B2B IT and Social Media 2: The Vendor Perspective

The first post on this topic focused on the IT buyer use of social media, outlining an ITtoolbox study which found that IT decision makers spend more time each week reading or interacting with social media than they do with editorial content, vendor-produced content or the research of analyst firms—and that they trust social media more than any other source. Here is the vendor perspective.

According to recent white paper from Robert Lesser, publisher of LeadGenTools.com, and Paul Dunay of the Buzz Marketing for Technology blog, "B2B marketers are not just embracing Web 2.0 tools, they're pushing the envelope on adoption. They're using the new tools to reach prospects, not just reinforce existing customer relationships. They're rolling Web 2.0 tools out to their teams and organizations. And they're quickly moving up the learning curve."

According to the study (which can be obtained for free by completing a short survey here):

The majority of B2B IT companies embracing Web 2.0 tools are marketing complex products and services which generally have long sales cycles.

More than half of marketers embracing Web 2.0 tools work in small to mid-sized companies. Web 2.0 tools are an inexpensive way for these businesses to increase market awareness. Smaller companies are also more often free of the legal and accounting department obstacles that limit Web 2.0 activities.

Nearly 90% of respondents are using Web 2.0 tools such as blogs and podcasts to target prospects. "This suggests a high degree of confidence in (Web 2.0 tools)," according to survey co-author Robert Lesser.

Blogs are the most frequently used Web 2.0 tool, followed by RSS feeds and podcasts.

WordPress and Blogger are the most popular blogging platforms, while Feedburner is the preferred RSS feed creator.

Clearly, Web 2.0 and social media aren't just for teenagers and garage bands; they are being embraced in a big way by B2B technology buyers and vendors alike. Again, you can get a free copy of the entire LeadGenTools B2B vendor report by taking the short online survey here.
__________________________________________________________

Get your Blogging Tips from Douglas Karr at The Marketing Technology Blog

__________________________________________________________

*****

The website marketing strategies portal: WebMarketCentral.com

The only Minneapolis-based agency focused exclusively on marketing, PR and SEO services for B2B technology companies: KC Associates

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com

Comments

All Time Greats

Best of 2007: Articles and Blog Posts on SEM

Search engine marketing (SEM) is one of the fastest-growing categories in all of advertising, because it is both measurable and logical: present your ads when people are searching for what you're selling. A well-crafted search marketing program can provide not only broad brand exposure at a very reasonable cost (with CPMs of $10 or less), but also high-ROI lead generation. As with any other type of advertising, however, a poorly-designed campaign will be a disappointing waste of money. In addition to best practices in search engine marketing , the following articles and blog posts were among the best of 2007 at providing helpful guidance for creating and managing effective search marketing programs. Five Common Paid Search Mistakes That Can Sink Your Campaign by Search Engine Guide Blogger Jennifer Laycock explains how common mistakes such as "ego bidding," writing a single ad for all keywords, and directing all of your traffic to a single landing page can limit the res

7 Reasons Every Business Needs to Twitter

This post has been moved to 7 Reasons Every Business Needs to be on Twitter on the Webbiquity blog. ***** technorati tags: Twitter Dell Zappos customer service influence-the-influencers market intelligence Tony Hsieh b2b Twitter del.icio.us tags: Twitter Dell Zappos customer service influence-the-influencers market intelligence Tony Hsieh b2b Twitter icerocket tags: Twitter Dell Zappos customer service influence-the-influencers market intelligence Tony Hsieh b2b Twitter Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

Best of 2008: Social Media Optimization, Part 2

This content has been moved to Best of 2008: Social Media Marketing on the Webbiquity blog. ***** technorati tags: best free tools for monitoring social buzz social media marketing Six Pixels of Separation Mitch Joel Techrigy SM2 Key Web Data Chris Lang Google social bookmarking HubSpot Catie Foertsch Kate Morris TopRank Online Marketing Blog Jessica Cameron-Ruud Duct Tape Marketing John Jantsch CircleUp Traffic Travis del.icio.us tags: best free tools for monitoring social buzz social media marketing Six Pixels of Separation Mitch Joel Techrigy SM2 Key Web Data Chris Lang Google social bookmarking HubSpot Catie Foertsch Kate Morris TopRank Online Marketing Blog Jessica Cameron-Ruud Duct Tape Marketing John Jantsch CircleUp Traffic Travis icerocket tags: best free tools for monitoring social buzz social media marketing Six Pixels of Separation Mitch Joel Techrigy SM2 Key Web Data Chris Lang Google social bookmarking HubSpot Catie Foe

