Practical Social Marketing

Just like all of you out there, I read lots of news, blogs and articles each and every day. Part of this curiosity is my need to keep up-to-date on what's going on in marketing, and part (quite honestly) is to ensure that we keep coming up with new info to share with readers of this blog.

So, when I come across information that I can take action on and use almost immediately, I get really happy. That's what happened this morning when I came across a super article on how B2B marketers can make use of social marketing. Be forewarned--this is not the usual advice on how corporations need to create a blog to initiate a dialog with their customers (although we believe that IS important). It also does not give the same advice to put up profiles on places like Facebook, just so your brand can have a presence there.

What it does provide is practical tactics centered around using social marketing for B2B marketers. The article, which essentially consists of an interview with Bianca Garcia, a media planner for Overdrive Interactive is titled: How a Social Media Campaign Fits into a B2B Media Plan.

Here are some of tips I found especially interesting:

• Go beyond LinkedIn. Be on the look-out for industry-specific social networking sites, but don't ignore the sites for the masses such as Facebook, because many businesspeople are participating on a business level. (Check out this Direct Marketing Facebook group that we participate in actively.)
• Ms Garcia advises us to "look at online campaigns holistically, meaning I don't just think of a social media campaign as establishing a mere presence in the social networks, but I always tie in banner ads, blog outreach, e-mail blasts, newsletter sponsorships, etc., into the media mix."
• She reminds us not to forget about YouTube, as this is a fabulous opportunity to get your product info in front of interested viewers. "Some B2B companies might dismiss YouTube as simply a youth-oriented, amateur-video site, but it is far from that. YouTube has turned into such a powerful and relevant social media tool that anyone can leverage its reach and viral effectiveness. There are thousands of education, science and technology, news, and how-to videos about and produced by various B2B brands and companies."

All in all, a thought-provoking way to look at maximizing your investment (even if that investment is only time) in Social Marketing--specifically tailored to B2B marketers.