Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 20, 2009

ITSMA research shows that 63% of buyers proactively seek information about providers themselves, and the Forbes/Google survey found that 79% of executives perform at least three web searches per day. The pool of information they are sifting through contains an increasing amount of social media content. The trade press is dying.

Social Media 100

Social Media Social Marketing B2B Marketing Work Management 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 8, 2010

Whether it’s blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn, or private communities that we build ourselves, the common thread is that by focusing on learning we build and retain buyers’ interest. Here are the key elements of learning networks: Create an internal learning network. A calendar helps marketing plan out the frequency and focus of its output.

Social Media 100

Social Media B2B Thought Leadership Thought Leadership Media 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 21, 2011

It has made those little pictures and bios at the end of white papers seem inadequate when compared to the wealth of information we can see about people on such social media channels as LinkedIn and Twitter. Buyers have higher expectations for intimacy.

Social Media 100

Social Media Budget Programs Paper Stats 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 30, 2009

However, CEOs did show a specific preference for the range of social networking sites—LinkedIn, Facebook, and Plaxo—over Twitter or blogs. This makes sense when you consider what our IT buyers have been telling us for years: that their peers are by far their most preferred and trusted choice for information during the buying process.

Social Media 100

Social Media Peer-to-peer Enterprise Management Media 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 18, 2009

This is the model of most relationship-based social media tools today, such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and Plaxo. It’d be great if your target influencers follow you back (so you can engage them with your messages and begin to build a deeper relationship), but if they don’t, you can still gather valuable information.

Social Media 100

Social Media Viral Marketing Tools Media 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 18, 2009

This is the model of most relationship-based social media tools today, such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and Plaxo. It’d be great if your target influencers follow you back (so you can engage them with your messages and begin to build a deeper relationship), but if they don’t, you can still gather valuable information.

Social Media 100

Social Media Viral Marketing Tools Media 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 22, 2010

The only effective argument I’ve heard recently is that we embed calls to action in social media that drive readers to a landing page where we capture their information and start nurturing them as leads. LinkedIn and Facebook have groups where you can post elements of your blog post as a question, or post the entire thing as a news item.

Social Media 100

Social Media ROI Lead Ranking RSS 100

Chris Koch

JULY 10, 2009

As social media becomes more prevalent in marketing, we’re going to have to rethink how we gather information from prospects. in their marketing—fewer than 35% of marketers in our survey have been using blogs or podcasts for more than one year, and just 3% have been using social media (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.)

Web 2.0 100

Web 2.0 B2B Thought Leadership Ideal Customer Profiles Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

DECEMBER 28, 2010

Creating a temporary virtual community in the run up to an event to inform and liven up in-person meetings at the event. A few examples of things that ITSMA clients did this year: Combining a live event with a virtual event to extend the reach of both. Describing what you do is thought leadership.

Planning 100

Planning Work Management Paid Search Agency B2B Thought Leadership 100