Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Review: "Social Marketing to the Business Customer"

The last time I did a book review was probably in the 7th grade, so don't expect much from this effort.

"Social Marketing to the Business Customer" [1] is a timely book focused on how to use all the available social media - blogs, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn...to help with marketing you business. I say timely, because there certainly is a need for this. We've all seen way to many efforts by businesses [2] that fell flat. I also say timely as a pun, because given the rapid pace of change in social media, many parts of the book are already obsolete. Google+ for instance, has arrived on the scene. While in a sense this changes some of the technical details, in other ways, the overall message of the book doesn't. If you understand that message, incorporating Google+ and whatever else is yet to come will not be a problem.

As for what that overall message is, here are several themes that I found repeated over and over:
  • The website is king. Everything you are doing should be aimed at getting people to your website, regardless of how popular Twitter, Facebook, etc. are. The website is where you can completely control your message and where you can convert prospects to customers
  • Getting results will take lots of
    • time
    • energy, and
    • courage, yes courage
  • Nobody has this whole Web 2.0 figured out yet. It is one of the greatest open-ended experiments of all time, so you have to learn as you go, and at the same time, copy the success of others
  • You will fail if you are too "corporate"


The first point doesn't need much further comment, and it is one of those things that is rather obvious when you think about it. But with this frame of mind, you can then see that just setting up a Twitter feed with canned messages once a day isn't going to cut it. Why would anyone follow that? How does that drive anyone to your website or do business with you?

As for the second point, I know from experience with this blog that it takes a long time to build a following, and seeing the sitecounter show extremely small numbers forever-and-a-day is quite discouraging. Granted, polymers isn't as controversial a topic as politics, but still, there are hundreds of thousands of people around the world working with polymers, so the fact that I am only getting a 500 visitors a week shows that I still have a long way to go. The mention of "courage" is important, because you will see plenty of failures along the way, and you need to face up to it. You and your corporation also need courage because the legal department will be very leery of your efforts - the messages going out are not controlled, whitewashed and cleared by every committee available.

I can also expand on the last point, as that is a variation of what I just mentioned: if you let the legal/marketing communications/sales/... departments preapprove everything, you will come across as very "corporate" and fail. As is said in the book, people want to interact with a company, not a brand. One of my favorite examples is what that megacorporation, IBM, does with its employees and blogging - aggregates links to them on a corporate page. This clearly lets you see that the blogs are not the corporate message, but it also humanizes the corporation by letting you see the thoughts of individuals working there.

While the focus is on B2B, the same ideas can be applied to anyone wanting to drive visitors to their website, or in my case, this blog, which is basically my website.

[1] The book was provided to me courtesy of the Don Loepp of the PlasticsNews blog. Thanks, Don.

[2] Want proof? Look at what my employer attempted on Twitter.

62 comments:

SEO reseller said...

In the rapid web 2.0 developments, you need to keep up with the trends.

Anonymous said...

I received excellent information out of your website

John said...

SEO Reseller,

While the trends are important, the basics are changing slowly if at all. The aim is still to drive people to the website, and SEO this, that and the other thing will come and go over time.

Luca Chalmers said...

I think that the true benefit of social marketing comes when you regularly update your social media profiles and engage with your customers through social media. b2b marketing solutions

rithisaiaanand said...

Thanks, Admin for sharing such a useful post, I hope it’s useful to many individuals for developing their skill to get a good career. Excellent post!!!. The strategy you have posted on this technology helped me to get into the next level and had a lot of information in it.
Sql server dba online training

gowsalya said...

Thanks for posting this info. I just want to let you know that I just check out your site and I find it very interesting and informative. I can't wait to read lots of your posts
msbi online training

Kiruthiprabha said...

Nice post. By reading your blog, i get inspired and this provides some useful information. Thank you for posting this exclusive post for our vision..
Oracle DBA Online Training

Madhu Balan said...

This is an awesome post.Really very informative and creative contents. These concept is a good way to enhance the knowledge.I like it and help me to development very well.Thank you for this brief explanation and very nice information.Well, got a good knowledge.
Java Training in Chennai
Java Training in Coimbatore
Java Training in Bangalore

Riya Raj said...

