Posts Tagged ‘Content’

Can widgets work for the B2B enterprise?

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
Widgets

Widgets

I know most B2B marketers are paying close attention to new social media trends and technologies. Many of these are easily and obviously useful. Others, however, while practical for personal use, can at first seem less so for the enterprise. I saw this when speaking with JUNOS Jeff about Twitter as I was writing that post, and I also see it in the slow adoption of widgets (gadgets for Mac users) by B2B marketers.

Widgets can be thought of as essentially either RSS feeds of information that use a graphical interface to update users, or mini applications. They’re incredibly versatile and can be put on a desktop, downloaded for use on a Web site or blog, or even added to a mobile device—anywhere a user wants easy access to whatever regularly updated content the widget offers.

So let’s get right to the heart of the matter: how can widgets be used effectively by the enterprise?

First of all, as with subscription-based media, content is king. A widget has to provide information that your customers, potential or existing, will actually want. But what? Some successful B2B widgets that I’ve seen include:

  • A widget that takes polls for your sites (e.g., using Poll Daddy ) to find out what people think about a particular topic, then shares the results with other users of the widget
  • Widgets created to provide product updates and release information
  • On a purely marketing side, widgets used to promote a sweepstakes or contest
  • Here’s a helpful list of 10 interesting productivity widgets—some geared toward B2B

Not only can widgets such as these be distributed via social media technologies such as your branded, corporate support network, your Facebook page, or your blog, but there are a multitude of third-party sites like gigya that can also be used to distribute your widget—and your brand.

In the blogosphere, WordPress (based on personal experience with this blog) has widgets for “accessorizing” a blog, including bookmarking, top commentator identification, Pandora online radio, IM status checking, and more. Using widgets like these can enhance the stickiness of a blog, even if the information provided isn’t trained on that blog’s particular subject.

I’m in the process of looking into what widgets have worked best for B2B companies. Does your company currently use them? Do you have any insights to share on the matter? I’m particularly interested in whether any of you have seen good widgets for internal communities. Is this a good idea we should consider for J-Net Community?

Some sites that let you create your own widgets:
http://www.widgetbox.com/

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To tweet or not to tweet? Some best practices for B2B Twittering.

Monday, September 14th, 2009
Tweet Or Not Tweet

Tweet Or Not Tweet

Think Twitter’s a passing fad? Or maybe that it’s just for kids of consumer marketing? So did one of our Marketing Managers, Jeff Mattan. But Jeff has gone from skeptic to enthusiast in under 60 days. (Don’t just take my word for it. Go see him in action @JUNOSJeff) 

Along the way, he’s learned some interesting things about the value of Twitter to the B2B enterprise, what works and what doesn’t, and how to tweak your tweets to maximize exposure, earn devoted followers, and drive traffic to other social media sites like Facebook , the JUNOS board on J-Net Community, YouTube, or other juniper.net/JUNOS pages.

Before we get into those suggestions, I feel like we should address, in the simplest terms possible, the basic question that B2B corporations face regarding Twitter: Why should we use it? Here’s a short list of the ways Twitter is being used:

B2B Twitter uses

  • Update customers on special offers, product releases, etc., to drive sales.
  • Offer an alternative customer support option.
  • React to customer feedback.
  • Offer an alternative subscription method for updates.
  • Relate and promote company news.
  • Promote updates to the company blog or other social media — new YouTube videos, Facebook posts, etc.
  • Use it as a conversational tool for gathering market intelligence.
  • Give a personality to corporate communication.

Do you know of any uses I haven’t mentioned? I’d love to hear them. The uses for Twitter are growing almost as rapidly as its users, so I won’t be surprised if there are a few I haven’t written down. But the list above should give you an idea of how powerful the media has the potential to be. Keep reading for my view on best practices.

