powerful b2b marketing strategies to drive awareness fusion

8/21/2019 Powerful B2B Marketing Strategies to Drive Awareness Fusion

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C-Level Guide to Growing

Awareness, Leads and Revenue

Part 1:

Powerful B2B Marketing Strategies to

Drive Awareness

By Christopher Ryan

Copyright 2011 Christopher Ryan

Published by Fusion Marketing Press, Colorado Springs, CO.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in anyform, for any reason or by any means, whether re-drawn, enlarged orotherwise altered including mechanical, photo-copy, digital storage, retrievalor otherwise, without the prior permission in writing from both the copyrightowner and publisher. The text, layout and designs presented in this book, as well as the book in its entirely, are protected by the copyright laws of theUnited States (17 U.S.C. 101 est seq.) and similar laws in other countries.Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to FMP Press,1915 Jamboree Drive, Suite 125, Colorado Springs, CO 80920, 1-719-357-6280,or via email at [email protected].

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and authorhave used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make norepresentations or warranties with respect to the accuracy to completeness ofthe contents of this book specifically disclaim any implied warranties ofmerchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may becreated or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. Theadvice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation.Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or anyother commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental,consequential, or other damages.

For general information on other products and services, please contact us at719-357-6280, or via email at [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION .....................................................................4

CHAPTER 1 Why a Great Brand Promise is a Critical Factorin Your B2B Marketing Success……………………..………………..…6

CHAPTER 2 What’s the Big Idea? Taking the Time to Craft Your Brand Promise………………………………………………………….9

CHAPTER 3 Why Your Brand Promise Must Be Specific.....11

CHAPTER 4 PUSH Marketing vs. PULL Marketing: WhichShould You Pursue?..................................................................13

CHAPTER 5 Are You a RAM or PEACOCK Marketer?.......16

CHAPTER 6 A Word (or Several) is Worth a ThousandPictures………………………………………………………………………….18

CHAPTER 7 How to Use Social Media to Build Awareness:Pace Yourself!………………………..………..……………………………..20

CHAPTER 8 Blogging – Your FIRST Tool for B2B SocialMedia Success………………………………………………………………...22

CHAPTER 9 LinkedIn – Your SECOND Tool for B2B SocialMedia Success…………………………………………………………………25

CHAPTER 10 Twitter - Your THIRD Tool for B2B SocialMedia Success………………………………………………………………..28

CHAPTER 11 Five Rules for B2B Public RelationsSuccess……………………………………………………………………..……31

CHAPTER 12 Outside-the-Box B2B PR Strategies…………..33

CHAPTER 13 How to Expand Your Circle of MarketingInfluence………………………………………………………………………..36

About Fusion Marketing Partners and ChristopherRyan........................................................................................39


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INTRODUCTION

"Because its purpose is to create a customer, the

business enterprise has two—and only these

two—basic functions: marketing and

innovation."

-Peter Drucker

Welcome to the first of our three-part series on how togenerate awareness, leads and revenue. In 13 shortchapters, I will provide you with some overall concepts,plus specific and actionable strategies and tactics that aredesigned to help you generate much more attention andinterest for your organization.

Although this book (and the other two in the series) has been designed from the perspective of a business-to-

business (B2B) company, many of the principles applyequally well to business-to-consumer (B2C) companiesand nonprofits.

When we talk to potential Fusion MarketingPartners clients, they often express the desire(desperation!) for more leads and more revenue. Whatthey don’t realize is that marketing and sales is acontinuum, and it starts with awareness. Business

decision-makers are much more likely to buy from acompany they are already familiar with, particularly ifthat company is known to be very good at what thepurchaser happens to need at the moment.

This is the essence of the pull marketing strategy we will be talking about in all three books in the series. First — making the maximum number of potential buyers awareof your unique and defensible brand promise (building

awareness). Second — converting that awareness intopermission-based responses (generating leads). Third —


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nurturing these leads and turning as many as possibleinto customers (driving revenue).

The good news is that prospects who are already aware of you are much more likely to buy quickly and with lessprice sensitivity than those who are unaware. How can

you argue with shorter sales cycles, higher close rates andgreater profit margins? This is what you can get when

you put emphasis on building awareness.

