Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 13, 2009

Despite all the breathless hype about social media these days, what I hear most from B2B marketers is frustration. For these marketers, the pool of customers and prospects is small and many of them do not want to engage publicly in social media or are simply ignoring it altogether. If you’re strapped for resources (who isn’t?)

Social Media 100

Social Media Allocation Media Marketing & Strategy 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 7, 2011

This week I was asked to speak on a panel about social media to a group of B2B marketers in financial services. But when the panel was over, I realized something scary: Most of the success factors we wound up talking about had nothing to do with social media. Social doesn’t happen in B2B without a culture change.

Social Media 100

Social Media B2B Thought Leadership Media Peer-to-peer 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 7, 2011

This week I was asked to speak on a panel about social media to a group of B2B marketers in financial services. But when the panel was over, I realized something scary: Most of the success factors we wound up talking about had nothing to do with social media. Social doesn’t happen in B2B without a culture change.

Social Media 100

Social Media B2B Thought Leadership Media Peer-to-peer 100

Chris Koch

JUNE 26, 2009

In my last post, I hope I convinced you why you should establish a personal presence in social media even if your company hasn’t done so yet. That was the why of social media. I’m going to attempt to explain it by humbly offering my own initiation into social media as a guide. This time, I’d like to concentrate on the how.

Social Media 100

Social Media Social Marketing B2B Marketing Personalization 100

Chris Koch

DECEMBER 2, 2011

If you had asked me a few years ago whether the traditional marketing campaign had any place in social media I would have scoffed. After all, “engaging” is one of the four components of social media management. You’re just warming up to social media campaigns because you work for ITSMA and these are the companies who won your contest.

Social Media 100

Social Media Campaigns B2B Thought Leadership Media 100

Chris Koch

DECEMBER 2, 2011

If you had asked me a few years ago whether the traditional marketing campaign had any place in social media I would have scoffed. After all, “engaging” is one of the four components of social media management. You’re just warming up to social media campaigns because you work for ITSMA and these are the companies who won your contest.

Social Media 100

Social Media Campaigns B2B Thought Leadership Media 100

Chris Koch

JUNE 25, 2009

To be successful with social media marketing, we are going to have to become social media guinea pigs. Social media will demand involvement that is much more personal. Here are five reasons why you need to get good at this stuff before your company does: Social media is real time. Social media is always on.

Social Media 100

Social Media Paid Search Agency Social Marketing B2B Marketing 100

Chris Koch

DECEMBER 10, 2012

Mitch Joel has a nice post on HBR this week about bringing utility to marketing and social media. As is often the case, his advice pertains more to B2C than B2B, as I point out in a comment: “Utility” is a clear, succinct way of putting it. I’m not seeing the killer app for B2B utility emerging yet. Are you?

Peer-to-peer 100

Peer-to-peer B2B Social Media Mobile Marketing 100

Chris Koch

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

I’ve been working with my colleagues at ITSMA on another survey on social media for B2B marketers that I hope you’ll take by going here. As we put together the questions, we struggled with the issue of social media strategy. B2B marketing lays the path to a sales discussion and supports relationships with existing customers.

Social Media 100

Social Media Marketing Strategy Marketing & Strategy B2B Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 14, 2011

I’ve also done research asking B2B marketers how they engage and how they educate their employees and SMEs to engage. Here’s my list of what seem like the right things to do on Twitter so that I feel like I’m being a good member of the B2B marketing guild —i.e., I’ve rolled all that up into an approach that I doubt constantly.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Twitter Social Networks 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 14, 2011

I’ve also done research asking B2B marketers how they engage and how they educate their employees and SMEs to engage. Here’s my list of what seem like the right things to do on Twitter so that I feel like I’m being a good member of the B2B marketing guild —i.e., I’ve rolled all that up into an approach that I doubt constantly.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Twitter Social Networks 100

Chris Koch

MAY 27, 2010

MarketingProfs’ B2B Forum is one of those conferences. You should check it out; it’ll give you a great list of B2B marketers to follow. If you’re trying to stay on top of B2B marketing trends, you should be reading both of these blogs. CK has tons more content on B2B mobile that you should check out.

