MAD Perspectives Blog

A month ago, we asked if you were ready to embrace video marketing. As often happens, additional facts, figures and reports have appeared that reinforce our belief that video must be a strategic element of your overall marketing strategy.  Here are some tidbits that we found interesting:

1. Social Media Examiner's "Social Media Marketing Industry Repot 2012":

       "For the second year in a row - a significant 76% of marketers plan on increasing their YouTube and/or   video marketing.  This is slightly down from 2011 (77%).  Business with 26-999 employees indicated this is a key growth area, with 80% responding affirmatively.  Younger marketers (77% of those aged 20-49) are also more likely to increase their video production than older marketers (68% of those aged 60+)."

     2.  ComScore indicates that consumption of online video will continue to rise.  In the U.S.: 

          - In 2012, 192 million viewers will watch an average of 29.4 hours of online video per viewer    

    3.  Adap.tv and Digiday, Q1 2012State of the Video Industry Report

        "Industry optimism is healthy.  96% of video buyers we surveyed estimate that their 2012       video ad budgets will increase by at least 23%."

    4.  Other tidbits:  

       - HD will become the standard

       - content will increasingly be consumed on wireless devices such as tablets and smartphones

       - people are becoming more savvy, creating demand for quality and originality

Video will continue to challenge and intrigue us as we seek the best methods to engage our customers. Planning will address issues such as good storytelling, tagging to ensure search engine optimization and click-thrus to your website and marketing strategy integration (including social media!). Your goal is simple - to get the highest possible return on your video marketing investment. So, we'll ask again - are you ready to embrace video marketing?

What's your perspective?

161 Million members in over 200 countries, with 2 new members joining per second.  Wow!  This represents over 4.2 billion professionally-oriented searches in 2011.  So, this begs the question - how do you use LinkedIn? My friends and colleagues all know that I am a big fan (and for complete disclosure, i do own a few shares of LNKD). The common perception is that LinkedIn is a career networking site. It provides individuals with a mechanism to display their professional talents and find a new job. It helps recruiters find the best talent. It helps sales teams uncover network links to key decision makers.  These are all fantastic uses of LinkedIn.

But, have you thought about using LinkedIn to do market analysis? Or, to empower your employees? Here at MAD Perspectives, we use LinkedIn to pursue new business, learn about market trends, share thoughts and stay connected to colleagues. We have posted questions in groups to learn about new technologies.  We have answered questions posted in LinkedIn Answers. We have also leveraged LinkedIn to fulfill client projects, some directly tied to LinkedIn, others using the power of the network.

Check out our case studies:

     - LinkedIn for Competitive Analysis

     - LinkedIn for Accelerating Sales

     - LinkedIn for Solution Consulting Services

Social media has changed the way we share and obtain information at the the personal and business levels. Each of the social networks adds value to how we communicate and stay in contact with friends, companies and colleagues. It's up to each of us to determine how these platforms can best serve us. Don't be afraid to be creative!

What's your perspective?

The latest social media buzz is all about Pinterest.  If you are a female consumer ages 25-54, you might be using Pinterest to invite comment from friends and family as to interior decorating options, travel destinations, gifts or recipes. According to Pinterest they are "a virtual inboard.  Pinterest allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web." While this may be fine for consumers, I'm challenged to think of the the value for B2B companies.  Sure, technology companies such as HP, IBM, EMC and others have some limited content on Pinterest, but how can Pinterest help your company achieve its strategic goals?

The answer - I don't know. Hubspot has a good blog on this topic reflecting on the ability for users to follow boards or entire accounts. So, you could elect to follow the board of a industry thought leader or a specific industry topic. If you search "social media" a slew of pins appear. The most important thing to remember about Pinterest is visual.  It is about images. A pin cannot be created if it is not associated with an image.