Enjoy the read and the great results it will bring you. Youcan find more information at our website,

www.fusionmarketingpartners. Also, please get in touch with us directly if we can help you in any way:[email protected].

All the best,

Christopher Ryan

Fusion Marketing Partners

http://www.fusionmarketingpartners/http://www.fusionmarketingpartners/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.fusionmarketingpartners/


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CHAPTER 1

Why a Great Brand Promise is a Critical Factor in Your B2B Marketing Success

With so much noise out there, I find it’s often beneficialto define the fundamentals with no room forequivocation. Clear thinking often leads to clear results.

If we can’t agree what a brand or a brand promise is, howcan we possibly make it the basis for effective action?

Some people take it for granted that everybody in theroom knows what you mean when you start throwing the

word ―brand‖ around. (It’s a widely abused term!) Beingthat it’s the core of a communication and marketingstrategy, I begin our talk with these definitions:

Brand Position: the place your company occupies in aprospect’s or customer’s mind when he or she thinksabout you.

Brand Promise: what you promise to deliver to yourcustomers when they do business with you.

Your job is to make your brand position and brand

promise the same thing. In case you ever underestimatehow important this is, here are seven things a strong brand promise can accomplish:

1. Explains what you do

2. Articulates the primary customer benefit

3. Establishes credibility

4. Creates an emotional connection


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5. Arouses curiosity

6. Motivates action

7. Guarantees your place in heaven (just kidding onthis one)

Following are some examples of what I consider weakand strong brand promises. First the weak:

Lockheed Martin: We never forget who we are working for.

UPS: What can Brown do for you?

Ernst & Young: Quality in everything we do

Microsoft: Life without walls

Exxon: We’re Exxon (Really!)

FileMaker Software: What’s Your Problem?

These companies are so large and well-known they canget away with substandard branding. But most of usdon’t have this luxury. We have to create a valueproposition that gives us competitive advantage.

Now let’s look at some companies who (in my opinion)have very strong and enduring branding promises.

Reebok: No matter what the situation, Reebokhas the sneakers, apparel and gear to fit yourneeds.

GE: We bring good things to life.

Campbell’s Soup: Nourishing people’s liveseverywhere, every day.


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FedEx: When it absolutely, positively has to bethere overnight.

Home Depot: You can do it, we can help

O'Douls: What beer drinkers drink when they'renot drinking beer.

BMW: The ultimate driving machine.

I’m sure you can come up with your own list of good andnot-so-good brand statements. But regardless of what

other companies do, the most important thing you can dofor your organization is to make sure you have acompelling and differentiated brand. If you accomplishthis, you will be more successful at all of the othermarketing and sales strategies discussed in this book.

The first step is to develop the Big Idea for your companythat will set you apart in the mind of your prospects. I’ll

discuss the Big Idea, and why it’s important, in the nextchapter.


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CHAPTER 2

What’s the Big Idea? Taking the Time toCraft Your Brand Promise

Lee Iacocca once said, "When the product is right, youdon't have to be a great marketer." While I agree withmost of the things he said, I think Mr. Iacocca got this

one wrong. In reality, even a great product or service hasto be marketed properly to succeed. And it is much easierto do a good job of marketing if you have a Big Idea. Bythis I mean a true competitive differentiation — the

value-add extra that makes what you offer resoundinglyunique and clearly better than your competitors.

If you are going to create a powerful marketing and salesengine, then you must absolutely have a compelling

brand promise. This is one of the most misunderstood,unappreciated, and neglected parts of the marketingprocess. I think that advertising visionary David Ogilvy

was right when he stated that positioning (―positioning‖ was his term for creating the brand promise) is the mostimportant decision made in promoting a service orproduct. He was also on target when he said thatsuccessful positioning has more impact on the results of

a promotion than how an advertisement was designedand written.

This is why I urge our clients to devote plenty of time tocrafting their brand promise before starting any newcampaigns. Defining your brand promise erects theguidepost against which you can track all of your tacticalactivities. If your activities don’t faithfully reflect yourcore promise, then you know you’ve gone off -track.

The brand promise is what you promise people they willreceive when they do business with you. And asmentioned in the previous chapter, brand position is


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defined as "the manner in which an organization and theproducts or services it provides are perceived byprospects and customers." While people tend to use the

terms interchangeably, there is a big difference. While you control your own brand promise, it is themarketplace that controls your position. Of course, if

your brand promise is based on what truly differentiates your company, it is much easier to align the brandpromise and marketplace position.

