Small Biz Find Social Media to be the Great Equalizer

As business and trade media transition their reports from “what social media is” to here is how companies are effectively using it, an inaccurate picture of the state of adoption has emerged.

The casual reader might conclude it is primarily global organizations with its deep pockets and gang of marketers that derive measurable ROI from social media. Consider Adweek’s recent article, “Does Social Sell?” that dives into campaigns from industry titans Pepsi, Dell and H&R Block.

Even Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) is guilty of big brand-itis when it comes to promotion of its social media marketing competencies and track record. Our case studies tout work for Microsoft, Monster, British Telecom (BT) and Sun Microsystems with nary a whisper about our equally successful efforts for more growth-oriented clients like BroadSoft, Epok and Senforce Technologies.

It’s understandable as more broadly recognized brands turn heads, command attention from influencers and, ultimately, confer tremendous credibility on the practice of social media as a proven marketing discipline.

Yet, our fetish and fascination with big company adoption of social media might be scaring off more modest-sized organizations. A recent survey presents a cloudy view.

The optimist perceives the doubling of social media use by small businesses from 12 to 24 percent as a sign of frothy growth. The pessimist argues that it’s only 1 in 4 companies that are tapping into this channel. What about the other 75 percent?

Anecdotally, I have spoken with a number of C-level executives at companies well qualified to engage strategically in social media who have put it off due to their “limited resources.” To this, I’ve attempted to point out that mega-business is no more sophisticated or destined for success in social networks.

Here’s why:

1. Social media is a great equalizer. Years ago I visited with an ad sales representative from the Wall Street Journal who explained their clients advertise in the newspaper because they can. Of course, what this implied was that they can afford to, which communicated leadership and financial strength.

Participation in social networks and online communities such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Govloop and Twitter is open to all. Success is a function of strategy, thought leadership and time investment, rather than a hearty financial outlay.

2. The financial burden of experimentation and failure is modest. I broached this idea last September in a blog post that explored how Strategic has transitioned through multiple lead generation tactics in a single social media campaign.

3. Business outcome is predicated on a one-to-one relationship. Set aside issues related to branding, perception, credibility and confidence, and, inherently, a transaction comes down to two people reaching mutual accord.

The cultivation of personal relationships in an online environment is at the core of social media marketing. And, in many instances, a small and still emerging venture is just as likely to establish a relationship with the buyer as a global organization.

The Forgiving World of Social Media Lead Generation

At Strategic Communications Group (Strategic), we have been working on a social media marketing campaign that has surpassed all client expectations when it comes to audience engagement.

Our editorial strategy proved to be spot on. Readership has grown month over month with a healthy mix of new and returning visitors.

You’d think we would be hitting high fives and chest bumps. There is a problem though. While important, awareness and positioning are not our benchmarks. It’s lead generation and in this area we have fallen painfully short.

It is certainly not for a lack of trying. We started with a free offer to motivate readers to identify and share information about their needs. No go. We then moved to a multi-tiered premium content strategy with required registration. Little response.

So now we have scheduled a Webinar exclusively for readers of our social media site. Our hopes are high…we’ll see.

I should be more frantic about our lack of prospect identification, right?

Make no mistake, I am concerned. Yet, I also recognize that with social media we can test multiple tactics within the timeline of a program’s duration and without dramatic impact on budget.

This is not the case with traditional advertising and direct marketing programs due to the steep budget requirements associated with media, production, printing, postage, etc. These tactics are unforgiving as a company is basically afforded one shot to get it right and produce a measurable impact.

A multi-million dollar ad campaign that is met with a lukewarm reception results in the advertiser searching for a new agency and, in some instances, a chief marketing officer out of a job.

Unlike many consultants who argue that social media is merely for community and conversation, I’m wedded to the belief that companies should demand an ROI aligned with lead generation, sales cycle support and search engine optimization.

Yes…it makes the design and execution of social media marketing campaigns more challenging. But, there is time to test approaches and the lower funding requirements produce a client that is more patient and understanding.

Now I just need this Webinar to work.

Will Premium Content Cross the Last Mile?

The last mile in social media has proven to be a long one.

