Gobbledygook terms are one of many current examples of what I call imaginary bogeyman punching bags. These handy targets allow anyone to take a whack at them in order to prop themselves up and look like a hero. Politicians do this all day long. Instead of taking a position on issues or stating their differences vs. their opponent, they run against some vague, generalized and/or fictitious evils like “government waste” or “immigration.” (How does one run against immigration? It’s like running against osmosis.)

Has there ever been a list of words that “thou shalt not use” that was taken seriously? Other than George Carlin’s “seven deadly words that you can’t say on television“?  And even those get a free pass lately. The once stodgy and bureaucratic FCC now looks the other way even for those words, if the hour is late enough or your cable channel obscure enough.

Much has been said, written, tweeted and blogged lately about the dangers of using “gobbledygook” terms. Lists have been generated, counted, measured, flagged and flogged and everyone (almost) feels the wiser for it.

Except for one thing. (OK two.)

The first is easy to explain: one person’s gobbledygook is another person’s precise, and often technical or professional term. It can be a term that the intended audience is actually expecting and who believe it’s the most accurate one. The biggest fallacy with the gobbledygook complaint is the idea that all language must be plain language that a single, giant mass “public”, with a lowest common denominator of perhaps an 8th grade education, accepts. (Hmm, sounds kind of “mass media,” don’t you think?)

The second problem is that while people are forgiving of imprecise terms if they are current slang or very popular, they’re unforgiving if the words are politically incorrect, not socially “cool” or out of favor. They want to “ban” them, or whine about them. This is braindead dumb. Vocabularies are not one size fits all. I know some think it’s all a big joke, but I think it’s about as funny as a book burning.

The real gobbledygook terms are those “social media-sanctioned” words that nearly everyone uses with great frequency and gusto (oops–I mean passion). These words are promiscuous, over-hyped terms that sleep around in a lot of sentences but never have a meaningful relationship with any reader–because they don’t convey meaning. This is highly ironic, of course, since the frequent users of these words often believe they’re on a mission to kill off hype.

Here’s a list of some of the REAL gobbledygook terms we are hearing every day. You might detect an Orwellian, 1984-ish trend in the below list. Most if not all are disingenuous and really mean the opposite of their surface definition:

Authentic.

(A code word for “popular and fake as all get-out.”)

Relevant.

(This has nothing to do with asking an individual person what they specifically want, and everything to do with jumping off cliffs of assumption and gross generalization with the help of a search engine.)

Remarkable.

(The trendy, all-purpose superlative, when unique just isn’t good enough. It’s also a chameleon. Since no one can define it, it becomes whatever you want it to be, which is handy for going viral.)

Thought leader.

(The highly popular badge of wannabes who are mostly followers. Bona fide thought leaders have no need to make the claim.)

Pivot.

(Born in the VC community, this is putting a smiley face on your coffin. It means, “everything about your start-up sucks except this one tiny thing, which I’ll invest in if you kill and bury the rest of your lifelong dream.”)

Passionate.

(This is the new, dolled-up and more polite way of saying “this is the only thing I give a shit about.” That’s OK, it makes for nicer name badges at tweetups.)

Human.

(Everyone seems to want to say this, but why is a mystery to me … as opposed to what, exactly? I guess I don’t watch enough animal, vegetable or alien movies.)

Real.

(Do I even have to say it? Another code word for artificial.)

Old School.

(The contemporary fate worse than death … or think of it as “pre-death.” Earlier generations would have said “hell on earth.”) The extra-pejorative form is, “Old Skool,” inspired, apparently, by the need to intentionally misspell words to prove your revolutionary cred. Gotta follow the new rools!

While hysterically funny, George Carlin’s monologues on the seven deadly words had a serious message that bears repeating today:

“There are no bad words … just bad thoughts … bad intentions … and WORDS.”

Whether you’re a B2B or consumer marketer, keep Carlin’s admonition in mind if you want to have any hope of being influential or persuasive.

We must speak in the language that the people we’d like to reach understand and expect–regardless of whether or not those words meet some uppity, homogenized sniff test.

If you’re trying to engage with a professional or technical audience–or any audience, really, whose interests have their own slang and jargon–WTH do you care if Suzy Creamcheese or Joe the Plumber (who’re NOT part of that audience) don’t like it or don’t get it?

You should not waste one minute thinking about it.

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About The B2Bblogger: Steven H. Parker is founder and CEO of Parker Communications, a PR and marketing agency specializing in start-ups and fast growth technology companies. He has worked exclusively with tech companies in PR and marketing for the past 25 years. His prior agency, The Launch Company, for 10 years was one of the top 25 independently-owned agencies in the U.S.He’s also a former VP at Hill & Knowlton, and a former journalist.