Every organization, as well as each product or service,has its own unique brand promise and position. A

company can occupy different positions among differenttarget audience segments. And people can have their ownunique positions (Iacocca and Ogilvy are good examples),often built and reinforced through social media. Whilethere are some pitfalls to avoid, companies can gainmajor benefits from properly positioning their keyexecutives.

Since it is hard to be all things to all people, I stronglysuggest that you ditch the ―me-too‖ approach — enteringthe market echoing the same value propositions as yourcompetitors — and focus on a Big Idea. The best way tothink about this is to consider how you would answer if aprospect asked you the question: ―What’s the big ideaabout your company?‖ Answering this questionsuccinctly is, in essence, your brand promise. Of course,prospects ask themselves this question every time they

consider your offer. And the reason many of them don’t buy from you is they don’t think your offer is a Big Idea, because you don’t tell them why it is.

The ―me-too‖ approach may be safer, but it can alsomake you appear to be a commodity, and commoditycompanies are not successful in an era where consumershave so many choices. The lesson is simple: be different.Find the Big Idea in your company and capture it

succinctly. It’s the guidepost that will help your teamforge the correct strategy for any medium and help yourcustomers locate you in a fragmented landscape ofcompeting messages.


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CHAPTER 3

Why Your Brand Promise Must Be Specific

In the first two chapters, I talkedabout the importance of aspecific, compelling anddifferentiated Brand Promise to

achieve success in B2B marketingand sales. And although it is aB2C example, I think the

following will help you get the point.

It is almost guaranteed that if you spend any time onColorado highways, you will experience one or more

windshield chips. And if you don’t have them repaired,they can sometimes expand to massive cracks, and then

you need a new windshield. On a recent Sunday, whiledriving home from a fantastic hike in the foothills (whatnon-Coloradans would call mountains), I received such achip. Okay, time to get it fixed. Since I didn’t have afavorite chip repairer, I did what you would expect andGoogled the term ―windshield chip repair ColoradoSprings.‖ The results came back in three generalcategories:

1.

General automotive services companies that alsohappen to do chip repair

2. Windshield replacement and repair companies

3. Windshield chip and crack repair companies

This is a good example of broad, medium and narrow

branding. I chose a company from category 3 called Bob’s Windshield Repair. Their brand promise: ―We come to you to fix chips, dings and cracks up to 14 inches inlength.‖ Simple, direct and exactly what I was looking


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for. It also helped that the company was in the first pageof search rankings and the site linked to an article aboutthe company where the owner (Bob of course) talked

about how he had repaired over 5,000 windshields in just three years. There is good money in being specific.

If you are a small company competing with industrygiants, niche marketing may be your only path to success.In a hypothetical B2B marketing example, your branding(moving from broad to narrow) can be designed toappeal to:

1.

Buyers of general business productivity software

2. Buyers of business accounting software

3. Buyers of retail accounting software

If your prospects are retailers, which of the three brandpromises are going to have the most appeal? Most often,it will be the one that is most specific to their needs.

However (and this is an important point), keep in mindthat when you define your brand narrowly, you not onlydefine what you are but you define everything you arenot. This means that you will not attract anyone who isnot in your market niche. Most of the time, this is a goodthing because you can achieve much higher close ratesand shorten the sales cycle by being more specific. But to

make this work, you must be targeting a market that islarge enough to support your value proposition.

The formula for success in B2B marketing is not easy, butit is simple. First, pick a brand promise that articulates aunique and compelling value proposition. Second, rankhigh in Google and other search engines for your chosenniche. Third, present a powerful offer that givesprospects a reason to engage with you right now.


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CHAPTER 4

PUSH Marketing vs. PULL Marketing -Which Should You Pursue?

I am a marketer by trade, but as a consumer, I get asannoyed as anyone by the persistent and unrelentingintrusiveness of push marketing techniques. As hard as

we try to get away from unwanted promotions (usingTiVo, Sirius Radio, cable, etc.), marketers find new waysto track us down and foist their messages on us,regardless of our needs or receptivity.

I don't know about you, but the proliferation of pushyand unwanted marketing pitches are driving me batty.Here are a few examples:

1.

