we’ve ever seen. It focuses on connecting engineers to the highly technical customers they serve, with Indium experts helping customers solve problems in exchange for contact information. It’s paying off so well that the company can afford to increase its focus on lead quality because it has more than enough leads in the hopper.

Rick Short championed the "From One Engineer to Another” more than five years ago. His perspectives on the role of marketing as an enabler of conversations rather than a messaging firehose is one more marketers need to hear. The success of the program certainly confers him with credibility.

Check out Rick’s blog.

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About Your Host

Paul GillinPaul Gillin is a veteran technology journalist and a thought leader in new media. Since 2005, he has advised marketers and business executives on strategies to optimize their use of social media and online channels to reach buyers cost-effectively. He is the author or co-author of five books, including Social Marketing to the Business Customer (2011), the first book devoted entirely to B2B social media marketing. He is also a social media trainer and coach at Profitecture, a training firm for B2B companies and their channel partners.

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Posted by Paul Gillin on 12/11 at 08:19 AM

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