I particularly like the nimble CRM response of the fashion company, LOFT – http://mashable.com/2011/05/24/successful-brands-facebook/
This is a great post from Danny Sullivan is editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land – http://searchengineland.com/by-the-numbers-how-facebook-says-likes-social-plugins-help-websites-76061
Mashable tells us that in ten or twenty years, what we now call “computers” and how we do our computing are both guaranteed to be radically different and almost unrecognizable – like DNA or nano- computers – http://mashable.com/2011/05/11/end-of-computers/
Glenn Gow is CEO of Crimson Consulting Group, a strategic marketing consultancy focused on B2B clients, with a focus on technology marketing.
In this article, Glenn addresses:
Janet, a senior executive at one of our B2B clients, recently said to me, “Social media just doesn’t feel like an important area of investment for us. We’re not selling to consumers, we’re selling to hardcore businesspeople. I think we’d be wasting our time and money.”
I couldn’t blame her for being skeptical. Though no one can deny the explosive popularity of social media, some hard-core justifications for its B2B use have yet to be laid out.
Businesses of all sizes are executing Twitter campaigns, creating Facebook business pages, and producing corporate blogs and YouTube videos they hope will “go viral.” Those things can work when targeting consumers, but do they work when targeting other businesses?
The jury’s still out, but B2B companies are nonetheless rushing to jump on the social media bandwagon for fear of being left behind in an environment full of constant paradigm shifts that occur at lightning speed.
But the concerns Janet expressed are real. Here’s why:
So why are B2Bs increasing their investments?
If the above sounds pretty dismal, why are 86% of B2B companies investing in some form of social media, compared to only 82% of B2Cs? For starters, consider that social media isn’t the first time a technology, initially targeted for personal use, has transformed into a major business tool. Think instant messaging, smartphones, and smartphone apps, which were originally designed for personal use and fun and were frowned upon by the business world. It’s hard not to see a similar trend with social media.
I shared the following four thoughts with Janet.
1. Consider integration vs. ad hoc postings
Janet’s company may already have a social presence, whether or not she knows it or likes it. Many employees regularly create haphazard, ad hoc postings about their company… not only on LinkedIn but also on Facebook, blogs, Twitter, and YouTube. Such uncontrolled, disparate postings can be a disadvantage; they might work at cross purposes both to each other and to an integrated marketing plan. It’s far better to own your social media presence so that it’s a cohesive whole.
2. Janet’s B2B audience is there
Even though Janet’s target is businesspeople, not consumers, professional buyers now consult social media sources during the buying process and before making a decision. Recent studies have found that up to 90% of B2B buyers use social media to research purchases and are heavily influenced by third-party feedback in their purchasing decisions—both to identify solutions and to limit risk.
The directive to “be where your audience is” has never been more relevant or more possible than in today’s integrated Web, where marketers can know precisely who and where their audience is. “Being there” has also gone beyond a direct dollars-and-cents relationship: A presence in social media has simply come to be expected.
Businesses that aren’t present on social media are creating a negative perception of themselves as being behind the times or unavailable to their clientele.
3. The multiplier effect is hard to argue with
Best-practices already exist for using social media as part of an integrated marketing plan. No marketing element—whether tradeshow, ad campaign, or thought-leadership webinar—should be used in a vacuum: Integration and expansion are the keys for achieving marketing impact.
When used as a follow-on tool for another campaign, social media channels provide an excellent venue for broadening the impact of other marketing strategies and investments. And though not everything goes viral the way we might like, you can dramatically increase your reach with a Tweet here and a Facebook posting there.
4. Don’t get trumped by your competition
Rising success stories (check out how an EMC campaign used nearly every promotional channel) are validating the concern that B2B social media skeptics—and their businesses—will be left gasping in their competitor’s exhaust.
The hard reality is that ROI metrics are imprecise, and it’s always been difficult for Marketing to link its efforts directly with revenue. Perhaps the question is, why should B2B social media be any different? (See this slideshare/webinar on generating ROI from social media.)
