Posts Tagged ‘Subscription’

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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What they want, when they want: the benefits of subscription-based media

Friday, August 28th, 2009

It seems like one of the biggest opportunities online marketers have is how to address the growing level of contrRSS iTunesol consumers have online. They not only have more potential destinations than ever before, but they’re also beginning to adopt technologies that bring the information they want right to their desktop, instead of going out to get it. It’s as if, after years of eating in restaurants, people have suddenly discovered delivery. ahahahaha!

Of course, every change in how people consume media is a new opportunity to meet their needs, and this is no different.  I thought that taking a look at two popular technologies would be worth a a deeper discussion, and I’ve chosen RSS and iTunes as two we’ve had success with at Juniper Networks. As always, help me complete the picture by sending ideas my way!

On the most basic level, what technologies like RSS and iTunes allow your customers to do is aggregate information. Using an RSS reader—one is provided free to Google users at reader.google.com, or you can visit CNET for a list of popular reader — or most broswer com equipped with one now —people can funnel specific content from their favorite Web sites right to one window, where they can then read it at their own pace. They can even direct content to their e-mail, mobile device, or iPod. I personally prefer sending it to my iPhone…yes, I’m an iPhone convert after years of Blackberry usage. Sorry? Not really, but another story…

So if your audience is getting particular about what they want to know, what’s the best response? Simple answer (you can virtually hit me here for stating the obvious) Provide particular information. Using RSS feeds, you can be incredibly specific about the kind of information you broadcast. A great example of a company taking full advantage of RSS technology is Oracle. Check out their list of feeds, and you’ll see what I mean. They have feeds directed at all enterprise roles, from developers to network architects.

At Juniper Networks, we have RSS feeds tailored for:

  • Service providers
  • The public sector
  • The enterprise

 We also have feeds addressing J-Net Community blog content and information geared toward different audiences including:

  • “The Network Ahead” blog caters to business decision makers like the C-Level audience
  • “Architecting the Network” blog provides a solution-level content for planners and architects
  • “Network Now” blog engages experts on a product and technology level

Obviously, no one is going to be interested in all of them, but that’s the point! The more specific each feed is, the more likely it is to be actionable to a specific member of your audience.

 iTunes, as you probably know from a personal perspective,  is another great way for people to subscribe to the information they want, but with a a great rich-media twist. Providing audio and video podcasts is  great opportunity to tailor your messages to the variety of ways your audience wants to consume it. I’ve already spoken about the value of rich media , so taking advantage of ways you can get that media to your audience is in everyone’s interest. You can see what kind of content Juniper is offering by searching for Juniper Networks in iTunes.

Monitoring and measuring your results

As I’m sure all you marketers would agree, one of the best parts about marketing is being able to watch people participate. And this is perhaps the most exciting thing about subscription-based media: once you begin to cater your messages to what kind of information people want, and how they want it, they really demonstrate their appreciation through signing up, sharing your information, rating, retweeting or commenting on your information, and even advocating for you. 

Among the areas you can track are:

  • Subscription rates
  • Read content
  • Click-through rates

In addition to this, adding RSS feeds to your Web site can increase Web traffic and awareness, enable partners, and improve the findability of your site (here’s a cute and creative article about findability).

At the end of the day, subscription-based media is simply one more way to get your message out. But in a time when people are interested in controlling the “what” and “when” of their media consumption, it’s an increasingly important element of any social media strategy.

Do you have an RSS or iTunes success story you’d like to share? I’m always on the lookout for bleeding edge examples. Please share :-)  

Suggested readings and Podcasts too:

  • Julie M. Katz, “What’s Holding RSS Back?” Forrester, October 20, 2008
  • Podcasts by Arbor Networks, the straight versions, AND their really cutting edge thriller series: Secure the Core … Season 1 and Season 2. Drama, Intrigue, Technology, BlackHat — Everything Security experts want in a podcast series. 

Did I mention I’m keen on comments and feedback?

 

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Posted in RSS & iTunes | 1 Comment »