During his award-winning career, Parker has provided strategy and consulting to everyone from two-person start-ups to major industry leaders including Lotus, IBM, Digital, Xerox and BBN. Thirty of his 160 clients have been acquired at a total combined value of more than $5 billion. He blogs at www.marketingdissector.com.

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It was great to be a part of this week’s #B2BChat. The topic was about creating great (if not yet viral) videos for B2B. The conversation was frenetic, informative and fun and it was indeed quite exciting to partake in an event such as this. There were several key points discussed and, as expected, the answers kept coming in at a hectic pace.

The chat revolved around several topics like scenarios where B2B videos can go viral, the advantages between slick or raw production styles, the differences between in-house and out-sourced content, techniques and “secret” recipes, etc.

This is a summary adapted from the complete transcript and if you want to read it you can just drop by here. Here are some highlights.

When and where do we use video for B2B marketing?

@billrobbSAP : My gripe is that u can’t “create a viral video”. u create a compelling video that hopefully ur community makes viral.

@martinehunter : training, testimonials, factory tours, case studies, product demos, production schematics, should be short, concise

@fearlesscomp : I believe customer videos need to be front and center on websites

@asuthosh : when video tells a compelling story, when customers are willing to be featured. When authenticity is key

In-house development versus out-sourcing … what works best for video content?

@prdreamer : Depends on style. Slick corp. video should be outsourced to co. w/ skill set. Quick testimonials can B done in-house w/ Flip.

@chevypham : outsource for creative content, editing, production, but in-house editorial for appropriateness and relevancy.

@billymitchell1: Production value is driven by type of result desired – and budget limitations. Some of the best B2B video is very basic

Are there any secret recipes that fuel B2B video content?

@jeffery_toh: Good story telling is key! #b2bchat

@fearlesscomp: Don’t be boring. Don’t be slick. Don’t preach. Be real. Be fun. Be surprising.

@billrobbSAP: Reveal the funny, cool, juice immediately. Doing the trad buildup to punchline like in a TV ad doesn’t work.

@BrennerMichael: Sex sells!

@jeremyvictor:  Same as with any other content – connect with your buyer personas rationally, emotionally and logically

What are the tools and techniques that you use or can suggest for pre and post production?

@SpideyJo : Tools – can be as simple as using Windows Movie Maker up to Adobe Premiere. Techniques : Good planning

@billymitchell1 : Voice, personality, humor, passion, sincerity, knowledge of subject and confidence. Video camera sees all.

Where can you post your B2B videos? White label hosting … YouTube … etc. And why there?

@prdreamer: Post em where the ppl are. I say YouTube. It’s easy and free for the video hosting. #b2bchat

@fearlesscomp: TubeMogul.com is a good site that posts to all, including YouTube

@b2bento: YouTube embed in webpage – pump up the SEO

To round it all up, it was a nice session as expected. Thanks to all who participated. Join us for next week’s #B2Bchat, Thursday, July 22, at 8pm Eastern (5pm Pacific). Follow @B2B_chat for updates.

Editor’s Note: While we are on the topic of videos, why not join the discussion on whether or not to Give Old Spice (and P&G) The Credit It Deserves?

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About the B2Bblogger:Anol Bhattacharya (@B2Bento) is CEO of GetIT Comms, a marketing and communications consultancy for hi-tech and telco’s, where he helps clients (Cisco Systems Inc, IBM, IDC Asia Pacific, HP, Datacraft etc) in the field of B2B marketing, demand generation, lead nurturing, social media strategy & implementation, interactive digital media for marketing initiatives and user experience design.

Anol is one of the key contributors at B2Bento.com and has had his articles published in various media in the region.

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You must be living in a vacuum if aren’t aware of the buzz surrounding the latest Old Spice videos that have gone viral. Earlier this week on Facebook, I responded to a question posed by Social Fresh about whether or not the viral ads will sell more Old Spice.

Here was my response:

Of course it will. As consumers we may not realize it consciously.

But, when standing in the aisle in front of all the brands – even if you are loyal to another brand – you will see Old Spice. Don’t think for a second that this is not a coordinated retail effort.

Pay close attention to product placement in the next few weeks – Is there more end cap placements for Old Spice, more Signage, etc. What may seem like a social only event – is certainly tied to a set of specific retailing strategies at the store level. The brand owner of OLD Spice is a former Proctor and Gamble exec. More will be sold. Lots more. ·

Correction: At the time, I posted the comment, I failed to remember that OLD Spice is a Proctor and Gamble brand.  – So better said:

Remember, the brand of owner of Old Spice IS a Proctor and Gamble executive. What does P&G do? BUILD BRANDS.

An effort that started with a commercials during in the Super Bowl,

is much more thought through than the blogosphere is giving Old Spice credit for. This is a well planned, coordinated, measured effort to increase revenue.

Remember, this is P&G we are talking about!

What does P&G do?

BUILD BRANDS.

