Leverage Partnerships in B2B Social Media Too

Filed under Application, Case Study by on 29 October 2009 at 02:13 {no comments}

It seems that partnerships in social media are an overlooked asset. We often rely in traditional strategies and tactics to partner with our customers for case studies, analysts for white papers and media for events. So why not take this approach to social media? This is in fact what we did at CME Group.

I blogged here two weeks ago about the value of using StockTwits for investor relations. Last week we officially announced via video from out trading floor in Chicago that we are going to work closely with StockTwits to partner in our social media efforts to reach traders. With approximately 100,000 users on its network discussing stocks, futures and forex, this partnership is a great social media match for us.

 

Initially we are focusing on some basic, traditional sponsorship activities, such as adding a CME Group logo to your Twitter avatar and placing banners within specific product streams. The real value of our partnership though is to connect the exchange with traders in order to further enhance relationships with our customers. In the coming weeks we are planning to work more closely with StockTwits on an event in Chicago with the goal that in person events will be replicated in other cities. Ultimately, our partnership allows us to build credibility with our customers since we are endorsed by a brand they trust — StockTwits. In addition, StockTwits, which is nine months old, can build its credibility through the endorsement by the exchange, a 150-year-old and trusted organization. I hope to report back on the success of our relationship in 2010.

So what about you? What partnerships — big or small –  have you launched? What other B2B partnerships in social media have you noticed?

Are you using StockTwits? If not, you need to give it a look

Filed under Application by on 19 October 2009 at 00:03 {5 comments}

I can’ t recall the exact date I went to StockTwits online — it was about this time one year ago — but I do remember that I was immediately captivated by it. What the site essentially offers is real-time commentary by traders who use Twitter to discuss what they are doing. The company was co-founded by Soren Macbeth and Howard Lindzon. You can see Soren on CNBC from April 2009 here talking about the company. Howard also is a co-founder of the fund SocialLeverage, which has invested in companies like TweetDeck and Bit.ly.

StockTwits - Real Investors. Real Ideas. Real time.

StockTwits - Real Investors. Real Ideas. Real time.

While the site is geared towards traders of stocks, futures, options and currencies, it also can act as a source of vital information for communicators doing or working with investor relations. As a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: CME), I can watch what shareholders are saying about our company — how they react to our news, discuss the company, discuss competitors and trade our stock. Rather than wait to read the latest analyst reports or view a Google/Yahoo chat board, I can now read in real-time what our shareholders are talking about.  In addition, the page adds a real-time news stream about our company and a daily/weekly/monthly chart on our stock. If you work for a publicly traded company, or your clients are publicly traded, you now have a new tool to listen to a key audience.

Monitoring the competition also has its advantages via StockTwits. As outlined above, you can replicate the same strategy that you have established for your own company and now expand this to all your competitors. I’ve set up my StockTwits porfolio to track other financial exchanges in order to stay on track of their shareholder streams, how they are communicating to shareholders, and then report back anything I see as important or timely.

StockTwits has also expanded beyond their web site. The company recently launched a desktop application that has a look and feel of TweetDeck but geared toward traders. Two features I particularly like about the desktop application include: The ability to create or join individual groups that are topic specific (very helpful for our exchange-listed products to follow customers), and the ability to create groups in order to send private messages directly to the entire group or to multiple groups that don’t appear in the public stream. The company has also launched its own web TV program at StockTwits.tv.  

While I’ve found StockTwits to a must-have site for me, the integration of investor relations and social media is still young. I read this post last week on Investor Relations and Web 2.0 very helpful, especially the spreadsheet at the very end. The spreadsheet alone is worth the read and to share with your investor relations team. 

This week in Chicago is our annual Futures Industry Association Exposition. I was fortunate enough to be asked to lead the first social media panel for any conference hosted by our key industry association. This panel would not be complete without the participation of Howard Lindzon and StockTwits and he graciously accepted my invitation. I plan to follow up this post later this week with an interview with Howard. If you have any thoughts on StockTwits, investor relations and social media, or questions you want me to ask Howard let me know.

Using video as a B2B marketing tool

Filed under Application by on 3 September 2009 at 11:12 {11 comments}

In the B2B space, online marketing channels are gaining a lot of traction because of their lower delivery costs and higher response rates, as well as the potential for greater ROI than can be seen in traditional mediums like print.  Meanwhile, video is said to be one of the most important decision influencers in buying decisions.  It’s also the fastest growing content channel “in the history of the world.”

To me, this means it should be, at the very least, considered as a marketing option.

It can be easy to implement, it’s visual – which is one of the most appealing forms of content – and can be consumed quickly and easily, it builds awareness, and allows for an inside glimpse into your company, which may not happen a lot in the B2B setting.