Of course, Pinterest could be part of an overall strategy to increase awareness of the company and its products. The key is whether your target audience is on Pinterest. Then the challenge is to represent your business using visual images. This could be an infographic, logo, presentation, pictures from an event or product images. Don't forget, visual content is more memorable than text.However, it's about this being the right destination for your content. It's not that this content is not located anyplace else on the web, it's that you want to reach an audience that is spending time on Pinterest.

Think about how Pinterest may advance your business strategy. Brainstorm the different types of images that can personalize your business and then align those images with your overall marketing strategy. A simple starting point may be related to an event. There are dozens, if not thousands, of pins from the recent South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas. I'd be curious how many of these pins are also twit pics or pictures of Facebook pages. Do these pins increase awareness or drive leads - or is it just a way to humanize your business?

Pinterest can be linked to your Facebook and Twitter accounts, meaning that your pins show up in those feeds. This is great for personal use, but for me, the jury is still out on the relevance of Pinterest in the B2B space, but I'll keep watching and brainstorming!

What's your perspective?

Every day there are more articles showcasing the value of social media for business.  However, 80% of those articles reflect the value for companies marketing to and communicating with consumers.  The challenge, for companies selling products or services to other companies, is how social media can help them.  After all, when most people are on Facebook, they are there to communicate with their friends and family.  Sure, they may be job hunting, and Facebook has proven to be a good place for employers to recruit new employees.  It is also a good place for companies to connect with users regarding customer support issues.  However, Facebookt is still first and foremost a destination for the individual thinking about personal, rather than business, topics.

A recent article on The Next Web highlighting the high proportion of U.S. based LinkedIn members, with membership growing internationally. What was more interesting is how companies are taking advantage of LinkedIn, particularly those in high tech. One of the dominant metrics, for measuring success in social media , is tracking the number of followers. For a company in the B2B space, it is most important for followers to be individuals who can influence purchasing decisions. LinkedIn is the most relevant social network for attracting influential followers. Who's are the companies leading the pack?

    1. IBM, ~590,000 followers

    2. HP, ~449,000 followers

    3. Microsoft, ~424,000 followers

    4. Accenture, ~419,000 followers

    5. Google, ~409,000 followers

    6. Oracle, ~293,000 followers

    7. Deloitte, ~283,000 followers

    8. Apple, ~253,000 followers

    9. Dell, ~244,000 followers

    10. Cisco, ~240,000 followers

source:  Zoomsphere

It's not a surprise to me that tech companies lead the pack.  Tech company employees tend to adopt new tools more rapidly than individuals in other markets.  IBM, in particular, has invested heavily in "socializing" its entire approach to business. This is partly to promote their own business intelligence capabilities, but also to simplify how employees get and stay connected internally or externally.  

These companies use LinkedIn's company pages to promote the company and their product lines. The benefit of promoting products and services on LinkedIn, allows the company to highlight new products, customer case studies and increase attention to key product lines. Another benefit is the ability for users to provide recommendations for company products. Hewlett-Packard, in particular, has gained a significant number of recommendations across all of its businesses. In addition, they sponsor several groups targeting different customer segments.

Social media is changing the way we connect with customers.  LinkedIn provides an additional channel for communicating value and differentiation, as well as listening to what customers are saying.  Look into leveraging LinkedIn for more than your personal profile, there are benefits for large and small businesses. Check it out!

What's your perspective?

Every company has a story to tell.  There is the story about its creation and growth.  There are stories about its products and solutions.  There are insights about its impact on society, markets and individuals.  These stories are told through a wide variety of communication platforms. Social Media 101 would recommend defining a plan aligned with your strategy, then using the most popular social media platforms (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, blogging) to fulfill that plan. As we enter 2012, lets look at some additional tools that will expand the audience for your business stories!

1. Slideshare - As the name indicates, share your presentations.  Not only can companies post presentations and whitepapers, they can create audio to complement the information in the presentations. Slideshare is great outlet for establishing your position in the market, sharing insights in a visual manner, promoting new products, providing "how to" content, and more.  Tell stories through graphics, pictures and key highlights.