There are a lot of super smart, creative, innovative and intelligent marketers in this world. Nothing that is happening with Old Spice brand right now is happening by chance. Nothing. Market share, and more importantly, MIND share is be gained every day.

I’m thinking this was dreamed up in late 2008, early 2009. Read this Fast Company article about Old Spice’s Brand Manager, Alex Keith, and you will see why.

In a few short months, we will see the same come true in B2B marketing. My bet is that SAP has some super things in the works. Have you seen SAP’s Facebook Friend Optimizer? I bet they have much more on the way. Watch them. Here is an interesting interview with William Robb, Director, Social Media Marketing for SAP. SAP will be a B2B brand that continues making waves in the social web.

Remember, the recession slowed everything down. The creative juices are following everywhere. I am excited for the future of B2B marketing, are you?

Introduction

In nearly every introduction to content marketing, you have come across phrases like “you are now the media,” and “think like a publisher”. But one key thing publishers have always focused on that B2B marketers traditionally have not is the profitable creation and distribution of massive amounts of content. So how do you begin to find or create the content you will need to succeed?

In Part 1 of How To Think And Act Like A Publisher, we focused on defining your core objective (Profit), the importance of both editorial quality and variety (Editorial), and the systematic creation and production of your content (Production).

In Part 2, our focus shifts to building and growing readership (Circulation), getting the editorial content into the hands of your readership (Distribution), and seeking the next opportunity. Understanding and defining who your content is meant for (Circulation) and getting it to them (Distribution) are the core elements of the publisher’s mindset that marketers need to adopt.

These posts are for marketers interested in learning how publishers think and act. It’s a mindset that, when applied to your B2B content marketing strategy, will open up a whole new world of ideas and possibilities.

A side note before jumping in: this is an introductory article intended to provide marketers some insight into the discipline and business of publishing. It offers suggestions on how to think and act like a publisher and how to apply that thinking to your content marketing. It is by no means exhaustive or all inclusive.  Publishers do much more than what is presented here. 

Circulation

Circulation is readership.

As a publisher, when it comes to readership, the main objective is to acquire and sustain a population of people that a target advertiser will be willing to pay a premium to get in front of. Therefore from a circulation standpoint, the publisher’s mind is always focused on achieving the following two outcomes:

• driving growth (i.e., increasing the number of readers) and
• retention (i.e., keeping readers loyal).

But before starting either one of those activities, the first place a publisher must start is with the definition of the optimal target prospect for their advertisers. As without a qualified circulation, a publisher has little hopes of generating revenue.

Sound familiar? Where should you start your content marketing strategy? That’s right, with defining your ideal buyers. Enter Buyer Personas. Buyer personas define your optimal buyer(s) – the human beings, (the people with emotions) for whom your products and services are intended.

Once armed with the definition of the readership, publishers set out to create a marketing strategy to continuously acquire, grow, and maintain that readership. Publishers invest significant time, resources, and capital to ensure that their readership can support the growth of the publication.

Actions:

• Start your content marketing strategy by creating buyer personas. You must have a clear understanding of who you are trying to attract for your readership.
• Review your registration and opt-in forms. Are they simple, easy to use? Do they have good calls to action? How many steps does it take to complete the process? Whether it be your e-mail marketing list, your newsletter, or your blog RSS feed, pay careful attention to simplicity, ease of use, and placement.
• Be mindful of the *age* of your subscribers (length of time subscribed) and their level of activity (or inactivity). If you have old, inactive subscribers, make one attempt to reach them, and if you receive no response, dare I say it, remove them. And then acquire new ones.
• Create a way to track and monitor the growth of your readership. A simple spreadsheet will do.

Distribution

Distribution, from a publishing standpoint, deals with getting the editorial product into the hands of the readers. The focus is on understanding and utilizing all of the channels through which content can be delivered and consumed, then working to spread the product as widely as necessary (to existing and potential readership) to achieve the publisher’s circulation goals and deliver value to their advertisers.

This is accomplished in a variety of ways: snail mail, digital magazines, the publication’s web site, newsstands, grocery store lines, events and trade shows, syndication, strategic alliances, and on and on. You see, the goal is to spread your content as far as possible, though in a very targeted way, based on where and how the defined readership interacts with the content.

Enter the social web, and your readership is just as capable of distributing the content for you.

Actions:

• Look for external destinations to distribute your existing content. For blogs feeds, consider Alltop.com and Technorati. For blog articles, of course Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, but look for other niche destinations too – BusinessWeek Exchange is great for B2B.
• Seek places to contribute content – distributing your “thought leadership” in the form of contributed articles.
• With every piece of content you create, you must answer the question, “have I made it easy for my readership to share it?” (and that means in all channels, on and offline. Email, Twitter, events, etc.)
• You have time, but begin thinking about the answer to the following question: “How do we make our content more touchable?” (Think: iPad)

A side note: Two of the most exciting things happening right now relative to distribution in publishing happen to be related to the iPad. The first just launched: Flipboard. [note: possibly link to their site or Twitter feed?] (It makes an iPad imminent for me.) The second, “Adobe plans to make the tools used to create the Wired Magazine App for iPad generally available late this summer. Exciting news for publishers and B2B marketers.

