5 Key Elements of Social Media Success

Each month, people spend the equivalent of 1.3 million years on Facebook. That’s a lot.

But it’s no wonder: we spend a lot of time on Facebook and other social media because we can do a lot – stay in touch with family and friends, stay up-to-date on news and, for many businesses, stay in front of customers and prospects.

For B2B marketers, however, there are still many questions about what to do with social media and how to do it. Fortunately, answering many of these questions – on best practices, strategies, etc. – was the mission of the recent PR + Social Media Summit (#PRSMS) I attended at Marquette University.

The all-day summit featured 15 sessions jam-packed with valuable information, but here are five of the most interesting takeaways:

1. Content remains key. You need to share valuable content with an honest, transparent voice in order to build an active community that fuels conversation and growth. Make it fun, honest, relevant and valuable. Look for stories that are happening within your organization – stories that your audience can’t find anywhere else – and tell them in a unique way.

2. Social = listening. As much as you need good content, you should still listen more than you talk, answer more than you promote, and above all else, provide value. Listen to answer this question: What does my audience need, and how can I help?

3. Not everything happens online. Develop offline elements to your social programs. Get your teams out in the field to interact with your audiences.

4. Think long term. The greatest value of social media is the ongoing relationship, not the initial interaction.

5. Represent the whole organization. To be effective, social media has to be integrated across all functions to effectively communicate your key messages and address customers’ questions or concerns instantly.

What ingredients do you think are necessary for a recipe of social media success? Ultimately, social media engagement is about proving your value, so audiences will share positive interactions with their networks, encouraging others to turn to you for similar business solutions.

For further reading, you can review some of the summit speakers’ presentations at http://www.slideshare.net/prsmsummit.

Quick Response, Quick Death? Critics Question QR Codes’ Effectiveness

How many people, when they see a QR code, know what it is?

How many of them have a smartphone capable of doing anything with that little pixelated box?

How many of them have already downloaded the correct application for reading the code?

And when they take the time to have their phones read the code, where does it take them?

QR codes are an increasingly popular marketing tactic. But critics such as these columnists in Business Insider and AdAge are raising questions about whether all the fuss is really futility.

It’s healthy to have a sense of skepticism about the latest tech fad. And QR codes, which may prove to be transitional rather than transformative technology, fall into that category.

But we shouldn’t immediately dismiss them. QR codes, despite their shortcomings, offer a low-cost chance to engage customers and prospects in new ways. Just don’t let yourself believe that they’re some kind of magic potion.

Start with a smart strategy, incorporate a compelling offer, put it in a place where your target audience is most likely to use it … and a QR code might just bring a little something extra to your next campaign.

This Ought to Thin the Social Commerce Herd

Note to anyone considering joining the group coupon fray:

Both Google and Facebook are getting into the social commerce game.

Begun, the coupon war has …

So where does that leave early leaders such as Groupon and LivingSocial? If they weren’t already challenged by rapidly increasing competition from every direction, they’ve got to be worried about facing down the two overlords of online.

What about smaller group coupon upstarts and wannabes—in B2B services, hyper-local markets, new-baby accessories, etc.?

When the dust settles, there will probably be niches left to fill. In the meantime, it might be best to step aside and let the big guns blast it out.

Can Group Coupon Sites Work for B2B?

You’ve heard of Groupon and LivingSocial (maybe you even broke the bank buying those darn coupons). But what about B2bucks.com or BizyDeal.com?

While deal-of-the-day group coupons are a big hit with consumers, it’s uncertain whether they’ll catch on in B2B. Still, that hasn’t stopped several sites from trying.

The concept usually involves a minimum number of purchases needed for a deal to be activated, serving as a sort of insurance for advertisers. This works well for B2C deals—although not without some profitability challenges.

In B2B, you’re even less likely to make big money directly from a group coupon offer. And yet, maybe that’s not the point.

The value of a social commerce site, after all, is much more social than commercial. Think of it as another marketing channel to reach and engage new prospects.

So, is a deal-of-the-day right for your business? Depends. It’s a more logical fit for small- to medium-sized businesses with transactional business models. Group coupons can help fill the pipeline with new customers for equipment parts, design and delivery services, etc.

If you decide to give it a try, do so as a marketing and advertising investment. Check out these sites: GroupPrice.com , OfficeArrow.com and RapidBuyr.com … and let us know how it goes.

Finally, Some No-Nonsense Pointers on B2B Social Media

Why do so many people continue to view social media as only a B2C realm? Well, it could be the continuing gap between social media hype and actual, practical advice for B2B companies.

But that’s starting to change with folks like Eric Schwartzman and Paul Gillin.

Eric and Paul have co-authored “Social Marketing to the Business Customer,” a new book hailed as the first full social media reference exclusively for B2B marketers. (Full disclosure: our own Mary Scheibel presented with Schwartzman at the Plastics News Executive Forum. But just to be clear, no, this isn’t a paid endorsement.)

We haven’t finished the book yet, but we’ve already picked up on some good points. It turns out B2B companies actually have more presence in social media than B2C folks. The book cites a Business.com report showing that 81% of B2B companies have accounts or profiles on social media sites, while only 67% of B2C companies do the same.

Here are six reasons the authors point to for why this is the case—and why you could benefit from developing a social media strategy, as well:

• Group decision making (typical of B2B transactions) is accelerated when everyone is more aware of the circumstances—a process facilitated through social media.
• Sales cycles shorten, since tools like Skype and LinkedIn make it easier to reach people.
• Good rapport increases persuasiveness, as people are more willing to buy when they’re connecting with the people behind the brands.
• Interactions happen at every level, not just in the boardroom, helping win over key audiences throughout an organization.
• The more communication, the less complex the sale.
• And finally, joint promotion and marketing is more likely. (Take this blog post, for example.)