2. LinkedIn Groups - Every LinkedIn pundit promotes the benefits of a good profile, increasing connections and gathering recommendations. They also encourage involvement in groups, yet many of the individuals that I talk to don't realize the value of groups. There is a group for just about any industry, technology, profession or interest.  Your company can create groups specific to product categories or market needs. It provides an alternative channel to promote your company's value. Groups allow members to ask and answer questions between themselves or the group moderator. Stories evolve through these interactions.

3. HootSuite or TweetDeck - Simplify your monitoring and posting of social commentary. Each platform allows users to establish multiple accounts (i.e., on behalf of clients), receive notifications, schedule updates and view multiple columns of content on a single screen. These tools provide a single destination for managing your posts on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Foursquare, WordPress, Ping and others. They provide you with instant access to content to keep your story relevant.

4.  Apps - 2011 saw the rise of the app as a means of sharing content on mobile devices.  Given the restrictions of these devices, apps streamline user access and interaction. Without apps, smartphones and tablets would not be enjoying such high levels of success. The challenge for B2B companies is identifying and developing apps to address employee and customer needs. Apple launched its B2B App Store in late 2011, acknowledging the unique needs of this market segment.  Apps simplify how employees or customers can engage with your company while on the go.  Some broad ideas for relevant apps could be customer service FAQs, order management, product highlights and demos, need feeds incorporating corporate, industry and social content.  Apps help you interact in a new way and share your targeted elements of your story.

Coordinating cross channel communication efforts will be the 2012 challenge for sales, marketing and customer support. Creating and adapting content for use across multiple platforms takes time and talent. Companies will face resource challenges to manage content development and distribution. In parallel, social platforms continue to emerge and there are several technologies that all marketing strategists should be addressing. They include the use of mobile devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets), adoption of monitoring and analytics platforms and the importance of location based services.  

Be aware of how any platform can benefit your company's goals as well as increasing awareness and interaction. Use the same methodology you've been using to align and integrate your communications strategy. Define your audiences, the content they need and the best communication channels. Take your strategy to the next level -  testing and analyzing platforms relevant for your business and your customers.

What's your perspective?

I've been traveling for business and pleasure for the past 2 weeks.  It was a great trip and I reconnected with former colleagues and made new connections.  As I was preparing for a social media workshop with Ivory Europe, an independent strategic communications and experiential agency, and some of their marquee clients I used the internet and social media platforms to gain insight about these clients.  My goal was to facilitate an engaging, interactive discussion about corporate use of social media.

Preparing some slides to guide our conversation was the easy part. Understanding how the participants (a combination of Ivory employees, PR firms representing financial services companies, public sector marketing and employees from leading social media companies) would engage was the challenge. Ivory Europe was kind enough to give me advance notice as to the identities of the possible attendees.  I checked out their company websites to see if they had integrated social networks into their websites. I was surprised to find that only 50% of the sites reflected any kind of social media. I also looked up the individuals on LinkedIn. (Yes, all of them are on LinkedIn). Based on their profiles, I was able to quickly understand who they were, how active they were in using social media and how their backgrounds might influence their participation. Interestingly, there was an intriguing mix of journalism and military service in their prior experiences. 

What did I take away from gaining this insight?  I felt that this was a group of people who understood the value of communicating, but who also would crave structure around the process.
This group was a great audience for me as I constantly emphasize the importance of planning.  I believe in the power of relevant communication.  And let me emphasize the word relevant.  We discussed how and why businesses are using social media, how they get started, where we think it is all going and why certain platforms make more sense for some businesses versus others (see my previous blogs for how to get started and aligning your use of the various platforms).  Our key takeaways from this 5 hour session were:

     1. Planning is critical as it helps to align strategy with business goals
     2. Understanding your brand and its voice is critical for a successful campaign 
     3. Content can be re-purposed, but it must be aligned to audience and goals
     4. Consistency is important to building a following
     5. Listening is the easiest way to get started (and it's addictive!)
     6. Human resource is the biggest obstacle.  There was a clear understanding that being social takes time and finding the right resources within your business to represent your firm is very important.

