Contemplating a business-to-business (B2B) social media marketing program at your organization? According to Dave Evans, Author of Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day, consider these three areas as the starting point:

1. Go where your customers are online. Find out where they are and participate in a transparent manner. No soft-sell, no hard-sell, in fact no selling at all. Just get involved, share and contribute.
2. Don’t try to control the conversation. Instead, understand, participate and share. You can share your viewpoints, but you have to respect others’ as well. The social mass is a smart group, so just bring and share your knowledge. The mass will appreciate it.
3. Leave the institutional voice behind. No marketing spiels, no business promotion, no company speak. Just get involved with the facts, good viewpoints, and be yourself.

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Post from: Marketing Autopsy Blog
© 2009 Marketing Autopsy Blog.

Three Things to Do to Start a Social Media Marketing Program at Your Company

So you have 3 choices: reduce, maintain or increase your marketing in this recession. Obviously the answer lies in the budget that is available for your operation. But more importantly, and independently of the budget, your marketing program needs to be a lot smarter than what it used to be. This means doing more with less, working smarter and harder (not smarter than harder,) focussing on your strengths and putting aside nice-to-have stuff.

Considering that people still need to purchase products and services in order to live their lives, regardless of market condition, here are some typical market-in-decline realities that may help shape your new marketing strategies:

• Consumers are still buying, though they may be searching harder and longer for cheaper alternatives or products.
• Used product sales are on the rise, including pre-owned cars. It’s all about getting the best deal for a given amount of money paid, and cars with 1-3 years of age are the best bargains.
• Sales at goodwill industries are booming. These have their own industries because the markets are big. There are quality items to be found, and smart consumers know this and want to take advantage of it.
• Comfort foods are selling. While consumers do cut back on eating out at high-end establishments, they still look for cheaper ways to enjoy a meal once in a while. Home-cooked style and no-frills eateries with great value and fulfilling foods are the best.
• Do-it-yourself is now the superstar. Homeowners come to the realization that the roofs over their heads are still the best thing they own, so it make total sense to spend what little they have to spend on this large investment. And do-it-yourself (DYI) is where you get the best bang for the buck.
• DIY fitness is more popular. Recreation is another area where people as a creature cannot do without. And fitness is one of the most fun and best value people can do with the least amount of money spent. Expect products like running shoes, bicycle helmets, etc. to take a leap in sales.

Of course these are not meant to be a complete list. Rather they are illustrative of the type of market conditions and consumer behaviors you need to understand right now to help redirect your marketing strategies. The real question is not about whether or not you should scale back or step up your marketing effort. The real question is how do you implement effective marketing campaigns that put your best strengths forward to address the current new market demands.

Here are 3 practical things you can do right now:

1. Analyze your offerings and focus on your key products and core customers. Place heavy emphasis on your key products that are relevant to core customers. Nothing else matters.
2. Acquire insights from experienced colleagues and take advantage of the experience of those who have survived through previous recessions. This alone is one of the most overlooked affordable secret weapons that you can find.
3. Just as important, know where to make cuts (if you must) and where not to make cuts. Smaller budgets are a reality. It’s how you prioritize your marketing activities that will determine how you will recover when the market picks up again.

With a sharply focussed marketing strategy, it doesn’t matter if you scale back or step up your efforts. What matters is you understand your new market forces and meet its demands with the lowest cost and most effective tools you can find.

Post from: Marketing Autopsy Blog
© 2009 Marketing Autopsy Blog.

Scaling Back or Stepping Up Marketing in a Recession? Maybe It’s the Wrong Question