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A 10-step social media guide for B2B marketers

November 18, 2009 | Internet Marketing

There's no escaping it, marketers: Amid a flurry of headlines, bestsellers, and reports documenting social media's meteoric rise to the mainstream... the future has arrived. Here is a 10-step guide to embrace it.

1. Determine program goals: Though it’s a brand new era, the place to begin is with the age-old exercise of goal-setting: Will you be working to generate new leads and sales, increase awareness of your offerings, decrease marketing spend as compared to traditional media, ensure the relevance of your company, decrease purchasing cycles, extend the reach of your market footprint… or achieve other goals?

Remember, you’ll be investing time, budget, and resources into your social media programs, so the first step is to determine exactly what you’re seeking to achieve in return.

2. Conduct three-point research: A well-planned initiative always involves research at the outset, and with social media there are three key types of research that you’ll need to conduct—customer, competitive, and community:

- To ensure that your programs deliver a high level of value, identify your customers’ business needs, challenges, and technology preferences.
- To differentiate yourself from your competitors, understand which programs, tools, and content your they are (and are not) employing.
- Learn which online professional communities - and influencers - are relevant to your business sector so that you can start building relationships with them.

Get the full story at MarketingProfs.com

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