Depending on the. nature of your business, your implementation of social media will vary.  Whether you are a start-up with an exit strategy to be acquired or a government agency reinforcing policy or an established enterprise planning for a new product launch - social media is an expected element of your integrated marketing strategy. Learning from others and brainstorming internally can lead to a plan that achieves great results. Seek help where you need it (possibly in the planning stage), align resources (make sure they understand your brand and your goals) and get started!

What's your perspective?

Where do you socialize?   At home?  When you're out with friends, family or colleagues.  Do you socialize at the office?  Yes - we all socialize everywhere and the social networks understand this.  While they started as online platforms accessible primarily at home, they are increasingly accessed via mobile devices such as IPads or Smartphones. 

In the B2B world, we've been addicted to voicemail, then email.  In our desire to stay connected (or should I say competitive), is social networking the next business addiction?

I've been reading articles about John Doerr's most recent investment strategy at Kleiner Perkins (the Silicon Valley venture capital firm) focused on Social-Location-Mobile. It got me thinking about B2B social media and mobility. After all,

- 72% of the workforce is mobile.
- 64% of corporate decision makers are checking email on their mobile device.
- 70% of mobile users say that their cell phone is their primary communication channel.
- 72.5M smartphone users in the U.S.

Every leading social network (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, WordPress) has an app for iPhone and Android. Why? Each of these networks recognizes that we, the consumer or business owner, craves connectivity - wherever we are. In fact, as social media and the related social networks have become a pervasive part of our lives, we can now find others near us or invite colleagues to join us at a defined location.

It has been said that while social media allows us to make the connection, mobile apps ensure that we remain connected. From 2009 to 2010, there was a 240% surge in mobile social networking (Comscore MobiLens April 2010). For B2B users, the potential lies in making enterprise apps available for sales personnel. These teams are on the go - that's their job. How could mobile social networking help?

- sales managers stay in contact with their teams
- easy access to fast moving industry news about their customers and competitors
- sales on-demand supply chain updates to fulfill customer demands
- reminders from or updates to CRM systems

There is much buzz around Location Based Services.  In my opinion, it is still unclear how beneficial location based services will be for B2B. Companies have trialed location programs at conferences and exhibitions with mixed results.  With social networks evolving around location (FourSquare) or enabling location (Facebook) users are "checking in" and catching up with friends.  However, most sales people are not comfortable revealing their location due to competitive concerns.

Are you using social networking on the go? I post updates to my personal Facebook, I have 'checked in' occasionally.  For business, I am tied to LinkedIn and login throughout the day to check trending news amongst my contacts and group.  I'll be travelling in the UK for the next two weeks and I will definitely be accessing social media from my smartphone!

What's your perspective?

I was in Silicon Valley meeting with various companies, two weeks ago, to talk about their social media strategies (or lack thereof). I want to share my learnings from two of these companies as they both reflect the importance of having executive support. I will not share the names of these companies as I do believe that I may not have the full story in either case. However, each left a lasting impression.

I met with the VP of Marketing for Company A, a provider of video delivery solutions. I had casually met him at an industry event and was connected to him on LinkedIn. However, I pursued the meeting via the VP of Sales for one of their divisions, as I had a very strong relationship with this individual. The VP of Sales clearly understood my goals to discuss the value of the customer insight that is found through social interactions and other online behavior. Company A has grown through acquisition over the past few years and their customer base is growing as enterprise companies produce and distribute increasing amounts of video content. 

The VP of Marketing has a very busy schedule and was kind to give me some time to discuss their use of social media and how social media can provide them with competitive intelligence. It was an interesting discussion where I found out that the company does not integrate social media into their marketing plans.  They feel they already know who their customers are and what they want. Their only goal is to streamline the sales cycle. This company is monitoring the social networks using Radian6, yet they are not actively participating. Monitoring tools like Radian6 are dependent on selecting the most relevant keywords.  Pursuit of this discussion to understand how they selected their keywords (I was thinking about the importance of long tail keywords) was a deadend. In summary, this VP of Marketing is currently unimpressed by social media's value for B2B companies. He is concerned about the investment of people resources to manage any social media agenda. Thus, for now, this company will not officially pursue a social media marketing strategy.