Seeking the next opportunity

To be honest, most publishers were not very good at this. If they had been, the industry would have fared much better over the past 10 years. Prior to the internet, publishers basically printed money. When it came along, there wasn’t any urgency to act because their pockets were full. Wham! Enter the recession, open source publishing platforms, and the next thing you know everyone is a publisher, and it seemed no one was spending money on print advertising.

So publishers had to adapt, and the good ones have. And with the lesson of the past ten years learned, keeping an eye on the horizon and seeking the next opportunity are musts for long term sustainability and vitality.

Action (just one):

• Adapt and Think Bigger. Embrace the times in which we live and seek ways to utilize the new technologies available to you.

Recap

The six core areas: 

• Profit – define your core objective and have a laser focus on it
• Editorial – focus on the importance of both editorial quality and variety
• Production – having a system for content creation using schedules, deadlines, and the right people to manage the process
• Circulation – defining readership, and driving the growth and retention of those individuals
• Distribution – getting the editorial product into the hands of the readership
• Seeking the next opportunity – always keeping one eye on the horizon

 When listed together (and thought of in this way), these six areas provide you with a framework to begin thinking and acting strategically with a publisher’s mindset, and it becomes easy to see how thinking and acting like a publisher translates directly to acting and thinking as a B2B marketer today.

There is a direct correlation between structuring your marketing department in a way that enables you to systematically create targeted helpful, useful content on an ongoing basis and influencing your buyers in a way that generates demand for your products and services.

Our purpose at Make Good Media is to help you accomplish that goal.  

While hindsight tells us that publishers as a whole could have done more to embrace and adapt to the changing media landscape, we can still learn so much from publishers and the way they run their businesses. Tapping into a publisher-worthy understanding of your readership (your customers and potential customers) will help you get into the mindset that is driving the shift to content marketing, web content strategy, and ongoing content creation.

Conclusion

We are at a pivotal time in history, where we are not only experiencing the convergence of print, digital, and social media, but also a transition in the way content is created, packaged, and consumed.

We are all publishers now. And as publishers (and B2B marketers) it is important to understand how to think and act like to attract, nurture, engage, convert, and love our customers.

At both B2Bbloggers.com and Make Good Media, it is our purpose to help you become the marketers shaping the future of B2B marketing. I hope you found this two-part article useful.

Thanks for your time, and I look forward to you sharing your comments.

Editor’s Note: Please join Andrew, Ksenia and I as we welcome Anol Bhattacharya (@B2Bbento) as a new co-moderator to #B2BChat. Anol is one of the leading B2B marketers in Asia and serves as the CEO of GetIT in Singapore. We look forward to his international perspective and leadership on our moderating team. Anol takes Kent’s place who plans to be joining us frequently each Thursday, but has stepped away to focus on other exciting endeavors like, Social Media Marketing (SMM) Magazine.

Recipes for Great Viral B2B Videos

Social media is littered with countless “close encounters of the viral kind”, with most of these encounters being videos that transcend cultural barriers and achieve both cult and pop status. B2C businesses have exploited this for several years now and reaped mostly positive results.

Which leads us to ask, can B2B video achieve the same impact as their B2C counterparts? And if so, then how can we make our videos go on to become viral hits – the Old Spice man being the most recent wild success?

In this week’s #B2BChat, we will attempt to answer those questions and more. Our conversation will delve into why B2C videos go viral and how can we adapt these aspects to our B2B content.

Here are some snapshots of our topics at hand:

• When and where to use video for B2B marketing?
• The pros and cons of in-house development versus out-sourcing
• Are there any “secret recipes” that fuel successful B2B content?
• Tools and techniques for pre and post production
• Tapping the right distribution channels: answering “where” and “why”

Bring your opinions, experiences and questions for a lively discussion with other B2B marketers.

Join us for this week’s #B2Bchat on B2B Podcasting and Video, Thursday, July 22nd, at 8pm Eastern (5pm Pacific). Follow @B2B_chat for updates.

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About the B2Bblogger:Anol Bhattacharya (@B2Bento) is CEO of GetIT Comms, a marketing and communications consultancy for hi-tech and telco’s, where he helps clients (Cisco Systems Inc, IBM, IDC Asia Pacific, HP, Datacraft etc) in the field of B2B marketing, demand generation, lead nurturing, social media strategy & implementation, interactive digital media for marketing initiatives and user experience design.

Anol is one of the key contributors at B2Bento.com and has had his articles published in various media in the region.

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B2B Social media marketing has evolved into a pattern of five P’s based on what I’ve seen from client work and networking with other B2B marcom professionals.