The 8 Layers of a B2B Web Marketing Plan

One way to think about designing a B2B technology web marketing plan is as a series of layers, like an onion. At the core is SEO—simply making your website "findable" through organic search to buyers who are looking for what you offer. Working out from the center are concentric layers of additional investment and sophistication. Small companies and start-ups with modest budgets will focus most of their efforts on the inner layers or rings, which are primarily designed for lead generation. As the company and its marketing budget grow, efforts can be expanded to the outer layers, which are aimed more at branding but support lead generation efforts. Ideally, a company eventually reaches the outer layer where pure branding activities (such as print advertising) help to maximize the effectiveness of lead generation programs (such as SEM) near the center of the circle. This diagram shows how different types of web marketing programs can be prioritized in order to maximize the retur

Getting More Out of Each Click with "Post-Click Marketing"

With the economy now officially in a recession (as if we didn't know that), marketers are under increasing pressure to do more with less. On the interactive marketing side, few marketers will get budget increases enabling them to drive more clicks. The challenge, then, is to maximize marketing productivity—to get more leads out of the same number of clicks. This is the first of two posts that will look at how to improve conversion rates to get more value from each click. One answer to this challenge is provided by "post-click marketing," a.k.a. lead automation management vendors. While the specifics of each service vary, all of them essentially: automate the process of extracting visitor IP information from your log files; match the IP address to an organization; filter out ISPs; and map the company name to one or more external databases to provide additional information (company size, industry, key contacts etc.). The better services also use geo-location filte

Top Notch Digital Marketing Tip: Google AdWords and PPC

MARKETING: 101 Looking for some online marketing strategy or social media tips to grow your business? Well, you’ve come to the right digital marketing resource! Web Market Central has been doling out the proper digital marketing advice for years. And as you already know, marketing to customers online is 100 times easier than using dated, expensive and traditional marketing tactics. Like seriously, who uses billboards in 2019? But you already know how effective digital marketing can be in the modern age. So now that you're totally convinced of what you already knew, let’s give you today's top-notch digital marketing tip! The Pure Unfettered Power of PPC (Pay-Per-Click) and PPC Campaigns Just like optimizing your site to rank for keywords, you can use our online marketing tips to pay to run advertisements on Google so that your business is shown on the first page of search engine results. Ranking this way is instantaneous whereas SEO (Search Engine Optimizati

Book Review: Website Optimization

This post has been moved to Book Review: Website Optimization – Speed, Search Engine & Conversion Rate Secrets on the Webbiquity blog. ***** technorati tags: Andrew B. King, Web Site Opimization LLC, Website Optimization: Speed, Search Engine & Conversion Rate Secrets, book review, Wordtracker, SEO insights, social networking, Marketleap.com link popularity tool del.icio.us tags: Andrew B. King, Web Site Opimization LLC, Website Optimization: Speed, Search Engine & Conversion Rate Secrets, book review, Wordtracker, SEO insights, social networking, Marketleap.com link popularity tool icerocket tags: Andrew B. King, Web Site Opimization LLC, Website Optimization: Speed, Search Engine & Conversion Rate Secrets, book review, Wordtracker, SEO insights, social networking, Marketleap.com link popularity tool Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

Digital Marketeers Are Hurting Their Clients With Local Citations; Some Just Don't Care

Digital Marketeers Are Hurting Their Clients With Local Citations; Some Just Don't Care Mount Pleasant, SC — Marketers are adding their clients to directories. Many of these directories are designed to provide businesses with industry exposure. But marketers across the globe are fouling up or disrupting various directory platforms. By listing businesses in the wrong directory to get local citations. What is a local Citation? A local citation is any online mention of the name, address, and phone number of a local business. Local citations can appear on various platforms, such as search engines, directories, apps, social media, and blogs. Local citations help Internet users discover local businesses and can also impact local search engine rankings. Local citations should be accurate, consistent, and relevant to boost the local presence of a business, according to MOZ. Local citations have become critical to Google rendering accurate search results. Websites with little or no

Search This Blog