The core underlying vision for B2Bbloggers is to be an online magazine for B2B marketers by B2B marketers. One of the ways we are delivering on that vision is through interviews with B2B marketers.
We started with an interview of CMO Jeffrey Hayzlett of Kodak. In the interview, he shared his thoughts on the importance the role of social media plays for Kodak in connecting with their customers in a personal way. This time around I had the opportunity to interview Stacey Hollaran, Corporate Marketing & Communications Executive at SMC³.
In our interview, Stacey talks about SMC³’s investment in Information Architecture as they re-engineer their web site, the role print advertising is playing for SMC³, and there very practical entry into social media with LinkedIn. Enjoy!
Jeremy: Tell me a little about yourself and your role at SMC³.
Stacey: I am a B2B technology marketer by profession, meaning that I do not associate myself with a specific industry; instead, I’m focused on creating buzz about technologies that work within any given industry. That being said, I have been with SMC³ for 8 ½ years now, and the industry our technology serves is transportation and supply chain. My role here has changed and morphed over the years as I’ve built a team of outstanding professionals who support all aspects of marketing communications for the company. Currently my role largely involves overall strategic planning, content marketing and brand awareness.
Jeremy: Give me a brief description of your company and number of people in the marketing department.
Stacey: SMC³ is a leading provider of data, technology and education as an integrated solution to the freight transportation community. Our solutions are mostly niche to the less-than-truckload (LTL) space, even more specifically the pricing component. So, when someone ships something from point A to point B by truck, our pricing technology—which determines how much it will cost and how long it will take to get there—is often involved.
Our marketing team is 6 people strong. We have two creative professionals who are focused on layout and design (print and online) and we are currently looking to hire one more in this area. We have a person who specializes in our seminar and conference event campaigns and we have a person who is dedicated to marketing research, database marketing and vertical marketing campaigns. Finally, we have a content writer and myself.
Jeremy: Read any good business books lately?
Stacey: I’m currently reading “All Business is show Business: Strategies for Earning Standing Ovations from your Customers and Employees.” (McKain). I’m always looking for books and blogs related to best practices in the art and science of marketing. This book is a good refresher on keeping your eye on your KSPs and engaging employees, customers and prospects with your message.
Jeremy: Is 2010 optimistic or pessimistic relative the economy and recession for SMC³?
Stacey: 2010 has gotten off to a great start! We just held our 2010 Winter conference (January 19-20 in Atlanta) and the attendance was back to above pre-recession levels. The overall economic mood at the conference—which brought together professionals in all aspects of supply chain to discuss industry trends, economic forecasts and legislative issues—was positive, at the very least “cautiously optimistic.”
Jeremy: Start with the basics, what are your primary objectives of your marketing in 2010?
Stacey: Our big goal for 2010 is a complete overhaul of our company Web site, www.smc3.com. I believe that Web sites should be overhauled (navigation, layout & design) every 3-5 years. Our site is due as it was last overhauled in 2004. By completing this overhaul we will bring our site visitors a more robust interaction with us through enhanced informational content delivery and sharing capabilities. We will also have more comprehensive measurement and tracking capabilities.
Jeremy: Are you doing anything new to achieve that goal?
Stacey: We have invested in an Information Architect (IA) to help us reconstitute our site and incorporate the latest in Web 2.0 (and Web 3.0 in some cases). The site will be rich in content, which of course has to be generated and marketed (via all the appropriate channels) on a regular basis.
Jeremy: Now your marketing mix, what’s it look like for 2010?
Stacey: First let me say that I believe today good marketing is a mix of traditional and new media. That being said the SMC³ marketing mix is definitely increasing in the online arena. We are a small company so we don’t throw big money at SEO campaigns or anything of the like, but we do work to keep our site optimized under the hood. Also, we’ve found that online video is quite a good selling tool for us, so we will be spending more money there in the coming year.
Jeremy: Are your customers still reading trade publications? Where does print fall into your marketing mix?
Stacey: Yes, our customers still read trade publications. We’ve found that some have migrated to reading the “digital editions” while others still prefer holding a print publication in their hands. (They like to take it on the plane with them, pass it along at the office, etc.)
Jeremy: So that is why you continue advertising in print?
Stacey: Yes, you got it, we still advertise in print because: 1) a portion of our customer demographic still prefers it, and 2) it promotes “cross-pollination” and recall. Additionally, most of the publications we deal with duplicate their print and digital editions, so we’re getting a “2 for 1” deal, in effect.
Jeremy: Are you using any marketing automation software?
Stacey: We have tools that automate certain processes, for example mass emails. But we do not currently have a comprehensive “marketing automation” system in place.