Fantastic blog!!! Thanks for sharing with us, Waiting for your upcominga data.
Digital Marketing Course in Chennai
Digital Marketing Course
digital marketing training institute in chennai
Digital Marketing Training in Chennai
Digital marketing course in Velachery
Digital marketing course in Adyar
Python Training in Chennai
Software testing training in chennai
JAVA Training in Chennai

shwethapriya said...

Really informative blog for all people. Thanks for sharing it.
Spoken English Classes in Chennai
Spoken English Course in Chennai
german classes
Best IELTS Coaching in Chennai
learn Japanese in Chennai
TOEFL Coaching Centres in Chennai
Spoken English Classes in Anna Nagar
Spoken English Classes in Tnagar

Anbarasan14 said...

I liked your blog.Thanks for your interest in sharing your ideas.keep doing more.
Spoken English Class in Anna Nagar
Spoken English Class in Porur
Spoken English Class in T Nagar
Spoken English Class in Adyar
Spoken English Classes in Chennai
Best Spoken English Classes in Chennai
IELTS Coaching in Chennai
IELTS Coaching Centre in Chennai
English Speaking Classes in Mumbai
IELTS Classes in Mumbai

StupidBlogger said...

Social Marketing is good for business but in my opinion why seo matters for business are far more better than this because without SEO optimization social marketing won't give you that much profit in business.

Rahuldevan said...

Valuable one...thanks for sharing...
Html5 Training in Chennai
Best Html5 Course
Best Html5 Training
html5 training in Guindy
html5 training in Thiruvanmiyur
DOT NET Training in Chennai
core java training in chennai
Hibernate Training in Chennai
Mobile Testing Training in Chennai
SAS Training in Chennai

Reshma said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
silakarim said...


Excellent Post. I really admire after reading this blog.
ccna Training in Velachery
ccna Training in Tambaram
ccna Training in T Nagar
ccna Training in OMR
ccna Training in Porur
ccna Training in Vadapalani
ccna Training in Adyar
ccna Training in Thiruvanmiyur
ccna Training in Anna nagar

lokeshivam said...


Well written Blog, I really enjoy reading your blog. this info will be helpful for me. Thanks for sharing.
Data Science Course in Chennai
Data Science Classes in Chennai
Data Science Training in Chennai
Machine Learning Training in Chennai
Blue Prism Training in Chennai
UiPath Training in Chennai
Automation Anywhere Training in Chennai
Data Science Training in Anna Nagar
Data Science Training in T Nagar
Data Science Training in OMR

Pooja Patel said...

Wonderful Blog!!! Waiting for your upcoming data... thanks for sharing with us.
Software Testing Training in Chennai
software testing course in chennai
software testing course
best software testing training institute in chennai with placement
Software testing training in OMR
Software testing training in Annanagar
Big data training in chennai
JAVA Training in Chennai
Selenium Training in Chennai
JAVA Training in Chennai

Adhuntt said...

Great blog thanks for sharing Searching for a SEO company in Chennai that can bring your brand to the top results page on Google? Look no further - Adhuntt Media, with their team of SEO experts, can make it happen that too for the best value.
digital marketing company in chennai
seo service in chennai
web designing company in chennai
social media marketing company in chennai

Karuna said...

Nice blog thanks for sharing Out of creative ways to set up a vegetable garden? Karuna Nursery is run by the best gardeners in chennai who are ready to offer you with amazing terrace vegetable garden ideas. Visit us right now to learn more and enjoy the experience.
plant nursery in chennai
rental plants in chennai
corporate gardening service in chennai

Training for IT and Software Courses said...

Wow it is really wonderful and awesome thus it is veWow, it is really wonderful and awesome thus it is very much useful for me to understand many concepts and helped me a lot.

best sap oracle cloud training

best sap oracle cloud education & cerification support

best sap oracle cloud training cost

best sap oracle cloud careers

best sap oracle cloud erp education

best sap oracle cloud courses

best sap oracle cloud training institute

best sap oracle cloud course in bangalore marathahalli

btm layout india

david martin said...

Best Human Finance Assignment Help available for students across AU, USA, UK. We providing top quality Human Resource Finance Assignment 100 % Trusted & Secure, On-time Delivery And Affordable Price.

Finance Assignment Help

Navin Prakash said...