The second company I met with, Company B, is in the enterprise content delivery space.  Again, I was introduced to the VP of Marketing through the VP of Sales.  We had spoken several times in 2010, but his social media efforts never materialized.  He was open to discussion when I indicated I would be in the bay area.  We had a fascinating conversation.  His challenge, in developing the marketing plan for this small technology company, was a CEO who was watching and second guessing every decision.  He was unable to put a comprehensive marketing plan together, that would have included social media, due to lack of empowerment.  As a result he chose to focus on a narrow scope that proved to be challenging yet successful in increasing industry awareness and perception of the company as a market leader.

As Company B's market expands beyond large enterprise companies, they do understand that traditional offline marketing efforts may not be enough to broaden market awareness and understanding of their solutions.  Fortunately, there has been a change at the top and the new CEO is supportive and empowering of the VP of Marketing's efforts.  It's challenging in a small company to find and align resources, but now there is support from the "top" and they will tip-toe their way into social media.

I share these experiences as you may be facing similar challenges in your company. It is critical to have management support for your social media efforts. There is a strong focus on the ROI of social media in 2011.  I have ambivalent feelings about ROI as numbers can be manipulated to appear to meet goals. That said, it is important to understand your business goals and how social media can help you achieve them. For example, Company A wants to streamline its sales cycle. It would be important to understand what information customers need that would allow them to make a buying decision more quickly. Could influence be established via a social network?  Possibly. Do potential customers seek advice from other buyers and seek casual interactions to uncover their experience with Company A?  Possibly. Establishing a plan, really thinking through the activation and delivery of the plan, and taking the time to understand and define meaningful metrics will keep efforts focused.  And, given the right time frame, results will follow. 

Winning executive support is a must for entering the B2B social media space. Social media takes time and people. Without clear direction and understanding of the rules of engagement marketing, customer support, sales or product teams cannot engage to drive awareness, customer satisfaction, revenue or innovation.   Are you facing challenges getting executive support for a social media strategy? Let me know your challenges. We can all learn from each other!

What's your perspective?

Do you use LinkedIn?  If so, you're one of the 90M+ people, in over 200 countries, that have a profiled on LinkedIn.  If you are a business person and you crave an online professional networking destination - LinkedIn is it.  You can:

     - Tell your professinal story
     - Get and stay connected with business colleagues - even if you, or they, change jobs
     - Pursue career opportunities
     - Get informed about people and companies before you actually meet them
     - Identify decision makers or influencers and get connected to them
     - Ask questions about ANY business related topic

There are competitors who offer business networking (i.e., Plaxo, Naymz, Xing) or job search (i.e., Monster, CareerBuilder, Ladders), but LinkedIn has created (and continues to enhance) the site for professional networking.  It is a critical part of your online social identity - particularly as it relates to your career.



I joined LinkedIn while i was still working at Hewlett-Packard.  I was happy in my job and was not particularly interested in online networking.  However, I responded to an invitation from a colleage and so began my LinkedIn journey.  It started as an "online rolodex" - a place to capture the details about the business contacts I made while jetting around the globe on behalf of HP.  Now, it is an integral part of every business day.  How?

LinkedIn provides me with insights about people and companies.  I learn about an individual's experience (roles, companies, responsibilities, value), education, social behavior (do they blog?  tweet?  join discussions?), personal interests, travel schedule and their connectivity (how many LinkedIn connects do you have?).  With the introduction of Company Pages last year, I can gain quick insight into the companies for whom they have worked.