Remember, before embarking on the five Ps, you should have spent a significant amount of time listening to the social media sphere to gain an understanding of the types of conversations taking place, where they’re taking place and how you can participate effectively.

1. Policy
   Most B2B corporate social media policies are an extension of existing policies such as trade secrets, privacy, and codes of conduct; however most companies expand on such policies to cover social media.  Kirk Maltais wrote a helpful article on government social media policies (8 Essential Elements for Crafting a Social Media Policy).  The eight elements, summarized below, are found in many B2B social media policies.

1. Employee Access – who will be allowed to use social media.
2. Account Management – who will set up, manage and monitor the social media accounts.
3. Acceptable use – how will social media be used.
4.  Employee conduct – what are acceptable social media behaviors.
5.  Content – how much editorial control will be exerted.  (Usually companies require a disclaimer for employees—even former employees—who blog for personal use.)
6.  Security – password management.
7.  Legal issues – how to enforce policy without infringing on freedom of speech, etc.
8.  Citizen Conduct – more of a government requirement involving how to handle the interactions between civilian users and the public.Remember that your social media policy is only as effective as your social media education program, so offer a few training sessions.

2. Plan
   Planning your social media strategy should start with a business objective.  For some B2B companies, a phase one objective is to increase their brand presence in the social sphere.  While that may be enough to start in social media, it won’t satisfy the long term business requirements for such an investment… namely ROI.  So your plan should have measurable objectives, such as 10% increase in web traffic within six months or 200 new LinkedIn followers within one month.  Then, align the website metrics with marketing and sales metrics such as a 5% increase in qualified leads or a 5% increase in sales.  More B2B social media measurement guidance.
   
   While I’m an advocate of aligning social media with revenue, it doesn’t directly correlate in lengthy B2B selling cycles.  As with most B2B marketing tactics, the goal is to collaborate with sales to generate and nurture leads in order to drive sales.  It’s the combination of marcom tactics and sales activity that drives sales, not a specific tactic alone such as social media. But you have to be in social media to know whether it will work for your situation.  So my advice is to follow trends in leads and sales for the first six months to monitor the impact of social media. Be prepared to sacrifice.  Without a concrete ROI, you may need to take marcom budget away from other marcom tactics to fund your initial B2B social media endeavor.  I’ve seen clients take money from the event and print ad buckets… even the brochure bucket to fund social media endeavors.  More on B2B budget trends from former Forrester Research analyst, Laura Ramos.
3. People
   From my experience, many B2B marcom departments lack adequate people resources to gain traction from their social media efforts.   Here’s where B2B marcom folks need to get creative.  Yes, if you’re a B2B marcom manager, you’ll likely bear the brunt of the workload when it comes to social media.  However, look beyond marcom for content providers such as sales, tech support, product management and even R&D.  Remember, your channel partners are a good source of content; they may have their own blogs and social media outlets that you can leverage.  It’s helpful to have a content marketing plan and a conversation calendar to help you better  determine your resource needs and ensure that you’re participating effectively at a level that will positively impact your business objectives.
4. Persona
   You need to decide how you/your company will appear on the various social media sites.   For example when you’re signing up for Twitter what will your handle be; what will the handles be of those contributing?  Will you follow the same naming convention on other social sites, your blog etc.?  The goal here is to create a consistent persona across the social sphere.  You’ll want to avoid what I call a “fragmented persona”—representing your company differently on different sites, e.g., LinkedIn.com/ABC Company, @bigbusinessbranding on Twitter and ABC Branding Blog. Establishing a consistent online persona is similar to establishing your brand guidelines for tone and approach of marketing communications elements such as brochures, newsletters, presentations, etc.  You’ll want a unified voice across all media.
5. Patience!
   Finally, you’ll need to give your B2B social media initiative time to produce results.  Remember, social media is about establishing relationships and that takes time and regular interaction.  It’s not just about blasting out content, it’s about making an online connection with your clients and prospects.

Summary of B2B social media resources mentioned above (plus a few more):

• 8 Essential Elements for Crafting a Social Media Policy) by Kirk Maltais
• 5 Steps for Measuring Social Media for B2B by Kipp Bodnar, Social Media B2B
• Practical Social Media Measurement for B2B by Ksenia Coffman via B2Bbloggers
• 2010 B2B Marketing Budgets and Mix Trends Research Published by Laura Ramos
• Creating Consistent Content – A Content Marketing Plan by Russell Sparkman via Junta42
• Creating a Content Marketing Plan—Without Any Content by Mark W. Schaeffer, {grow}
• New B2B Marcom Tool:  Conversation Calendar by Joan Damico

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About The B2Bblogger: 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 and on Twitter @copywriter4u.

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What does the move to mobile mean for B2B marketing?

