Wednesday, February 19, 2014

FIR B2B #3: Buyers Consult Each Other for Advice; Can Marketers Adapt?

FIR B2BPaul Gillin and Allan Schoenberg host the FIR B2B podcast. In this episode:

New Eloqua Research shows that buying cycles are lengthening and buyers are depending more upon peers for recommendations. “Social media marketing managers and social business teams need to be brand agnostic,” says Eloqua Demand Gen Report Managing Editor Kim Zimmermann. “Make sure that you’re adding to the conversation by sharing meaningful, educational, vendor-neutral content so that the “browsers” are getting the right content, even if they aren’t asking.” How well-prepared are brands to do this? Another study finds that B2B marketers say they’re rapidly improving at aligning content marketing to the funnel, so maybe the outlook is improving.

How Klout Is Poised to Clean LinkedIn’s Content Clock. LinkedIn has come under considerable criticism for changing its news service to de-emphasize independent sources in favor of its own experts. Now Klout is trying to fill that vacuum and give LinkedIn a run for its money as a news curation service. Is Klout’s gambit an indication that LinkedIn’s news content has become less useful since it began promoting its own influencers ahead of third-party sources?

Twitter’s first earnings report as a public company caused its stock to plummet amid concerns that its growth is slowing. Twitter has historically been one of the most effective B2B communication channels. Some people say Twitter is in trouble, but we don’t see peril on the near-term horizon.

A new report from David Spark lists 50 behaviors that were once condoned social media but aren’t anymore. One of the themes that runs through the collection of advice for more than 50 prominent social media experts is that over-sharing is becoming a problem. It’s drowning out valuable content and driving away once-active users.

Our special guest this week is Gary Wicks, who leads the Web Strategy Team at Boeing Commercial Airplanes. He is responsible for strategy development, content development and social engagement in the digital space. He manages the Twitter account for Boeing Commercial Airplanes (@BoeingAirplanes) and is on the editorial board of the corporate website.

We discuss the challenges of coordinating social media across a giant enterprise and the tricky task of balancing transparency with the need to meet global compliance standards. Gary also speaks to the importance of influencers in his industry. Even hobbyists, whom you wouldn’t consider to be influential in large aircraft purchases, can create brand affinity that leads to sales.

We also discuss last year’s Dreamliner crisis, in which concerns about battery safety grounded the fleet for several months. Gary talks about what Boeing learned from the experience and the importance of communicating constantly with constituents.

Get this Podcast:

About Your Hosts

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.

Allan SchoenbergAllan Schoenberg is based in London and responsible for managing the international media relations, issues management and brand communications for CME Group, the world’s leading and most diverse financial marketplace. He was instrumental in launching the company’s social media activity in 2007 and continues to lead its social strategy and online community engagement. He has more than 20 years of experience in B2B communications, including his work for Accenture, Edelman Worldwide and Fleishman Hillard.

FIR Community on Google+Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

To receive all podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the “everything” RSS feed. To stay informed about occasional FIR events (eg, FIR Live), sign up for FIR Update email news.

FIR B2B is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications,serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Posted by Paul Gillin on 02/19 at 04:18 AM
Show Notes • FIR B2B • (0) Comments • Permalink