So let’s say you want to give it a try. How should you begin? With the support of many different conversations I came up with the following seven guidelines for using Twitter:

  1. Listen to what they’re saying about you. Spend some time on Twitter listening to customers, partners, and competitors and searching for mentions of your brand. Then tailor your approach and messaging to the perceived issues and needs.
  2. Define your objectives. According to Forrester, “Twitter is simple and flexible; we’ve seen companies use it to gather research information, to spread marketing messages, to sell, to provide support, or even to collaborate with customers on product features. The key is to pick one of these objectives and concentrate on it.” When you come across a Twitter account called Oracle Certification  you know exactly what you’re getting. The result is an audience with satisfied expectations.
  3. Find your advocates. Remember that because on Twitter people choose to follow you, there will be a high concentration of your advocates, early adopters, and influencers among them. This can shape the kind of content you’re broadcasting and also what you listen for when receiving feedback.
  4. Identify yourself. (Then be yourself.) People want to know who they’re listening to — before they decide to listen. It’s important for everyone who uses Twitter to make it clear who they are and what their role is at your company. With that in the open, they should be encouraged to be themselves and to be friendly and personal, so whoever is following the user feels like they’re being spoken to by a real person, not simply a mouthpiece. “You can be all business,” Jeff told me, “but you need to put personal stuff in there, and show you’re a human being.”
  5. Provide clear guidelines. Whoever is tasked with using Twitter consistently — whether that’s individuals or teams, and especially if it’s a rotating responsibility — there should be guidelines in place for how it’s being used, how content is formatted, and what sort of content is allowed.
  6. Always add value. Remember who is listening, and why, and be considerate of their time and attention. When you say something, make sure it’s adding value to the discussion or to the audience’s relationship to the account holder.   …… “There are many ‘experts’ on Twitter, and they send hundreds of updates a day,” Jeff explained to me. “That to me is overkill and kind of says, ‘Nothing is important, so I’ll just send everything,’ even though they think it is important at the time.”Jeff is actively working on getting people from the Juniper Networks development teams involved, because he’s found that his followers really want to get their perspective on technology issues. It’s this kind of dialogue that can enrich a corporation’s understanding of its potential market.
  7. Monitor mentions of your brand. The reputation of your company can be affected at any time, day or night. Fortunately, media such as Twitter help you participate in the process. By monitoring and tracking who is mentioning your brand and what they’re saying, you can react and respond in real time, 24/7, wherever you are.

As always, I encourage you to check out Juniper Networks’ Twitter feeds, and let me know how well we’re doing eating our own dog food. We’ve got a few accounts going in addition to Jeff’s, so depending on what kind of information you’re interested in, you can sign up for one or more. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, let me know!

Suggested reading:

  • Diane Clarkson, “How Twitter Can Influence eBusiness,” Forrester, May 14, 2009
  • Jeremiah Owyang, “Using Twitter for Groundswell Objectives,” March 3, 2009

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Posted in Twitter | 3 Comments »

Fast, friendly and fun: What rich media brings to B2B marketing

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
There isn’t a person in marketing who doesn’t like working in rich media. Flash micro-sites, video, interactive demos, “viral” clips (don’t
Juniper Rich Media

Juniper Rich Media

get me started: perhaps this subject deserves its own post in the future as I truly think that term is grossly misused). It’s just plain exciting, and there’s no question that increased bandwidth (subtle Juniper plug) and processor speeds are making rich media options a reality for the business that wants to really stand out.

This is all well and good if you’re a consumer brand, but I think a lot of B2B execs out there find themselves asking — especially in this rough economic climate — “What’s the business value?”

Rich media provides a host of opportunities for the enterprise, but I think a good case can be made even if I focus on the top two: efficiency and personality. Put simply, rich media makes your message 1) personal, and 2) easy to convey.

Whether you’re trying to extend a marketing message into the sales process, or letting satisfied customers speak for themselves, rich media pieces done properly get right to the point, and drive it home with engaging entertainment. Add to these reasons that it can also be easily and successfully integrated into your social media, driving traffic toward your corporate site, or creating its own audience through RSS subscriptions or podcasts, or integrating it contextually within your Web site.

