The Rise of Social Media Marketing in the B2B World

Social media has become a staple of marketing and communications with customers; whether the company is a Fortune 500 conglomerate or a tiny mom and pop store, everyone is expected to have at least a Facebook page to share information and insight about products.

Some might not imagine business-to-business, or B2B companies, doing the same. But that couldn’t be any further from the truth.

The 2013 SIIA Marketing Industry Report proves that social media marketing is just as pervasive in B2B as among consumer goods. With 98% of companies reporting that they dip at least a toe into social media marketing, from those with revenue under one million to those well over a hundred million, the only conclusion one can make is that social media has grown from niche to marketing standard.

Let’s look at some statistics from the report.

  • LinkedIn is a powerhouse, and will only continue to grow.

Given the large number of marketers in our survey that are targeting businesses, it’s no surprise that LinkedIn was again the channel where most survey respondents planned to increase the use of in 2013. Over 80% (up from 75% in 2011) of the companies planned on increasing the use of LinkedIn followed closely by Twitter at 70%.

While Facebook and Twitter remain the most powerful social networks, the more targeted, formalized LinkedIn appeals far more to the B2B sector. Already there are more than 2.6 million LinkedIn company pages. Not only will this number grows, but the report indicates that activity will increase. LinkedIn will be a new leverage for B2B companies to reach out without the 140 character limit of Twitter or the informality of Facebook (though both will also see increased use over the year).

  • Companies are finding ways to measure social media strategies

Nearly 74% of the businesses use web traffic as an indicator of social media ROI, up 14% from 2011. Meanwhile, over 60% of the respondents using social media marketing are using number of connections/conversations as a key ROI metric, also up almost 14% from 2011. This suggests that some firms have found a way to correlate social media efforts to business leads. The number of qualified leads/conversions also ranks high with half (51%) of the companies.

Social media marketing was considered a fad early in its life, with few expecting a conversation in tweets or a Facebook profile to drive actual sales. Now companies are not only convinced of its power, but actively working to maximize its potential. The fact that both web traffic and actual conversations are treated as applicable, useful metrics also shows that brand presence and interaction need to be carefully mediated by the company.

  • B2B conversations don’t need to just be text-based; video and image-based social networks are on the rise.

YouTube has also gained a following with over half of the marketers expecting to increase its use. Many firms are now creating YouTube channels for the business as well as product categories. In 2011 we predicted that we would see new targeted social networks and marketplaces emerge and we see that with Google+ and Pinterest gaining some attention in 2012.

While LinkedIn lends itself to longer conversations between companies and customers, the B2B industry is starting to recognize the power of the visual. YouTube channels devoted to launching products isn’t that far of a leap; the use of Pinterest in 2013, on the other hand, is intriguing. The image-based social network is visually striking, and when combined with more textual networks like LinkedIn, companies can create a more complete 360 degree picture of their products. It will be interesting to see if these trends continue by the 2014 report.


Tracy Carlin is a Communications and Public Policy Intern at SIIA. She is also a first year graduate student at Georgetown University’s Communication, Culture and Technology program where she focuses on intersections in education, video games and gender.

Webinar: 2013 SIIA Marketing Report Overview

In Q4 of 2012 the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) conducted the second annual “Software Division Marketing Industry Report”. The survey interviewed marketing executives about their company’s use of email, mobile marketing and social media to build their brand, gain leads, and improve customer support.

This webinar will provide insight into the results of the survey including how marketers have changed their focus over the course of the year. You will learn the metrics marketers are watching to determine ROI of marketing activities and the areas where marketers continue to face challenges. Following an overview of the marketing survey results, you will hear from Marketo and SoftServe who will share their marketing strategies and best practices for ROI.

Click on the links below to view a copy of each presenters slides:

SIIA
Marketing Report Overview

SoftServe
Keys to Marketing Success

Marketo
5 Secrets to Marketing Success

Presenters
Rhianna Collier
Vice President, Software Division, SIIA

Mary Brandon
Vice President, Marketing, SoftServe

Jason Miller
Social Media Manager, Marketo

 

CODiE Awards Judges: A Conversation with the Coordinator

Nominations have closed for the 2013 CODiE Awards, and I am definitely excited about the variety and caliber of products in this year’s program. I know our judges are looking forward to reviewing the products as well. Our first round review is the core of the CODiE Awards. It is also the portion of the program that gives me the most interaction with the judges and nominees. I am constantly in contact with both groups, ensuring that everyone has a great experience.

What is the first round review?