You’ve heard the anticipation for years: mobile will take over the Web and transform the Internet experience as we know it. Although the days of change haven’t come as soon as some predicted, the shift appears to now be in full flight.

Mobile subscribers will surpass 5 billion this year, and the number of people accessing the mobile Internet is growing fast and is expected to overtake the PC as the most popular way to get on the Web within five years (according to ITU, Strategy Analtytics, and IDC).

How does this shift towards mobile affect the way businesses connect with business customers? Here are some of the questions we want to address in this week’s #B2Bchat:

Q. How relevant is mobile marketing for B2B and how do you know if it’s relevant to you?

Q. To what extent do your customers use mobile devices, e.g. smart phones, in business?

Q. What about location-based services such as Foursquare? Are they applicable in a B2B environment?

Q. Have you advertised / considered advertising on a mobile ad network? ~

Q. Have you considered developing a smart phone app?

Q. What opportunities does the mobile Internet present for B2B marketers?

Q. Does your company have/intent to have a mobile version of your website?

Q. Do you have a mobile marketing strategy?

Q. How you measure the ROI?

Q. Your experience with mobile marketing: What worked, and what didn’t?

Q. What’s next in B2B Mobile Marketing?

Join us this Thursday, July 15 at 8:00pm Eastern for our latest episode of #B2Bchat. Bring your ideas and experiences surrounding mobile and B2B marketing!

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About the B2Bblogger: Andrew Spoeth is an independent marketing consultant who specializes in B2B demand generation. He most recently worked as the marketing director at Enquiro, one of North America’s leading search marketing agencies. You’ll also find Andrew speaking at industry events, co-moderating the weekly #B2Bchat series on Twitter, and blogging at MarketingFinger.com. You can follow him on Twitter at@andrewspoeth.

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Earlier this year, I wrote a post, Humanize Your Marketing With Buyer Personas, because of what I feel is lacking in a lot of B2B marketing today. That is content – read marketing material of any kind – that is created and crafted in a way that is makes a personal connection and demonstrates a real life understanding of the people to whom the company is trying to market.

Much of what I come across still reeks of “me, me, me; we are great.”

I am becoming more and more convinced that the reason for this is that marketing departments haven’t slowed down and taken the time to create buyer personas. This is such an important step for any type of B2B marketing today. Forget social media and content marketing for a moment, the reason buyer personas matter so much is that B2B buyers and B2B buying has changed. So even if you never decide to venture into Twitter or Facebook, you still need buyer personas to effectively create trade ads, tradeshow booth signage, or any marketing material if you want to reach these changed B2B buyers.

So in this post I decided to answer the questions that are most likely top of mind for you when it comes to buyer personas. Here goes:

What is a buyer persona?

A buyer persona is a description of a specific person for whom your products and services are intended. It goes beyond statistics and demographics, and defines behaviors, motivations, likes/dislikes, traits, etc. Its intent is to help you reach your customers on a human level.

Why do buyer personas matter to me and my b2b marketing anyway?

A buyer persona enables you create marketing content that is for someone and not everyone.

Why is it important to create marketing for someone rather than everyone?

We’ve heard it before, it’s a cliché, but it’s true – in B2B buying – one size does not fit all. What’s important to the CFO is completely different than what is important to the CIO. Creating a piece of content to address both of their needs may work in some cases, but to truly connect, build trust, and influence that person, you need to be able to address their specific needs individually.

And that same thing is true for ALL the individuals involved in the B2B buying process from users, to the influencers, and the executives. Beginning your content marketing plan with carefully crafted buyer personas enables you to ensure your content speaks directly to the needs of someone. And that my friends is how we connect on a human level.

Why are buyer personas so important now?

Gone are the days of plowing through everyone in a company’s phone tree to reach the final decision maker, the person with the pen to sign the contract. B2B buying just doesn’t happen like that anymore. Today’s decision makers delegate, they empower their staff to gather information, make recommendations, and come to consensus on purchasing decisions.

Granted, you may think B2B buying still happens the old fashioned way, but that is only because the overwhelming majority of B2B selling still happens that way. But B2B buying has changed and so should your B2B marketing. Honestly, if you are still following the old model of B2B selling, my take is that you are doing more harm than good. You are likely losing brand value in the mind of that decision maker you are interrupting with every unscheduled call.

Remember, every single interaction creates an impression – positive or negative. In today’s world, where attention is a scarce commodity, an unscheduled call in a busy person’s day very rarely ends positively. Right? Be honest.

Start using buyer personas and create content that will attract buyers to you.

Where do I start when creating buyer personas?

First things first, you need to begin by gaining a full understanding of how your products are purchased. If you sell to multiple industries or market segments, you need to evaluate the buying process for each industry separately. You need a detailed view of who is involved, their role within the organization and within your buying process. Additionally, you need to understand the process a purchase such as yours goes through for approval. I suggest mapping it out.