Though social media may still be an unproven channel that delivers results difficult to quantify, it’s moving forward so quickly that there’s real risk in staying out of the game. Yes, there is risk involved in allocating money to a B2B social media campaign… but as marketers, we’re used to risk, and there is even greater risk in not doing so.
***
I confirmed with Janet that, for her, there is indeed a leap of faith involved in B2B social media. But the question today is not whether you can afford to implement a B2B social media presence into your marketing campaigns—it’s whether you can afford not to.
Name: Go Try It On
Quick Pitch: Crowdsourced advice on your look, before you go out.
Genius Idea: Go Try It On is a website and iPhone app [iTunes link] that enables users to get real-time feedback on their outfits before they make a purchase or leave their bedrooms.
The site, which launched in March 2010, attracts 80,000 unique visitors per month, 30% of which are from outside the U.S. More than 250,000 have downloaded the iPhone app, about half of which are active users, founder and CEO Marissa Evans claims.
Both the website and app have a sleek, easy-to-use interface. Users can upload photos from their desktops or iPhones, or snap one on the spot with a webcam, and ask the community (or, if they prefer, a private set of friends) to approve a particular look or help them choose the best of three options.
The site’s most active users tend to be young women in their teens and early twenties; 20% of registered users are men, Evans, a graduate of Harvard Business School, says.
If Go Try It On sounds a lot like another startup we’ve covered, you’re not alone. When asked how the startup differed from Fashism, Evans said that Go Try It On was making a greater investment in data and analytics.
Soon, Go Try It On will begin displaying that data in a way that is useful to members. The site will notify a user if she tends to get good feedback when she wears white skinny jeans, for instance, and send her product suggestions to further expand that look — a service that might prove useful both to the user and the startup, should it generate affiliate revenues from the suggestions it serves.
Evans also believes that users are “about 10 times more engaged.” While I wouldn’t place any bets on that number, I will say that the community is certainly very active. Within an hour of uploading a photo on a Friday afternoon, I received 23 votes and 2 comments on my look. The feedback wasn’t particularly insightful, but it did up my confidence about a recent dress purchase.
Go Try It On currently has a full-time staff of five, including the three founders. The startup raised a seed round of funding last fall from Index Ventures.
You couldn’t ask for a more beautiful setting for a fashion show than right on Circular Quay next to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and across from the Sydney Opera House. That’s where we were yesterday for the opening of 2011 Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW) at the Overseas Passenger Terminal (OPT) at Sydney Cove.
Looking up at the old red brick and limestone buildings across the street from the OPT, it was easy to look back and imagine how it was 200 years ago. However, today was all about looking forward as the latest Australian fashions for Spring Summer 2011/12 were debuted to enthusiastic audiences that had come from all over the world.
Bec & Bridge opened the week at the OPT with a beautiful, creative, very wearable collection that included floral prints, burnt oranges, leather/suede mixes, silks, and very sexy black mesh cut-out dresses and skirt. Short shorts are definitely in for Spring Summer – www.becandbridge.com.au
Other favorites of the day were:
The fashion forward Ready to Wear 1 show was incredible. New designers with vision and courage giving the audience thrills with audacious designs and use of fabric and color. Check them out at: rafw.com.au/australia/shows/group-collections-show
Off to start Day 2 … can’t wait!
I’m off to exciting Sydney Town tonight for the Spring/Summer 2010-11 Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW), happening May 2nd – 6th.
RAFW is Australia’s premier fashion industry event that provides a platform for designers to showcase their collections to the world’s most influential media and buyers. RAFW claims the mantle of the Asia Pacific’s stop on the international fashion week circuit joining Paris, Milan, New York and London.
This will be my first time attending RAFW. Having done so many fashion market weeks, runway and trade shows in the States, I’m looking forward to seeing how it is done in my home country – especially when considering Australian vitality and enthusiasm.
The RAFW website describes the fashion week as: a five-day official schedule that includes on-site collection shows held within state-of-the-art collection showrooms, off-site collection shows, The Gallery and The Presentation Suites at The Westin Sydney.