I am about to head out on a business development trip to California.  As I was thinking about this trip, I prowled through my list of contacts on LinkedIn.  I was seeking colleagues that worked at companies that might be interested in my consulting services.  In many cases, my connections had changed companies and I had contacts at many companies that were of high interest to me as potential clients.  I used LinkedIn to reach out to these contacts and set up meetings.  I did not need to know their current email addresses - LinkedIn was my intermediary.

I also learn a lot about people simply from the way they have created their profile.  Many colleagues, who are extremely happy in their current jobs, have profiles that I consider placeholders.  They share the bare minimum of information about their professional background and interests.  They have less than 50 connections.  They do not have linkes to their company page or website.  I'll know they are job hunting when they beef up their profile and their connections! 

Have you worked on your profile lately?  If you need to connect to a key decision maker, increase your professinal visibility or are seeking a new job, check out your profile and think about what it says about you.  Chances are that your new contacts are going to check it out too.  Here is a quick look at the most important features:

     - Professional headline - this is who you are or who you want to be, it is not necessarily your current title
     - Picture - this should be a headshot and yes, you should have a picture.  Proessionals like to do business with people, not profiles!
     - Links - reference urls for your company's website, its blog (or your blog!), twitter, etc.
     - Summary - this is about you and the value you provide.  This is your opportunity to highlight what makes your special, what gets you excited and your dream role.  It should not be a description of your current job as you will have the opportunity to share that under Experience
     - Experience - reflect not only your title and responsibilities, but the value that you provide to your customers (we all have customers, some are external and others are internal to the company)
     - Recommendations - request references from your colleagues, customers and partners.  Their comments will be revealing to you and to your connections!
     -  Contact Seetings - indicate the types of contact you are interested in receiving

LinkedIn vs. Resume - LinkedIn is living and dynmaic, just like you.  The resume is not dead, yet, but it is a static snapshot of your skills, education and experience.  It is still relevant to have both a resume and a LinkedIn profile.  they should be omplementary.  You can walk into a meeting with a resume and your resume can include a pointer to your LinkedIn profile.  Like all things social, your LinkedIn profile should offer transparency and authenticity.  Let the real you shine through!

Go ahead, go check out your profile.  Then check out the profiles of some of your connections.  What do you think?  Let me know what your learn!

What's your perspective?

Stay tuned, next week I'll take a deeper look at LinkedIn value for companies.

Today's Web-Strategy post by Jeremiah Owyang really struck a chord with me.  In it he reflects on the dramatic shift by marketers towards excessive use of micro tools.  While these tools, aka Twitter, are fantastic for broadcasting a quick message, creating momentary awareness, searching for trending topics and sharing instantaneous opinions, they do not provide depth.  As each new social platform hits the market, we race toward it and test its use.   But, is our usage across social media platforms and across all marketing outlets balanced? 

I'm a big fan of having a social media plan.  In defining the plan, a company should be thinking about how each of the various social platforms works, the audience they reach and how they fulfill the company's business goals.  What do I mean about how they work?  I mean what kind of content can be shared?  Is it brief?  Is it meaningful?  Does it fulfill a customer need?  How long will your content reside on the platform and be visible?  In most cases your content is available on the platform indefinitely.  The challenge is in how many customers actually see it.

How about your audience.  Do you know which social platforms your customers are using to both share and seek content?  If they are not on Facebook (just for the sake of argument), then why are you?  A social strategy .that assumes a need to be on the every platform, is not a well thought out strategy.  Every companay needs to think about who their customers are and the kind of information they need to consume.  C-level execs want overviews with key value propositions.  Technologists want the gory details.  Business leaders want to understand market trends and know what industry influencers are saying.  Seekers of business solutions want information and education.

It takes a balance of both online and offline marketing to fulfill customer needs.  It takes an understanding of customer need and the role of different platforms to communicate effectively.  Jonathan Owyang provides great guidance in his blog as to relevant platforms, so I'm not going to reinvent the wheel.  Check out his thoughts and think about how the platforms he references can provide balance to your social media strategy.

What's your perspective?