Thanks for sharing a piece of valuable information.
Corporate Training in Chennai
Corporate Training
Power BI Training in Chennai
Unix Training in Chennai
Appium Training in Chennai
Oracle Training in Chennai
Advanced Excel Training in Chennai
Linux Training in Chennai
Pega Training in Chennai
Oracle DBA Training in Chennai
Tableau Training in Chennai
Corporate Training in T Nagar

Jayalakshmi said...

keep up the good work. this is an Assam post. this to helpful, i have reading here all post. i am impressed. thank you. thi

Dot Net Training in Chennai | Dot Net Training in anna nagar | Dot Net Training in omr | Dot Net Training in porur | Dot Net Training in tambaram | Dot Net Training in velachery




bill.wood said...

gives one the ability to predict with a very high accuracy or learn and adapt from a newfound instance. machine learning institute in hyderabad

surya said...

Hi, Great article.. Had a wonderful time while reading your article. Thanks admin.
Angular JS Training in Chennai | Certification | Online Training Course | Angular JS Training in Bangalore | Certification | Online Training Course | Angular JS Training in Hyderabad | Certification | Online Training Course | Angular JS Training in Coimbatore | Certification | Online Training Course | Angular JS Training | Certification | Angular JS Online Training Course

deiva said...

Well written Blog, I really enjoy reading your blog. this info will be helpful for me. Thanks for sharing...
java training in chennai

java training in omr

aws training in chennai

aws training in omr

python training in chennai

python training in omr

selenium training in chennai

selenium training in omr

sudhan said...

Awesome blog. I enjoyed reading your articles. This is truly a great read for me. I have bookmarked it and I am looking forward to reading new articles. Keep up the good work!
Cyber Security Training Course in Chennai | Certification | Cyber Security Online Training Course | Ethical Hacking Training Course in Chennai | Certification | Ethical Hacking Online Training Course | CCNA Training Course in Chennai | Certification | CCNA Online Training Course | RPA Robotic Process Automation Training Course in Chennai | Certification | RPA Training Course Chennai | SEO Training in Chennai | Certification | SEO Online Training Course

Jayalakshmi said...

I really enjoy simply reading all of your weblogs. Simply wanted to inform you that you have people like me who appreciate your work.
oracle training in chennai

oracle training in tambaram

oracle dba training in chennai

oracle dba training in tambaram

ccna training in chennai

ccna training in tambaram

seo training in chennai

seo training in tambaram

jeni said...

.Irrespective of rankings, this will help in huge traffic generation, on your website, over time and, in turn,will steadily increase the number of potential customers for your products and services.
web designing training in chennai

web designing training in velachery

digital marketing training in chennai

digital marketing training in velachery

rpa training in chennai

rpa training in velachery

tally training in chennai

tally training in velachery


jeni said...

.Irrespective of rankings, this will help in huge traffic generation, on your website, over time and, in turn,will steadily increase the number of potential customers for your products and services.
web designing training in chennai

web designing training in velachery

digital marketing training in chennai

digital marketing training in velachery

rpa training in chennai

rpa training in velachery

tally training in chennai

tally training in velachery


shiny said...

Thanks for posting this info. I just want to let you know that I just check out your site and I find it very interesting and informative.

hardware and networking training in chennai

hardware and networking training in annanagar

xamarin training in chennai

xamarin training in annanagar

ios training in chennai

ios training in annanagar

iot training in chennai

iot training in annanagar

Real Casino Online said...

I have read your blog and I gathered some needful information from your blog. Keep update your blog. Waiting for your next update. For more information visit this site: poker play for free

slotocash reviews said...

I’m working to cover some of certain gambling dice games and casino dice games list .The next moment you walk into a casino and easy dice gambling games
, you’ll have a greater understanding of these exciting games.

Jenifer Perez said...

What a great and informative blog…nice admin… your blog is very informative and fress in this complicated syllabus…great job… If you have any information about Online Dating scams and Frauds then contact us, We will publish your information on our website and helps people from those types of Frauds. For more information visit: Anastasia Date Review

Alex Peter said...

Nice Content!
I like this content very much. I need this content for the Dating niche. For more information visit this site: chinalove

jasmine wilson said...

Thank you very much for the information which you provide in your post. I have read your post. you provide great information for beginners. For more information visit: meetme.com reviews

Unknown said...

Thank you very much for the information which you provide in your post. I have read your post. you provide great information for beginners.For more information visit this site: best t-shirts for men

LoanFastTrack said...