A few things to remember:

- Don’t create a video just to create a video.  Remember, it has to be interesting enough and valuable enough for someone who doesn’t live and breath your company to want to keep watching after the few seconds of attention span they’re going to give the video.

- Because of that short attention span, keep your videos short as well.  A good rule of thumb I like to use is to shoot for between 1-2 minutes, and keep it snappy and energetic if possible.  Alternatively, if your video is focused on education and information, you may not need the snap, but make sure you’re still making the video short enough.  Anything upwards of 5 minutes or more should be taken to the editing table.

- Most of the time when people set out to create a “viral video,” they fail.  This is especially true in the B2B space.  So try and steer away from that as a goal. If it happens, great, but the “viral” part is an organic process that occurs after you have produced a video and people engage it in.

- SEO and tracking are important.  Make sure you build in a measurement system and optimize the video for online consumption.  There’s a pretty good write up here of making your video SEO friendly, and you can also start by using this search.  If you’re hosting on YouTube (not a bad idea!), there are a few ways you can increase the SEO for your video.

- You may have different types of viewers that come to your site, and you’ll want to cater to several different types.  It may be that not just one video is persuasive enough.  With this in mind, it’s still important to have consistent messages and brand images across your different videos.

- You don’t need to pour a ton of money (or any money) into video, but in the B2B space, it’s not as easy to get away with the ad hoc hand-held videos that can work really well for B2C organizations (Note: This is partially my opinion, although one held by many experts.  There are certainly B2B companies that have done this successfully).  Again, think through who will be viewing the videos.  Is it the hip, iPhone wearing 23 year old, or is the mid-40s COO of one of your client companies?

Here are a few ideas on what could make a good B2B video:

  • Talk with your floor manager about how they’re tailoring production to reduce costs, and how that affects customers.
  • Testimonials! Have a client that likes working with you?  Ask them if they’d be willing to tape it and post it up online.
  • Going to a conference or a trade show?  There’s plenty of fodder there. Offer videos for those in your industry that may not have been able to attend.
  • Make clips of how your products are used.  Better yet, try and get clips of you actual customers using your products.
  • I’ve you’ve got an energetic employee, let him or her take your viewers on a (quick) tour around the plant.
  • If you have very close and/or long-term relationships with existing clients, you could create a message tailored specifically to them or to a group of them.
  • To make your site that much more dynamic and client-friendly, you could introduce upper-level management through a 30-second video clip, followed by a link to their full bio.

Do you have any more tips for using video as part of a B2B marketing strategy?

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

4 Great Reasons to Start a Social Media Program as a B2B

Filed under Application by on 3 April 2009 at 11:12 {5 comments}

A lot of B2B marketing professionals or departments have wondered what, if any, benefit they would get out of adding social media components to their marketing plans. Isn’t that for consumer-facing companies?

Here are 4 ways to start thinking about incorporating social media within your company:

Thought Leadership

  • Provide valuable information that establishes your company as an innovate thinker in your industry.  The end goal is to position yourself as an industry leader.
  • You could post a blog on useful industry information, again providing timely and innovative content to your readers.  Kinaxis has done a good job at this with their blog, The 21st Century Supply Chain.
  • Develop a complete content production program with such things as eBooks, white papers, webcasts etc and utilize social media channels to disseminate your information.
  • Part of the concept of a content production plan is that the information that you’re outputting is ultimately connected to your brand in the eyes of the reader.

Research

Marketing Profs has a great post about the benefits of social media for B2B companies.  I won’t re-invent the wheel, as they did a great job in explaining it. They focused primarily on the research advantages it offers, with the following highlights:

  • Conducting research to understand more about a prospect’s or client’s “buying desires.”
  • Finding decision makers for certain products and services.
  • Extracting names from a given community for lead generation.
  • Getting answers to questions, reaching out to other experts.
  • Finding joint-venture marketing partners and creating various “cooperative opportunities.”
  • Connecting with past customers, keeping them up-to-date.

Brand Outreach

  • People often gather online around common interests or professions.  Many are employed in their field and, if not in a decision-making position, are at least closer to the decision-maker than you may be.  Join in their conversation in a valuable way.
  • Sponsor groups or networks that offer a forum of exchange and engagement for people that might be in what you consider your “target company” (see above).

Communication and Customer Service

  • The ability to connect with customers and clients in a way the offers 2-way communication and conversation can greatly increase relationships between parties.  Rethink the way you communicate with your clients.
  • Use new technologies to streamline the flow of information. Offer a platform to discuss pertinent issues and share knowledge on such topics as R&D, sales, supply chain, production and marketing.
Page 3 of 3«123

Bad Behavior has blocked 630 access attempts in the last 7 days.