So what are your options? Let’s take a look. And please, by all means, share your top candidates too. I’ll take a look at your suggestions for an update down the road, because this topic is not going away, what with YouTube having the third-highest traffic according to Alexa. http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/youtube.com

The first thing you learn when investigating rich media is that the options are plenty. This might seem daunting at first, but it’s actually good news, because by choosing from the various approaches, types of media, and distribution channels, it’s possible to put together just the right vehicle, at just the right budget, to meet your business needs.

The first thing to ask: What do you want to do with it? A short list of common uses for rich media are 1) sales tool, 2) product or solution demonstration, 3) customer testimonial, 4) introduction of new or relevant faces in your company or industry. Let’s go through these and explore media types and distribution along the way.

1) Rich media as a sales tool

A short video that introduces your product or solution suite, business benefits, or technology capabilities, can enhance — or even be — the first touch in a sales cycle. This can save time (and money!) for your sales team, while maintaining the personal dimension a simple e-mail would lack. High-quality video, like that linking from this Siemens home page, is great for this purpose, because it’s important to wow them at this stage. In addition to it running on the corporate site, they can either attach it to an e-mail, send a link to a version of it you’re hosting, or show it on a laptop in the first meeting. It even makes a perfect leave-behind, since it can be sold up the food chain if needed.

2) Rich media for demos

Nothing can illustrate complicated or conceptual subjects more effectively than Flash. Flash demos can incorporate short video segments, voice-over narration, text, and animation into an interactive tool that can quickly and seamlessly guide a user through benefits and feature sets, then move the viewer directly to a prominent CTA. These demos, like those for Juniper’s data center solutions, can be embedded into the corporate site where appropriate, be sent to prospective customers on DVD, or even live in their own YouTube channel, where you can collect valuable feedback on their effectiveness from the public comments.

3) Rich media testimonials (partners and customers)

According to Forrester Research, “satisfied customers are a B2B marketer’s biggest asset.” And what better way could there be to get the message across while avoiding reference burnout than filming a brief testimonial for your extended use?

4) Rich media and corporate spokespersons

Putting a face on your organization can strengthen the associations clients and prospects have with your brand. By getting executives before a camera, you can show thought-leadership and create a personal appeal simultaneously. A company that’s doing this really well right now is Sun Microsystems. Their YouTube page reveals a host of videos on a variety of topics, but one of the most intriguing series is CEO and President Jonathan Schwartz’s video blog episodes. He provides a friendly and candid view on the company’s future, while giving insight into its culture simply through his plainspoken manner. It helps that he’s calm and casual on film, of course, but the idea stands. I’d recommend subscribing to their channel, so it will notify you each time a new video is posted.

Rich media distribution

I’ve noted some examples of distribution above, but it’s important to remember that you don’t have to stick to just one. The great thing about any piece of rich media is that once it’s hosted, you can link or place to as many channels as makes sense, as well as broadcast using social media such as YouTube, share it on Facebook, and even utilize subscription-based media like RSS and iTunes. By podcasting Juniper videos, for instance, we’re expanding the options for time and location our viewers have to learn about our company and solutions. A user can simply subscribe to our podcast, and the content is automatically updated in their iTunes, iPod, or iPhone for convenient reference anytime.

Obviously, it’s a rich subject (ha ha ha on the pun), and with exciting new directions like Hulu.com being explored all the time, there’s plenty more to say. But one thing is certainly clear: rich media is in high demand, and as the astounding popularity of YouTube makes plain, that demand is only growing. Offering a rich media experience can go a long way toward creating enthusiasm in prospective customers.

Suggested reading:
Laura Ramos, “Tell Your B2B Marketing Story with Online Video,” Forrester, January 26, 2009
Bobby Tulsiani, “Five Rules to Drive Video Traffic,” Forrester, March 26, 2009

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Posted in Rich Media | 2 Comments »