At Make Good Media, we spend a considerable amount of time with our clients in this phase of a project because it is so vital to an effective social media and content marketing plan. In our opinion, you can’t effectively target your content without knowing which stage of the buying process is it for and the specific someone (or buyer persona) you are trying to reach.

Now that I understand the buying process and who I am trying to reach, how do I create a buyer persona that will humanize my marketing?

First and foremost, a key point should be made: your products are not the center anyone’s universe but your own. Broaden your scope of thinking about your buyers and realize that your product, no matter how important it is, will only ever touch a portion of their day-to-day activities.

Here are just 10 Buyer Persona development questions that we use with clients to get them started:

1. What are this persona’s most important job responsibilities and activities?
   • Which ones relate most closely with your products?
2. What are the top three – five challenges or problems for this individual in their job?
   • Which ones relate most closely with your products?
3. How does this persona measure success?
   • Do any of your products have the ability to help them achieve that?
4. How is this personas success measured? By whom (what stakeholders)?
5. What’s at risk for this individual in the purchasing process?
6. What could go wrong for them if the purchase is a failure?
7. What has prevented this persona from considering your products in the past?
8. What is the person’s likely progression within their career? What other roles have they had? What do they aspire to become?
   • What is the person’s level of education?
   • What is the person’s age?
9. Does this persona require a specific skill set, degree, certification, or other continuing education?
10. How does this persona typically seek new information and keep up to date with the industry?
    • What events do they attend?
    • What do they read? Online and off?

After gathering this data and answering these questions, you can begin to paint a fairly clear picture of the person, the human being with real life struggles and achievements that you are trying to reach. From these answers, you should then name your buyer persona and draft a bio so that you can have it to reference when creating content.

To close

As I said earlier, we’ve been helping our clients with how to create buyer personas, and the most important thing we are sharing with them is that you can’t have an effective content marketing plan (or blog, or twitter stream, or video) without them. Because as soon as you get into the content creation phase of anything, the first question you ask is, “For whom are we creating this?”

If your answer is, “for everyone,” sadly the result will much more likely be, “no one.”

Enjoy A Page From Our How To Create Buyer Personas Questionnaire:

Three useful links from the B2B marketing blogosphere:

• How to Determine Your Buyer Personas
  • source: http://www.pr2020.com/blog
• Buyer Personas: How to Deliver Relevant Content to B2B Buyers
  • source: http://www.savvyb2bmarketing.com/blog
• 5 Tips for Developing Strong Buyer Personas
  • source: http://fearlesscompetitor.com/

BtoB, The Magazine For Marketing Strategists, just completed a B2B Twitter Research Report analyzing B2B companies using Twitter as part of their marketing programs. Over the next few posts, I’ll present and expand upon some of their key B2B Twitter Research Report findings. To start, BtoB discovered that:

B2B companies who invest in using Twitter for business marketing and use it more frequently, experience greater success and satisfaction with Twitter.

Reminds me of growing up on the Gulf Coast of southern Alabama. Back when the beach sand was white and the water crystal blue, our family would go to the beach on the weekends. We’d often go to the “still water” side where the fresh water lakes were. Dad would launch our boat, attach the ski lines, toss out the flotation devices, and splash the skis in the water to the waiting skier.

The first time I clamped the skis to my feet, gripped the ski rope, and leaned back in the water waiting for the boat engine to roar to life, I was scared to death. Any second the 185hp Evinrude motor would jump from idle to full power in just a few seconds. When it did, all of that power would flow into the ski rope and into my 11-year old body, violently yanking me to the surface.

To successfully ski, I would have to focus that energy away from what felt natural—my upper body, arms and hands, which were clinging to the ski rope for dear life—and toward what felt quite awkward—my feet. I had watched many other beginning skiers go through the same routine. They’d get in the appropriate posture, signal they were ready, the boat engine with roar, thrusting the boat forward and yanking the ski rope out of the would-be athlete’s hands.

The boat would circle around and we’d go through the process all over again. Eventually, the skier would transfer the energy, rise up out of the water, briefly. They’d look like a catapult springing to fire but never releasing its payload. Just as the catapult would smash the unlaunched projectile straight into the ground, the sudden force of the boat engine would propel the skier face-first into the water.

It’d make my story better to tell you I went through the same thing. However, because I studied other newbie skiers from the time I was six, just waiting (and begging) for my chance to ski, I was determined to get up the first time. When my chance finally came, I leaned back against the natural flow of energy and refocused it into my feet. At first it was unbelievably awkward. It was far from natural. I didn’t know if it would rip my arms out of their sockets or simply drag me through the water.

After the few eternal seconds of awkward resistance, I came up out of the water and was soon gliding effortlessly along the surface.