For the first round review, two judges review each product in each category. For example, products nominated in two categories will be assigned four judges. During this first round, judges participate in product demonstration s given by the nominees. Two options are available for the products demonstrations:

– Live product demonstration: Nominations walk through their product webinar-style with the judges participating as they do the walk-through

– Recorded product demonstration: Nominees may already have a video product demo that can be sent to the judges to watch.

We recommend that the nominees keep the demos to under an hour. If it is a live demo, remember to leave time for Q&A with the judges.

The first round review also includes product access. It’s beneficial for the judges to get a feel for the product on their own, as a supplement to the guided demo. Product access can happen in several forms, including temporary online login information or by sending the physical product to the judge.

I also suggest sending as much additional information as you would like to the judges. This can be additional links to PDF’s, videos, news releases, etc.

Who are the judges?

We take great care in selecting the industry experts who volunteer as judges. Each division reviews every judge application to determine if he/she is qualified. We want to ensure there are no conflicts of interest.

For our software and content categories, the judges consist of industry executives and analysts, members of the media, bloggers, investors, and even some customers.
For our education categories, we use educators and administrators as our judges. They are the users of these products and can best determine what products may work the best in their classrooms.

Judging is a great experience because it gives the customers a chance to review the products and provide feedback that the companies can use to make improvements.

How can you help?

We are still looking for judges in several of our categories in Content, Software, and Education. If you are interested in judging or can recommend a colleague please complete our brief judge application.

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Angel Scott Angel Scott is Awards Program Coordinator at SIIA. Follow the SIIA CODiE Awards on twitter at Share|

Nominations Now Open for the 28th Annual SIIA CODiE Awards

Nominations are now open for the 2013 SIIA CODiE Awards. This year’s CODiE Awards feature 27 new and updated categories, reflecting the dramatic changes in technology and business models impacting the software and information industries.

The CODiE Awards have been the premier award for the software and information industries for 28 years. The awards program has three tracks organized by industry focus: Content, Software and Education.

Highlights of this year’s program:

Content: The Content CODiE Awards showcase the information industry’s finest products, technology and services created by, or for, media, publishers and information services providers.

* Fourteen new and updated categories reflect new technology and business models in the content industry including: Best Crowd Sourced Solution, Best Editorial Outsourcing Solution, Best Semantic Technology Solution and Best Social Media Platform
* The Content CODiE Awards will be presented Jan. 31, 2013 during the Content Division’s annual conference for information industry leaders, the Information Industry Summit

Education: The Education CODiE Awards showcase applications, products and services from developers of educational software, digital content, online learning services, and related technologies across the K-20 sector.

* The new Best Personalized Learning Solution category highlights the major educational shift toward individual, tailored learning plans for students. Three new top-level categories will reward the best of the best of PK-12, postsecondary, and overall education nominees.
* Education winners will be announced in San Francisco on May 6, 2013 during the Ed Tech Industry Summit.

Business: The Software CODiE Awards showcase applications, products and services that are developed by independent software vendors (ISVs) for use in business, government, academic, or other organizational settings.

* Twelve new and updated categories reflect the continued growth and evolution of cloud computing, mobile, big data, and video. Highlights include: Best Cloud Platform as a Service Solution, Best Big Data Solution, Best Mobile Device Application for Consumers, Best Mobile Device Application for Enterprise, and Best Video Tool.
* Software winners will be announced in San Francisco on May 9, 2013 during the software industry’s premier ISV conference, All About the Cloud.

Learn more about the nomination process.


Wendy Tanner Wendy Tanner is CODiE Awards Coordinator. Follow the CODiE Awards on Twitter @CODiEAwards

Twitter and LinkedIn: It is Complicated!

 We are excited about our partnership with the InfoCommerce Group to produce DataContent 2012, coming up October 9-11 in Philadephia. The conference will focus on discovering the next big thing in publishing: The intersection of Data, Community and Markets at DataContent 2012. If you don’t know him, Russ Perkins the founder of InfoCommerce Group, is one of the more thoughtful individuals in our industry on all things data. As we lead up to the conference, we will be highlighting posts from his blog which focus on the issues and topics we will be discussing at DataContent 2012. Enjoy!

Twitter and LinkedIn: It’s Complicated

On June 29, Twitter and LinkedIn decided to end a partnership that began in 2009…the separation is a story which illustrates the difference between how collaboration looks on paper and how it plays out in practical terms when collaborating companies mature and change and business models uncomfortably bump up against one another. Read more…

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This post was written by Nancy Ciliberti.