Several weeks back I published a blog post entitled the Three Phases of Social Media Maturation that generated significant interest. It attracted more than 2,000 readers in a week with nearly 25 re-tweets and a set of excellent comments.

The post overviewed a set of lessons learned we’ve picked up at Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) in the execution of social media campaigns on behalf of global leaders like Microsoft, British Telecom (BT), BearingPoint and Sun Microsystems, as well as emerging growth companies such as GovDelivery and Epok.

The initial two phases focus on defining program goals, establishing an editorial content strategy, publishing on a consistent schedule, and promoting in targeted social networks and online communities. When successful, the result is the attraction of a loyal, thriving and expanding community of readers and followers.

The third phase – what a client of ours at Microsoft referred to as the last mile – involves tapping this community of followers to identify business leads and opportunities. Of course, the tactics employed must remain consistent with the tenets of appropriate social network participation. This means no spamming or shameless self promotion. Rather, the mission is to motivate the right targets to raise their hand and express the desire for a more meaningful business dialogue.

It’s during the last mile that the return on investment (ROI) of a social media campaign becomes real and measurable. This is why the frustration meter at Strategic is on the rise. We’ve had success in enterprise sales support and, when coupled with competitive intelligence gathering, we are set to deliver on deal capture programs for multi-million dollar procurements a client may be pursuing.

Yet, the area of straight lead generation remains a work in progress. We’ve employed a number of approaches -- including an e-book offer, survey requests and wiki collaboration -- with marginal return. Perhaps the give-away hasn’t been compelling? Or the survey participation required too much time? We are still thinking this through.

We are also now evaluating how to effectively incorporate premium content into the editorial strategy of our social media campaigns. Tech blog extraordinaire GigaOm has given us a model to emulate. Their recent introduction of a $79 a year subscription service called GigaOm Pro creates a potentially lucrative new revenue source, without negatively impacting the loyalty of the blog’s readership base.

For Strategic’s clients, we do not anticipate publishing premium content via our social media efforts for direct revenue generation. Rather, the offer of high-value case studies, white papers, customer interviews, etc could be the tactic that helps us cross that last mile.

Social Media and Enterprise Sales Acceleration

There is seldom a quick hit in business-to-business enterprise sales.

Prospects are appropriately demanding. Product features and corporate capabilities must be presented and validated -- repeatedly. Market expertise, thought leadership and industry reputation are constantly judged.

Rush the process and a vendor risks losing the deal. Relationships are cultivated over time and it’s typical for an enterprise sales cycle to be measured in years.

The payoff is sweet. Revenue from an enterprise sale can run well into the millions of dollars. Plus, the lifetime value of a loyal customer can serve as the very foundation of the business.

At Strategic Communications Group (Strategic), the majority of our clients sell sophisticated products or services to government and commercial enterprise customers. As such, our social media and digital communications work has gravitated towards lead generation and sales cycle support for enterprise deals.

We have refined a four-step methodology that allows social media performance to be measured by enterprise deal flow and resulting revenue, rather than merely awareness and positioning.

Step 1 Prioritize the Hot Ones. By working closely with your sales team, a set of prospects can be culled based on their standing in the sales pipeline, intimacy of existing relationship and potential size of the transaction. Typically, we’ll select a list of 15 to 25 prospects which is then reviewed and updated on a monthly basis.

Step 2 Map and Monitor. Compile an overview of each prospect’s engagement in online communities, blogs, Twitter feeds, trade shows and conferences, and advertising activities. Monitor weekly and pay particular attention to new activities and related messaging.

Step 3 Engage in a Prospect’s Communities of Choice. Connect with a prospect through LinkedIn, Facebook and other communities, and then share relevant content from your company’s social media and marketing activities. Also, be sure to demonstrate your interest in the prospect’s views through comments on their blog or invitations to contribute content to your social media programs.

Step 4 Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate. There are two important criteria to use when assessing the impact of social media on enterprise sales activities. There are tactical benchmarks, such as number of prospect connections, comment exchange and participation in content development. And then there is anecdotal feedback from the sales team on how social media and digital engagement has helped move deals forward.