I have read your blog and I gathered some needful information from your blog. Keep update your blog. Waiting for your next update. For more information visit this site:
Buy Berner Cookies Online

lavanya said...

Thank you very much for the information which you provide in your post. I have read your post. you provide great information for beginners.For more information visit this site.
salesforce training in chennai

software testing training in chennai

robotic process automation rpa training in chennai

blockchain training in chennai

devops training in chennai

Pathway for German Language said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
American Bully Puppies said...

American bully puppies for sale near me

Riya said...

Wonderful Post!!! Thanks for sharing this great blog with us.
Informatica Cloud Training
SAP Hybris Training
AWS‌ ‌Data‌ ‌Engineering‌ Training

Real Casino Online said...

I have read your blog and I gathered some needful information from your blog. Keep update your blog. Waiting for your next update. For more information visit this site: foxy casino review

Dating Review Online said...


Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I truly appreciate your efforts and I will be waiting for your further write ups thank you once again. casino of dreams login

Unknown said...

Mcafee Activation - McAfee has been very popular since its inception with the launch of the first product. Each McAfee role is perfect for an individual or an organization. To learn more about different plans and editions, go to your account or create one via www.mcafee.com/activate and follow the process below.


mcafee activation

www.mcafee.com/activate

mcafee activation

sarah johnson said...


Use your Microsoft account through office.com/setup for everything you want to with Microsoft 365. Create an account or use the account of services such as OneDrive, Skype, Outlook, or Xbox Live. Use the site microsoft365 com setup to download and install microsoft365.com/setup that will allow you to use multiple apps like Word, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, or more.

microsoft365.com/setup
office.com/setup

Tamil novels said...

Thanks for sharing this valuable information.
Tamil novels pdf download
Ramanichandran novels PDF
srikala novels PDF
Mallika manivannan novels PDF
muthulakshmi raghavan novels PDF
Infaa Alocious Novels PDF
N Seethalakshmi Novels PDF
Sashi Murali Tamil Novels PDF

Unknown said...

A Quick Guide to Canon Printer SetupMake sure your printer hardware is configured.
On your PC browser, go to cannon.com/ijsetup
Click Set Up.
Using your Canon IJ printer model, the download printer software.
Double click to install it.
Connect a network to your printer and PC.
Finish the Canon IJ printer setup.
HP LaserJet Printer Setup
Configure your HP Printer hardware.
Visit 123.hp.com/leserjet t from the browser.
Using your LaserJet model name, download software.
Double click to start the installation.
Connect the printer via wireless network or USB.
Add the LaserJet printer to your system devices.
Finish the HP LaserJet setup.

Dating Review Online said...

Nice Content!
I have read your blog and I gathered some needful information from your blog. Keep update your blog. Waiting for your next update. For more information visit this site: Casino of Dreams Login

john nicholas said...

Canon Printers are popular for their best quality and how to connect canon pixma printer to wifi, high arrangement functionalities, and top high-quality printing. canon has likewise presented Wi-Fi availability in its printers. To know the response to How to interface Canon Pixma printer to WiFi, then, at that point, this aide may help you in some ways.

casinositezone.com said...

Hi, this weekend is fastidious designed for me, since this
occasion i am reading this impressive educational piece
of writing here at my home 스포츠토토분석

SEO Vendor said...

Great book indeed! Tons of valuable information.

dipanshu sharma said...

Nice blog post so thanks a lot for sharing this great blog post.. keep more post for sharing.. have a nice day.
Apply for Super Visa Canada

salome said...

interesting post.keep up the good work. Python training in Chennai

naina k said...


Thanks for sharing valuable information....

tips to lose facial fat

Anonymous said...

Interesting blog post! I would love to hear another interesting post soon.

SEO Vendor

Viswa said...

Nice Blog. I would like to hear another interesting post soon.

Azure Training in Chennai
Microsoft Azure Online Training

Anonymous said...

great blog , keep posting best information Salesforce Training In Pune

Best It Training Provider

admin said...

Nice blog, Also visit my website... Basai darapur metro station

iteducationcentre said...

This post contains excellent and valuable content.
CCNA course in Pune

arthor said...

Kudos for curating an exceptional blog. Your knack for transforming mundane topics into captivating reads is impressive.New York Divorce Maintenance Calculator

Sarkari result said...

Best education portal is Sarkar result