Social media most influential channel in B2B (GlobalWebIndex Research)

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Social media play a pivotal role in B2B, even more so than in B2C. This is the key conclusion from the GlobalWebIndex Research involving interviews with 17,425 decision makers in 27 markets from July 2009 to June 2011 (this, by the way, makes one wonder why the results seem to have only been published this Fall).

Four clear trends were identified:

#1. B2B decision makers are the most socially engaged in the world: B2B decision makers are the most socially active consumers for all markets and demographics.

#2. B2B decision-makers stand out most in developed markets. In developing markets such as China they are still more active than the norm but the gap is significantly smaller.

#3. Social media communications has the most influential channel for business purchases globally, out ranking even face-to-face meetings, conferences, client entertaining or traditional trade advertising in most markets.

#4. B2B decision-makers are increasing their usage of social media: Despite an already high level of usage between July 2009 and July 2011, for example, social network usage increased from 41% to 60%, while micro-blogging grew from 21% to 39%.

These insights show social business opportunities are to be taken seriously in B2B. As the trust and people factors in B2B are even greater here, these findings should confirm what most of you already were expecting. However, a bit more background on the (set-up of this) survey would make these findings even more compelling. And could take away doubts people still have on social business in B2B – as phrased in the questions below.

> Couldn’t the results demonstrate that B2B senior people spend a greater proportion online each 24 hours than the ‘average person online’?

> Is the usage of social networks by B2B decision makers (as assessed in this survey) always related to making a business decision?

> Or could their social media time be explained as a way to pleasantly pass the time – waiting for their airplane or train – uploading pics to Flickr or reading their cousin’s funny tweets or posts on Facebook?

Your thoughts/ suggestions are – as always – highly appreciated.

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Enterprise Marketing 2.0: social media marketing inspiration (not just in B2B)

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Last week I attended Enterprise Marketing 2.0 (#EM20) in Amsterdam. Speakers from amongst others DSM, Ericsson, Philips, Dassault Systemes, DHL/ Deutsche Post shared their insights into how to leverage social media in new B2B marketing.

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The ROI of social media marketing | some answers

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Once in a while, I peruse the questions asked on LinkedIn in the Marketing and Business Development sections. Earlier today, the 1 million dollar question on social business was raised: “How will you measure the actual ROI from social media campaigns?”.
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Dependent on the campaign, objective and industry, to my mind Social ROI is either measurable as a KPI that initiatives can be attributed to or part of the broader mix and more difficult to measure. At eg Philips the social programme in B2B differentiates between a number of online & social KPIs to track the success of the campaign down the various stages of the funnel (reach, image, traffic, subscriptions etc) in the short & medium term whilst measuring NPS/ net promoter score in the long run. Using a benchmark of social vs non social (campaign with or without, comparable hotel on Booking.com with or without social shares/ recommendations) may also enable you to build insights into 2.0 ROI.
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Social adepts will refer to ROI as the equivalent to Risk of Ignoring (social media). Whilst I’d agree with that notion, most decision makers nowadays will want to see a business case and KPIs backed up by relevant numbers also.
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For some KPIs useful to assess social ROI in the various steps in the funnel, see this model below (click to expand view).

ROI DutchmarQ | Business Development B2B


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#TEDxAMS 2010 | towards ideas worth doing

After a bit of a slow start (perhaps caused by the sudden snow), this year’s edition of TEDx Amsterdam took off at the proper impact and speed. It was not just the incredible Claron McFadden’s bird-like singing performance but speakers like mister ‘evergreen’ Peter Westerveld on re-greening the deserts that made the difference. In the end, TEDx should be a platform for ideas to share, flourish and find their way to become reality in some shape or form. Whereas most people would stress other people’s adoption of ideas, Alef Arendsen stressed the need to start with yourself. People only do those things they really like to do. In terms of spreading products and services in sustainability, companies need to stop playing the guilt – ‘the world is coming to an end’ – card. And should adopt proven marketing concepts based on the ‘me first, then the world’ principle.

Last year my blogpost on #TEDxAMS touched upon this very topic and called for ideas to be taken to the next level. Good stuff this year’s edition also called for ‘ideas worth doing’. I look forward to experiencing the 2011 edition. To those interested in ideas taken to the next level of fruition, please check out this TED nephew.

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Chance favors the connected mind | in B2B & beyond

It may come as no surprise to you that collaboration helps to shape new ideas. This video by author Steven Johnson perfectly shows how that works. Take your time, switch off your cell phone and shut the door for just a few minutes and allow yourself to plunge into the following thoughts come alive through an amazing cartoon.

The concept is that you have a partial idea or hunch that needs to be combined with another hunch to form a fully-developed, great idea. Sometimes patience and thought will get you there just fine. Generally your great thought will occur thanks to the combination of your idea with someone else’s. Johnson argues that one needs to place oneself in environments that foster good collaboration. He argues that while the web can often be a distraction, it can be a great environment to jointly develop great ideas as well. Your next great idea may therefore come to fruition by finding an (online) community that helps you to complement your ideas with other people’s feedback and ideas.

I especially like the motto shared towards the end “chance favours the connected mind”. The only element that seems to be somewhat implicit in Johnson’s perspective is the one of diversity. People and turtles are pictured in a uniform, stereotypical fashion. Wouldn’t diversity often provide an essential little nudge for chance to come about?

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