Many B2B companies jump into the Twitter water right away. Though they may have watched a few other firms jump in, they probably haven’t seen too many succeed. They’ll try out Twitter just long enough to have the rope jerked out of their hands—maybe they’ll experience a Twitter storm of angry customers posting negative tweets or links to embarrassing content about the company. When they quit Twitter, they’ll say, “Twitter is a waste of time,” or “Twitter just doesn’t make sense for our company.”

Those that hang in there longer maintain their grip on the rope but begin to feel the unnatural energy of social media pulling them along. The natural energy for them has always flowed out from the marketing department into a mass market. That’s the way they’ve done things for generations. It’s the way the PhD professor in grad school told them (and still tells them, sadly) the world works. (Don’t believe me? Watch any political campaign, for example. Count the number of times a candidate says, “We just need to get our message out.”) Because the friction of the water is so intense, and the movement through the water feels so unnatural, many first time skiers and Twitter newbies purposefully let go before they reach the surface.

Successful skiers hold onto the rope and keep the tremendous energy of the boat engine focused on their feet—the leading edge of contact with the water. The resistance is intense and feels like it won’t go away. I remember feeling that if my arms did stay in their sockets, then my legs would probably snap in two. Eventually all the energy and forces of nature aligned and I enjoyed the exhilarating sensation of water skiing.

BtoB’s B2B Twitter Research Report suggests companies who hold on long enough, and stay focused on giving value to recipients, not only experience greater satisfaction with Twitter, they also get new customers and make money!

If you want to be successful with Twitter for business:

• put more into it
• stay with it longer
• focus on your audience and away from yourself.

If you do, you’ll:

• get more out of it
• enjoy it more
• be more successful.

It really is just that simple.

[The learning to ski story is adapted from my upcoming book Spitball Marketing: Using what you’ve got to get more of what you want.]

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About The B2Bblogger: Trey Pennington (@treypennington) uses technology, marketing, and stories to connect businesses with the people they seek to serve. With an educational background in marketing, including an undergraduate degree in marketing management and an MBA, combined with a masters in education, Trey understands the need for businesses to discover and develop their core story and to engage their marketplace in making the story their own.

His book, Spitball Marketing: Using What You’ve Got to Get More of What You Want is due out in 2010. You can read more from Trey now at his blog www.treypennington.com.

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image source: Ines Hegedus-Garcia Creative Commons

Craig Rosenberg, @thefunnelholic, in preparation for the Focus Virtual Summit on Mastering Lead Management, Tuesday, June 29th, asked Focus Expert speakers and sponsors to supply him with 4-6 tips on Lead Management for an article on his blog titled: Lead Management: 67 Tips From The Biggest Experts In The Field.

The list of experts included some of the most well respected people in the industry, (some I knew and others I didn’t), including David Raab, Raab Guide to Demand Generation Systems, Howard Sewell, Spear Marketing, Maria Pergolino, Marketo, Ardath Albee, Marketing Interactions, Carlos Hidalgo, Annuitas Group, Brian Solis, Future-works,  Mac McIntosh, Sales Lead Experts, Mike Damphousse, Green Leads, Anthony Carraturo, Merit Direct, Adam Needles, Silverpop, Mark Feldman, Netprospex, Craig Stouffer, Pinpointe On-Demand, and Parker Trewin, Genius.

I thought I would join in the fun and continue his list of 67 lead management tips with six more.

Six Lead Management Tips

68. Be extremely careful that your automated lead nurturing messages are for *someone* not *everyone* – (it’s not one size fits all – use your buyer personas and give your messages a personal tone).
69. Just because you are saving time with marketing automation, doesn’t mean the human beings you are sending the messages to can’t tell the messages are automated. Make your content helpful and useful or risk the dreaded unsubscribe and or even worse – a failed relationship.
70. Be sure your messages are timeless. Mistakes like this are dead giveaways that a machine emailed your content and not a person.
71. Don’t believe that your lead management process and marketing automation system will accelerate / hasten your buyers to move faster through the buying process. Only your remarkable content is capable of that.
72. Listen. Listen to your buyers, listen to your metrics, and listen to your sales team. Don’t forget the important role listening plays in improving processes, communications, and relationships.
73. Today’s B2B buyers are busy. Your marketing and products are not the center of their universe. Keep your messages concise, meaningful, and addressed at their needs not yours.

I urge you to read the first 67 lead management tips as the experts provide really good food for thought on lead management, marketing automation, and building relationships with today’s B2B buyers.

To close I’ll quote Craig,

The main thing is that lead management is absolutely essential to ROI-conscious marketing departments.  If you don’t have a lead management process, get one.  If you do have a lead management process, you should always be optimizing.

Visit Craig’s blog, The Funnelholic, (and read it regularly) to stay informed on B2B demand generation, lead management, and online media. He is a B2Bblogger shaping the future of B2B marketing and one that you should be paying attention to, I am.

What are your tips for lead management? Can we get to 100 tips? As B2B marketers, we can use all the lead management tips we can get, no?