Jeremy: What’s the “social” status at SMC³? Are you trying social media marketing or becoming a social business?
Stacey: Organizationally we have begun at the level of LinkedIn. The Groups feature of LinkedIn enables our subject matter experts (SMEs) to join in on conversations and lend their thoughts. We market our company through the company feature and we also rely on the site heavily for employee recruitment. We made use of LinkedIn DirectAds for our last conference campaign and it was quite successful. We utilized the free Events feature as well to virally promote the event.
Jeremy: What initiatives (if any) are underway? If not, why not?
Stacey: I am pitching an initiative that involves extending our Press Room to Twitter. There is a large supply chain contingent on Twitter, although it is mostly fellow thought leaders and technology alliances. Therefore, we felt the best place to start there was to reach out to the industry pundits and media with a branded page that releases news bytes.
Jeremy: Do you have a formal social media policy?
Stacey: No; however, certain social sites are simply “blocked” in our workplace network.
So there it is, an interview with a B2B marketer whose dealing with and experiencing all the issues and challenges of our times. Quite interesting was it to learn, trade pubs matter (in this industry), some social sites are blocked at the office, and good old marketing comes down to “a mix of traditional and new media.”
To connect with Stacey you can find her on LinkedIn and on Twitter at @mktb2b. B2Bbloggers thanks you Stacey and we wish you continued success.
At a very high level, SEO is comprised of linking, on page/meta data content and other website mechanics (e.g. redirects, trusted URL, etc.). This post speaks to the page content element that B2B copywriters need to know.
Start by examining your keywords…
Many B2B companies underestimate the importance of this exercise. From a marketing standpoint, nailing your keywords and phrases is the foundation for your online marketing communications and content strategy. If you need to coach your marcom team on how to develop effective keywords, here’s a link to one of my newsletters on keyword selection, where you can download a worksheet to help you decide on the most effective keywords. Make sure you vet your keywords and phrases through a keyword tool such as Google or Wordtracker.
On-page SEO copywriting…
Optimize your website pages for the keywords and phrases—and not all on one page. Group your keywords and phrases so that any given page is optimized for 3-5 keywords. Make sure that your meta title tags and description include the 3-5 keywords/phrases for which you’re optimizing a given page. For more about on-page SEO copywriting, see my article on boosting natural page rank.
Natural SEO works for blogs too…
Apply these same rules to your B2B blog and watch page visits increase. Include keywords in your blog titles for two reasons… one, it’s good for on-page SEO; and two, the keywords in the title usually become part of the URL (especially if the keywords come at the beginning of the title). That means another boost for natural search.
Then, make sure the keywords in the title are also in the body of the blog. And if your blog post is lengthier (500+ words) break it up with H2 or H3 header tags that include a keyword if possible. But remember, keep it natural. Don’t force keywords in at the expense of good copywriting flow and tone. Start with good content and then see if you can work in a few keywords while keeping the tone and flow natural.
Connect with SEO experts…
Follow them on Twitter and subscribe to their blog posts. I’ve started a Twitter list of SEO folks, so go to @copywriter4u/B2B-SEO-pros to follow the list (it’s not comprehensive by any means, but it gives you a good start). The following websites have SEO news and information to which you can subscribe:
Again, there are many more resources on SEO. I culled the list above as I was learning SEO copywriting and thought you might find it helpful for starters. If you have other resources, feel free to add them here.
About The BtoBblogger: Joan is a B2B marcom consultant and copywriter with more than 15 years experience helping high tech and industrial companies generate leads and sales through integrated marketing communications including SEO copywriting, social media and website content. She can be reached at
www.jdamico.net or through her blog
www.integratedmarcom.blogspot.com.
Last week, Steve Parker, a regular guest blogger, wrote A Marketer’s 2010 New Year’s Resolutions. Steve shares over 25 resolutions for 2010 and reminds us to reflect on the important things, like long-term goals and principles to live and work by.
From Steve’s list of resolutions comes my 2010 B2B Marketers’ To Do List. I share five business and five personal to dos to help you be a better marketer in 2010. Some of these to dos will become themes that I revisit throughout 2010. So I encourage you to print this list, revisit it regularly, and work to accomplish all ten by the end of the year. You with me?
BUSINESS TO DOs
Mind the gap – Right now in your organization, there is a gap between you and sales, you and your customers, you and your CEO, and you and your employees. Some gaps are big and some are really big. In 2010, make all these gaps smaller. How? Meet weekly with a different front line sales person, call at least one customer per week, take one task from your CEO’s to do list and report progress to her regularly, and eat with your employees – you’ll be amazed at what you can learn over meals.