Mobile Marketing 100

Mobile Marketing B2B Marketing Mobile Advertising B2B 100

Chris Koch

MAY 6, 2011

Measuring influence is the new obsession in the social media world—adding another layer of anxiety to the dark cloud of existential dread that is marketing ROI. Social media present us as individuals seeking status within a community, which is something that humans have been working at since our days as monkeys. Image via Wikipedia.

Social Media 100

Social Media Social Marketing Work Management Media 100

Chris Koch

AUGUST 5, 2011

Recently, I was preparing a workshop on social media for an ITSMA client. The marketer in charge of the company’s social media effort gave me a clear edict: “Look, I don’t want you focusing on Facebook, okay? We don’t see the value of it for B2B and we want it off the table. What is B2B marketing all about?

Facebook 100

Facebook B2B Marketing B2B Thought Leadership B2B 100

Chris Koch

APRIL 8, 2011

I was thrilled to run a social media workshop this week with a large B2B technology and services provider (and ITSMA member). The great thing about the experience was that this company is already doing social media. This company has established a highly visible presence in social media—indeed, it has won an award for it.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media PR Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

MAY 20, 2011

Many marketers involved in social media management tell me that they struggle to get their subject matter experts engaged in social media. Create an idea network as the basis for social media. When ideas are an expectation, social media participation is easier. But focusing solely on engagement is the wrong goal.

Social Media 100

Social Media B2B Thought Leadership Media Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

JUNE 25, 2010

First, Paul Dunay (did I mention that Paul is my favorite B2B blogger yet today?) expresses shock that he turned out to be an extrovert on the Myers-Briggs personality test and wonders if you need to be an extrovert to be in social media. I think social media turns most things we think about innate personality on its ear.

Social Media 100

Social Media Peer-to-peer Media Wikipedia 100

Chris Koch

APRIL 16, 2010

We just completed our ITSMA survey on social media. Marketing owns social media management. In our survey, we asked, “In your company, is marketing the catalyst for social media being used by others in the company (product development, HR, etc.)?” That’s where social media comes in. But one finding sticks out.

Social Media 100

Social Media Work Management Marketing Management Social Marketing 100

Chris Koch

MARCH 25, 2011

But then this got me to thinking, without a commitment to ideas throughout the organization, all these dollars we’re starting to spend on social media will be wasted. In other words, unless we become idea organizations, we’re not going to have much to say to customers, prospects, and influencers in social media.

Social Media 100

Social Media Organization Peer-to-peer SME 100

Chris Koch

AUGUST 23, 2011

Others say that G+ will rule because of its integration with Google’s other tools like Android, Gmail, Docs, and its media properties like YouTube and Google Music —in other words, the colossus effect that we’ve been waiting (for so long) to take effect. There are only two types of content in social media. Short or long.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Social Networks B2B Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

AUGUST 23, 2011

Others say that G+ will rule because of its integration with Google’s other tools like Android, Gmail, Docs, and its media properties like YouTube and Google Music —in other words, the colossus effect that we’ve been waiting (for so long) to take effect. There are only two types of content in social media. Short or long.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Social Networks B2B Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

JUNE 15, 2011

Social media (along with skimpy marketing budgets) are causing a transformation in marketing to a degree that we haven’t seen for a lifetime. In my seven years as a social media acolyte, I’ve spoken with many marketers who grew up at the knee of message-based marketing. Not gonna happen in B2B. Image via Wikipedia. Depression.

Social Media 100

Social Media B2B Thought Leadership Media Wikipedia 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 8, 2010

There is too much wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth about social media objectives and strategy these days. We all assume that our organizations are unique and that we must devote great sums of time and money to figuring out what our particular motivation is for social media and how we will carry it out. Now don’t get me wrong.

Social Media 100

Social Media B2B Thought Leadership Thought Leadership Media 100

Chris Koch

DECEMBER 29, 2009

Honestly, why do we think that sophisticated B2B buyers are going to follow our brands on Twitter or become our fans on Facebook? That would seem enough to end the debate about B2B social media participation right there. Actually, B2B buyers would probably love that but we’d lose millions and get fired.). Tweet This Post.

Enterprise Management 100

Enterprise Management B2B Marketing B2B Thought Leadership Marketing Management 100

Chris Koch

MAY 14, 2010

Social media creates the need for marketing to lead within the organization. At least that’s the conclusion we reached at ITSMA recently when we did our social media survey (there’s a free summary if you’re interested). We mean that within the organization the leadership of social media is falling to marketing.