“On-site” is the Overseas Passenger Terminal (OPT) – at Sydney’s fabulous Circular Quay. If you have never been to Circular Quay, it is one of the most spectacular big city vistas anywhere in the world. With the Sydney Harbor Bridge on your left, the Sydney Opera House on your right, and the unparalleled Sydney Harbor lapping at the quay, you are in the heart of the historic Sydney Cove which many people the world over think is, pound-for-pound, the best city in the world.
The OPT will act as the activity and business hub. I’ll be attending the full daily schedule of runway shows and showcases, both on-site and off-site. I’ll be making contact with designers, manufacturers, sales agents and PR firms. My focus will be on companies that aspire to launch in the very challenging, exciting and lucrative US apparel market.
I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge RAFW for taking action on an important issue facing the fashion industry. I was encouraged to see that on the RAFW website’s Event Information Page it is mostly filled with their HEALTHY WEIGHT AND POSITIVE BODY IMAGE GUIDELINES. I was so impressed by the intention of the guideline that I felt compelled to post it, in full, here:
“RAFW encourages the fashion industry to promote healthy body images through the presentation of and publicity associated with the event. It recognises that the promotion of images of exceedingly thin models on the catwalk may lead to some young Australian women seeing such persons as role models and becoming obsessive about wanting to emulate these images. It is understood that there have been reported links with a variety of eating disorders associated with this scenario around the world.
Designers participating in RAFW are responsible for casting models for their individual shows. RAFW is responsible for casting models for all group shows and any special events also in consultation with designers.
RAFW does not currently see the need to impose strict rules on designers regarding the casting of models at the event in relation to imposing body mass indexes (BMI), or any other forms of body measurement. There has been very little cause for concern regarding this issue in the history of RAFW. Additionally, the vast majority of models appearing at RAFW are Australian who naturally tend towards having higher BMIs given a range of environmental factors. We are also fortunate, given the professional nature of modelling agencies in Australia, who have a strict code of self regulation in respect to the care and governance of the models they represent.
Given the current media speculation on this image issue and by recognising that the promotion of unnaturally or extraordinarily thin models may be harmful to young Australian women, RAFW feels that it is necessary to reinforce to designers, model agencies and industry some sensible self regulating guidelines to avoid any unnecessary situations occurring. These are;
Modelling agencies will be briefed not to send to RAFW designer show castings, for either individual, group or special events, any models who in their professional opinion would be considered to be unnaturally or extraordinarily thin or suspected of having an eating disorder. This statement purely serves to reinforce the current professional practice of Australian modelling agencies.
Designers should be mindful when casting for RAFW shows that there are links between the promotion of unnatural or extraordinarily thin models and eating disorders in young women and to ensure that while healthy, naturally slim models are the industry standard, that extraordinarily thin models are not cast.
To avoid sensationalising body image on the catwalks of RAFW, RAFW encourages all media editors to act responsibly by not publishing unflattering or unfortunate images of models that might be captured despite the best efforts of model agencies, designers and RAFW to present models with positive body images. It is not uncommon for individual pictures to incorrectly portray a model’s body type and publication of these images may contribute negatively to the situation RAFW and the industry are trying to improve.
RAFW only has jurisdiction over group show and special event casting and will not cast unnaturally or extraordinarily thin models for these shows.
RAFW has no jurisdiction over models appearing in individual designer shows and encourages all designers and their agents to adhere to the self regulating guidelines outlined above.”
The US fashion industry and media could take a few pages from RAFW. I feel good about being part of an event that is trying to take a stand on an important issue that has caused so many women to have body image problems, doubt their self-worth, all based on unrealistic and unhealthy comparisons. Well-done RAFW!
Facebook’s new Deals feature will launch Tuesday in five U.S. cities. This article gives you a first glimpse of how those offers will look and function.
With a billion tweets a week flying around, here are some tips to make yours stand out http://mashable.com/2011/04/24/twitter-tips-2/
Here are some fascinating factoids comparing Mac and PC users … like PC users prefer White Zinfandel! http://mashable.com/2011/04/23/mac-vs-pc-infographic/