Rethink everything – I know it’s a cliche. But it’s time to give everything another look – websites, collateral, trade show booth, emails – everything about your brand deserves rethinking. 2009 was about survival; 2010 must be about renewal.
Measure the return on every dollar spent – If the recession taught us anything, let it be that measurement of marketing investments makes them much easier to defend. It is no longer reasonable to run marketing initiatives without identifying and tracking at least a few key performance indicators and return on investment.
Learn more about the digital behaviors of your customers – Combine the ability to access content anytime, anywhere, on a growing number of devices with the increasing number of social networks and platforms, and you now have an entirely different landscape in which to influence buyers. Do you know how your prospects find you? Now more than ever it will be important to understand the digital lifestyles of your prospects and customers.
Get YOUR social strategy right, at YOUR pace – The key words here are: your, strategy, and pace. Social media isn’t one size fits all. Define your specific goals. Then develop your social media strategy. And don’t rush; you are not late to the game. Take the time to plan your social strategy properly. Make the execution of your social strategy at your pace. Ensure it is right for the amount of resources you are able to dedicate to it this year.
PERSONAL TO DOs
Put the iPhone down – Unless the meeting is about your company’s iPhone application, stop letting your iPhone or your Blackberry distract you. Your attention is needed in that meeting. You are the leader. Consider the example you are setting for your employees or the impression you are leaving with your boss.
Get your “social” hands dirty – Even if it is just watching your competitors, get a Twitter account, sign up for HootSuite or Tweetdeck, and learn the tools and lingo. You can not simply delegate your social media activities. You need to be as well versed in the whos, whats, wheres, and whys as your employees, or you will be left behind.
Check your ego at the door – There is a high likelihood you will be hiring again this year. If it’s not your practice now, focus on hiring people smarter than you, lots of them. Raising your company’s corporate IQ will not only help you, but also your customers.
Challenge your employees – If they’re not up for it, then do the hard thing and talk to them about it. In this day and age (do people say day and age anymore?), you need employees driving as hard as you are. Don’t settle for mediocrity from anyone.
Change at least three routines – Routines thwart creativity. Change things up a bit for the sake of change. It won’t hurt, I promise.
So that’s the list – you up for it? Add a comment and tell us: What else should marketers do in 2010 to make it better than 2009?
As you are planning your social media efforts, here are five things to consider.
1. It’s not a panacea or a magic pill that will cure what ails you.
Your problems will remain your problems. Social media can help, but if are struggling to generate leads or have slow response times in your contact center, social media alone won’t fix that. On top of that, Twitter gives your customers another vehicle to communicate with you. If you are not prepared to listen and respond, think twice before creating @yourcompanyname.
2. If you are doing it, because that’s what the “cool kids” are doing, you are bound to fail.
Yes, there are B2B companies succeeding with social media. Your company can too, but only if you make social media part of an overall marketing strategy tied to specific goals. Facebook, Twitter, You tube…there all just tactics. If you’re only thinking about creating a Facebook page because your main competitor did…slow down and consider how the use of social media can help you achieve your overall goals. If you are doing it for any other reason and you don’t have it tied to specific goals, you’ll likely be wasting your time (not to mention that you will have no way to monitor and measure your success).
3. If you are the internal champion or evangelist, roll up your sleeves, you are in for the fight of your life.
I can almost guarantee the moment you sit down for your presentation with your boss and you pull up Twitter – you’ll see a post like this one I sent last week:
@MarketingVeep you can always use a paper towel in a pinch -Jeremy
“How can something like that help us,” she’ll say. Followed by a few minutes later, “Facebook, my kids are on Facebook 24×7, I’m always telling them to stop wasting so much time on there.”
If the executives in your company are new to social media, you’ll need to be prepared to use every opportunity to consensus build. Without the support of the entire management team, your social media road will be much harder to travel. [BTW- @Marketingveep needed coffee filters on a Monday morning.]
4. You have already underestimated the investment in time by at least half.
While the majority of social media tools and web sites are free to use, they all take time to manage. Lots of it. A blog can be especially time consuming due to the writing involved (at the same time though, it can be the most rewarding). You and your staff are likely stretched pretty thin already, it is important that you don’t bite off more than you can chew. Start slowy and measure time spent to help you plan better for future initiatives.
5. Don’t let fear cripple you, you will make mistakes.
Write this down – I will send a tweet with a typo. I will not panic.
While there are best practices in social media, much of your success will come through trial and error and learning what tactics work best for achieving your goals. Like any marketing program, not everything will work or go as planned. Don’t let that stop you from trying. The benefits far outweigh the typos.
What else should B2B marketers know about social media?