The questions that didn’t make it into Vision from the Top

Each year SIIA sets out to pick the minds of individuals who are shaping and growing our industry. Just a couple of weeks ago we released the 2012 Vision from the Top publication that features interviews with these business leaders providing thoughts on trends, M&A activity, and the future of our industry.

While we went through the interview process we asked the contributing executives some questions that you won’t find answered in the publication which I thought I would share with you. We asked the member executives to look at Forrester’s 2012 Cloud Predictions and tell us which one would have the most significant impact in 2012. The majority of contributors said “The cloud market will grow beyond $60 billion in 2012”. What does that say about cloud computing? It is not just a trend, it is the way in which we compute today and if you are not providing or consuming cloud services you will be at a disadvantage in the marketplace. HOWEVER, we also asked which of Forresters’ predictions will be the biggest challenge in 2012 and the majority also selected “The cloud market will grow beyond $60 Billion in 2012”. Clearly the consensus is that the cloud market will grow but will continue to face challenges, likely around security, integrations, etc.

Another popular response was that “Large enterprises will take the lead in cloud markets in 2012”. I found this one surprising since the enterprises have made a much slower move to the cloud than the SMBs. However, what I am hearing from the members is that 2012 will be the year. We have certainly seen a significant investment being made by the enterprises with all the recent M&A activity. Every day I wake up and wonder which one of the SIIA members will be acquired today!

If you read Vision from the Top you will see that the contributors are either CEOs or large business unit leaders of enterprises. We wanted to get an idea of their personal technology choices so we asked some personal questions (at least in the technology world these would be considered personal). Not surprising an overwhelming majority of contributing executives use an iPhone as their smartphone of choice. And an overwhelming number said they also carry a tablet of some kind, no more lugging around those heavy laptops.

Next we invaded the social space of the contributing authors. We asked how many of them actively used Facebook and approximately 60% said yes. At first I thought that number was low until I saw the answers to the next question, do you activity use LinkedIn? An overwhelming majority actively use LinkedIn. That should not be a surprise given the business nature of the application. Now here is an interesting one, the majority of respondents do not, yes DO NOT, actively use twitter. A little surprising but I suppose these executives leave Twitter to their marketing departments.

 


Rhianna Collier is VP for the Software Division at SIIA.

SIIA Member Spotlight: Crowd Fusion, The Agile Data Model

I had a chance to talk with Crowd Fusion’s CEO Brian Alvey to learn how Crowd Fusion uses an Agile Data Model to shake up the market and get customer’s sites and apps to market quickly and efficiently. Brian is also speaking at Content VIA Platforms  on May 10 in San Francisco where he will share experiences and war stories gained working on behalf of major publishers interacting with Apple, Facebook, Android and other platforms.

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Kathy: Hi Brian, tell us about your Crowd Fusion, what you do?

Brian Alvey, CEO, Crowd Fusion

Brian: Crowd Fusion is high-end multi-platform publishing software. These days publishers need to do more than ever, but they need to do it with tighter budgets. Crowd Fusion makes it easy to publish the same content to all the latest platforms and devices — all without expanding their production teams.

 

Kathy: Who are your customers?

Brian: Publishers and large brands. Our platform has been used by TMZ, Warner Bros/Telepictures, Myspace, The Daily, Essence and Best Buy’s Tecca.com.

 

Kathy: Tell is what is unique about Crowd Fusion?

Brian: We invented an agile data model that lets us and our customers get sites and apps to market faster and iterate more frequently.

 

Kathy: What are some unique challenges you’ve experienced at Crowd Fusion?

Brian: We work with high-end publishers and big media brands, so we’ve had to solve for 3 kinds of scale: traffic, content and workflow. One of our strengths is that our platform is cloud-native. Not only can you manage content in our CMS, you can also launch new servers and coordinate infrastructure all using a web browser — even on an iPad.

 

Kathy: What do you see as the biggest trends in the industry the next 12-18 months?

Brian: Tablet publishing. Multi-platform publishing. Mobile commerce.

 

Kathy:  What do you hope to get out of your SIIA membership?

Brian: Meeting people who face the same publishing and technology challenges we deal with.

 

Kathy: One thing the industry doesn’t know about you or others in your company?

Brian: We are a completely virtual company. We have no real office space. Our team works from home, Starbucks, customer offices, grandma’s house, wherever. We have 30 people and they are spread out across 18 U.S. states, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Italy.

 

Kathy: Whats the best way to contact you?

Brian: On Twitter: @crowdfusion or @brianalvey for me, Or by email: brian@crowdfusion.com.


Kathy Greenler Sexton is Vice President