Organic Leads 100

Organic Leads Social Media Social Marketing Organization 100

Chris Koch

APRIL 2, 2010

This may be the ultimate question in B2B, especially as we struggle to integrate social media into the overall marketing mix. Let’s face it, even if it was possible to curl up in front of the fire with a glass of wine and our B2B products and services, no one would do it. It’s the same in B2B. These guys are smart.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership B2B Marketing Marketing Budget Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

MARCH 12, 2010

Social media is raising the bar on customer intimacy. Social media is making that fact plain. We’re all struggling to move from the traditional arm’s-length, temporary campaigns to the always-on, direct relationships inherent in social media management. Social media reduces the incremental cost of content.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Thought Leadership Work Management 100

Chris Koch

MAY 21, 2010

Social media is beginning to teach us that long qual forms are going the way of the dodo. Especially as social media takes off, we’re finding that prospects and customers have less and less patience for giving us that information. I find much more value in Twitter than in any of the other social media networks.

Privacy 100

Privacy B2B Marketing Lead Ranking B2B 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 12, 2009

We’ve all heard a lot of debate lately about whether social media is an evolution or a revolution. Look at it this way and social media inevitably becomes evolution, as social media researcher Josh Chasin convincingly argues here. But I think we lose sight of the revolution by looking at social media in isolation.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Paid Search Agency Viral Marketing 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 15, 2010

He swung his expanded briefcase up onto the table, pulled out a media kit bulging with press releases about speeds and feeds and plunked it down on the table in front of me. Pledging to do more with social media isn’t the answer. Getting into social media really means getting into publishing. That’s for you,” he said.

Social Media 100

Social Media Work Management Marketing Management Marketing Automation Services 100

Chris Koch

JUNE 18, 2012

Social media is biased toward English. One of the best aspects of social media is the opportunity to put ideas to the community and gather feedback. Fighting The Good Fight In Social Media (pr.typepad.com). Why do we assume that anyone can channel passion into his or her writing? It’s not about the style, it’s about the ideas.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Communities Transparency 100

Chris Koch

AUGUST 16, 2011

Obviously, this is less of an issue in B2B than B2C. Cookies help us learn more about our website visitors, but you won’t learn nearly as much about the spending patterns of B2B executives through web cookies as you do with B2C buyers. Privacy is a concern in B2B, too. It may seem facile, but social media are the answer.

B2B 100

B2B Privacy Click Rate Internet Marketing 100

Chris Koch

AUGUST 16, 2011

Obviously, this is less of an issue in B2B than B2C. Cookies help us learn more about our website visitors, but you won’t learn nearly as much about the spending patterns of B2B executives through web cookies as you do with B2C buyers. Privacy is a concern in B2B, too. It may seem facile, but social media are the answer.

B2B 100

B2B Privacy Click Rate Internet Marketing 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 18, 2009

We’ve all been reading a lot about the social media horse race. For marketers trying to figure out where to put their resources into social media marketing, the horse race looks more like a crapshoot. That’s because unlike Microsoft Windows, all the different social media tools are based on universal technology standards—i.e.,

Social Media 100

Social Media Viral Marketing Tools Media 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 30, 2009

We just wrapped up our ITSMA Annual Marketing Conference this week and the strongest current driving the river of conversation was social media. Specifically, frustration over how to use social media to reach the C-suite. In fact, it’s hard for most of us to imagine these people using social media at all. What do you think?

Social Media 100

Social Media Peer-to-peer Enterprise Management Media 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 18, 2009

We’ve all been reading a lot about the social media horse race. For marketers trying to figure out where to put their resources into social media marketing, the horse race looks more like a crapshoot. That’s because unlike Microsoft Windows, all the different social media tools are based on universal technology standards—i.e.,

Social Media 100

Social Media Viral Marketing Tools Media 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 22, 2010

I wish I could say that social media leads to sales. So when we think about social media ROI, we need to make a leap of faith. To make ourselves feel a little more comfortable with this idea, we may need to categorize social media with something whose hazy ROI we’re more familiar and comfortable with: PR. Return on media impact.

Social Media 100

Social Media ROI Lead Ranking RSS 100