Retail
MarketStar Retail
MarketStar Channel
MarketStar Direct
Industry Insights
News and Notes
In my role, I have the unique opportunity to participate in a great many discussions across a broad range of companies and industries. Most meetings revolve around business models or how to make adjustments with the market.
Over the last few years certain topics fade in and out of agendas relating to innovative new technologies. Statements like, we need to have a “this” strategy, or we need to sort out how to use “that” technology. I just can’t help but think of the age old sales analogy. You know the one. What does a customer want, the drill bit; or do they want the hole it makes? If you want to sell a drill bit, you need to match up the hole they want with the drill bit that helps them get it.
The same is true of the many hot topic technologies that businesses are seeking to leverage. The fact of the business environment today is that not many companies can afford to adopt a technology for the novelty of it. Running through the streets waving your drill bit as evidence of innovation will impress no one. Novelty will not attract droves of customers to your doorstep. It does not matter that your drill bit can leap tall buildings with a single bound. If it does not create the hole your customer wants, it will not help you sell.
There are a great many trends or technologies that have captured the full attention of not a small number of companies. It would be really interesting to discuss business needs that do not seem to have a clear solution but keep us all up at night. Let’s talk about some of those technologies that businesses are scrambling to adopt but are unclear on the actual business benefit. I also would love to see us talk about some practical applications that are unique and solve a clear business need.
I have my ideas, but I would like to hear from you. In the comments, let me know about the proverbial holes out there and what you think is the best way to make them.
I found a great article by Pedro Pereira on Channel Insider that provides a specific example of this point. Check it out: http://www.channelinsider.com/c/a/Commentary/Embracing-Social-Media-as-a-Smart-Business-Tool-646826/
Social Media is one of these issues that keep people up at night, mostly because they HAVE TO BE THERE, but a lot of people wonder why. I was very skeptical of Facebook as a marketing tool at first, but now every time I see the daily deal from a company I like or redeem my chance at a free chicken sandwich, I chuckle to myself and admit I’m wrong.
The problem is, using facebook as a B2B tool is still elusive. Communicating to a customer directly has gotten easy with facebook, but how do you do it to an organization? I kind of view facebook in B2B like a billboard — throw it out there for everyone to see, but how do you know if you are hitting the right set of eyes?
I think B2B social networking still needs to be done at the personal level. The quality of the interaction is what matters, and if you can personalize your brand (and remember, your potential clients are people), then you can efficiently market to them. In fact, it helps you focus your message to the specific profile you’re targeting. (For example, 400 of the right fans on a B2B business’s page is many times more valuable than 10,000 fans on a B2C page who only liked you because you gave away something, and now you are completely ignored.) The key is still to entice the right fans, and B2B businesses do that by offering content that is valuable (ie: webinars, blog posts, white papers, etc.) to their fans/connections/followers.
Don’t forget LinkedIn is specifically for professional networking, and Twitter is also used by many people for strictly job reasons.