“Twitter? Facebook? LinkedIn? YouTube? Social media? We don’t need social media … that’s for teenagers and consumer goods … not our kind of business.”
… at least that’s what some business-to-business executives seem to think.
If you deal with someone who thinks this way, you might be interested in the following reasons (excuses?) and responses:
1) Social media is just a flash in the pan. Right! Didn’t you say the same thing about the Internet and websites 15 years ago? Now, most workers turn to sites like Google and Wikipedia as their primary information sources. Online use is growing exponentially, and social media are growing three times faster than overall Internet use.
2) Nobody of any real significance would connect with our company via social media. Customers, prospects, stakeholders and reporters who cover your business aren’t significant? According to Forrester Research, three out of four Americans use social media technology. At least some of your key audiences have to be among them … probably the majority.
3) We only have a few customers, and they already know us. I’ve been hearing this for 20 years. You can never have too many good relationships. There are new people who influence the purchase decision of your customers and they don’t know you or your company. There are also new prospects coming into the marketplace. Social media can help them get to know you… and vice versa.
4) We don’t have the time or money to develop our social media presence. While B2B communication budgets are tight; social media can be rather inexpensive. The real question is: Can you afford to be left out of this emerging space, where millions of conversations (and purchase decisions) are happening daily, 24/7, around the world?
5) Let’s wait and see what our competitors do. Your competitors are already there … or will be soon. The longer you wait, the further behind you’ll be and the more expensive it will be to catch up – if you can at all. Why lose the golden opportunity to boost your image as a leader, early adopter or innovator?
6) We don’t allow our employees to access social media at work. If your IT department is afraid of security risks posed by these channels, some protection is available. If HR is afraid your employees will “waste” company time on social media, you have bigger problems than we can address here.
7) Social media won’t do anything that our traditional channels don’t already do. Most corporate communications channels are one-way – they’re used only to send messages. Social media can help you have real two-way conversations – which can ultimately help you improve your product, enhance your service, build loyalty, collaborate with others, prevent crises, establish your company among thought-leaders and help you to acquire new customers.
If your colleague still isn’t convinced, ask them if they understand the power of good old fashioned word-of-mouth. Most executives would agree that word-of-mouth is one of the most powerful media for new business – especially for professional service firms, business partners and long-term suppliers.
Well, as one wag said: Social media is word-of-mouth on steroids. Enough said?
How are you pitching – or using – social media in your B2B world?
Companies that don’t empower their employees to be their brand advocates on social networks are missing out on a great opportunity. I’ll be discussing this topic on FreeWebinarWednesdays.com (to register for the free webinar) at 1 p.m. August 19th, if you’re interested in joining the discussion.
Thanks, Jeanette. Good point!
I think the concept of “6 degrees of separation” is a good argument. Each of your existing customers knows many more people who may not know you yet. Even if only 1 person in their social circle responds, and in turn 1 person from that new contact’s social circle, and so on, you gain many new contacts you would never reach without social media (or only through very costly marketing campaigns).
Thanks, Isabelle … for adding reason #8!
Jim
I was recently at a party with about a dozen “C” level B2B executives. None of them had heard of Twitter, let alone participate. I think this is probably typical. While the trend and enthusiasm for SM seems unbridled, the fact is, we have not yet reached critical mass of usage on B2B to be effective. Many of the key target clients are not involved and until they are, understanding, support, and execution in B2B will lag.
The other big obstacle right now is resources. In a down economy, resources are aimed at cash management and survival at many companies. There simply is no tolerance for incremental efforts like SM that take a lot of time with no guarantee of a pay-off.
No matter how compelling your argument may be, if you don;t have the resources, you don’t have the resources.
Mark – I appreciate your input. I agree that many CEOs are focused on survival … but I hope not to the exclusion of everything else. Having worked on the corporate side, I understand the hesitation internal communications or marketing staffers may have for pushing SM when budget cuts and reductions-in-force continue to occur. Still, I think the riskiest strategy, long-term, may be not taking the risk on SM now.
Thanks,
Jim
I agree with Mark Schaefer that in a difficult economy, CEOs are more risk-averse and bottom-line oriented. Without a proven ROI, social media doesn’t get much traction in the C-Suite. But I think there’s a deeper resistance to interactive marketing and two-way conversations for B2B execs. They’re used to controlling the conversation; they’ve been successful doing that, and they have an irrational fear of losing control. It will take a major mind-shift to overcome that ingrained paradigm.
Thanks, Laura, for your insight. I really appreciate the comment about the fear of losing control, it seems to resonate.
A great summary of bad excuses! And I have to say I’m surprised at Mark’s revelation above about the ignorance of the guys at the top. Or have we just convinced ourselves that social media is here to stay because we’re all into it? I truly believe it is of enormous value to B2B companies – they just need to answer yes to three questions to make a success of it: Do you have something to say? Can you say it the right way? Do you have a place to say it in? (I have elaborated on my last blog at http://bit.ly/10wRDP, if you’ll forgive me posting the link)
All the best
John
Thanks, John, for the link to your post — it contains some good info.
Jim
The use of Social Media in B2C businesses is easier to see than B2B. All the case studies I have seen deal with public perceptions. While the benefit of B2B may be there, I have not seen it. Perhaps there are users out there who have successs stories on how Social Media has helped them in the B2B world.
Thanks, Mike. We’re hoping to build a few of those case studies, but are not quite there yet. We are gathering anecdotal info now. We have already found a few instances where social media have helped us build relationships with key reporters and have generated a new business opportunity or two for our firm.