My wife and I enjoy watching the Olympics butdetest the fact that the short snippets of athleticactivity are interrupted by large blocks ofmindless and repetitive commercials.

2. Our daily paper now comes with ads that are wrapped around the editorial content, so youhave to go through gyrations to get to the news

stories.

3. Online, floating banner ads are becoming moreintrusive and harder to get around. They follow

your cursor until you figure out where the ―X‖or "close" button is.

4. Although we are on the do-not-call list, we stillget plenty of unsolicited telephone calls — except

they are now from so-called "market researchers"and charities, who are exempt from the privacyrequirements. And these people almost never


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take you off their call lists because they are legallyable to call you with impunity.

The problem with push marketing is that at any giventime, a majority of your audience – whether they’relisteners, viewers, or readers — have no interest

whatsoever in what you are promoting. In some cases, you may have a lead requirement that can only be met with push marketing techniques. But often, you do havean alternative, and that alternative is to practice ―pullmarketing.‖

With pull marketing, the idea is for you tofind where your prospects congregate,make your information available to them ineducational and entertaining ways, and givethem incentives to come to you when they

have a need for what you offer. Unlike the monologue ofpush marketing, pull marketing creates a dialogue

between you and the prospect.

Pull marketing is a subtle shift in thinking that is quitepowerful: the question becomes not ―How many peoplecan I sell to today?‖ but ―How can I help people solvetheir problems?‖ In the first scenario, you are a seller,almost an adversary; in the second, a helper whoseexpertise (and smart placement of messages) sells itself.Instead of ads pushing your value proposition, youproduce valuable content (through social media and

websites) that solves problems within your realm ofexpertise. You become a trusted resource provider whocirculates a carefully crafted message that attracts thepeople who need you.

The battle between consumers and push marketers willgo on, with the latter trying to come up with new andclever ways to force the former to pay attention andrespond to their promotions. But I submit that a much

better plan is to figure out a way to attract a larger shareof the people who are already interested in what you offerand then convince them to do business with you.


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In the push model, the marketer is seemingly in charge ofeverything — the timing, content and frequency ofpromotions. However, your consumer is truly the one in

charge, because only they decide whether or not to reador listen to your promotion and whether to respond.

As you decide how much of your time and financialresources to allocate between push and pull marketing,keep in mind that the battleground has shifted. As themarketer, you are not really in charge — the prospectholds the high ground. Rather than fight this fact, it is

better to accept who has the real control and find the best

ways to help people buy in the way they want to buy,instead of the way you want to sell to them.


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CHAPTER 5

Are You a RAM or PEACOCK Marketer?

I was recently on a conference panel, discussing leadgeneration with a group of B2B marketing execs. I wasencouraging the attendees to find and articulate theirunique value proposition and use it to attract prospects.

In other words, I asked the audience to consider movingtheir processes from the "push" model to the "pull"model of marketing.

One of my fellow panelists suggested that pull marketersare like peacocks — they try to make themselves look asattractive as possible to get their prospects to come tothem. Like many of the bird species, male peacocks tryto be as colorful as possible; performing intricate dances

for the ladies, including an elaborate fanning of thefeathers — the more ostentatious, the better.

The peacock comment got my imagination going; Istarted thinking not only about peacocks, but also abouthow other animals attract their mates. You are probably

wondering where the marketing message is in thisdiscussion, but trust me, it is coming.

Rams, unlike peacocks, are experts at "push"marketing. They don't sit around waiting for theirpotential mates (ewes) to come to them and they don’treally care how they look to the ewes. They just want tolook tough to the other rams. So in they go, horns first, to

batter their target into submission.

According to NatureWorks (NHPTV.com), in the fall,male rams engage in head butting contests to establishdominance. They run at each other at speeds of up to 20miles an hour and ram their heads together (perhaps this


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is why they are called rams?). Head butting contests canlast as long as 20 hours and the dominant ram isrewarded by mating with more females than the weaker,

less-aggressive suitors. In fact, rams are so aggressive at breeding time that if you adopt a ram lamb as a pet, hemay one day come to see you as a potential rival for hisewe group and attack you. In other words, rams taketheir prospecting efforts very seriously.

Like the ram with a plan, aggressive push marketers will often attract more prospects and close more sales, but this is not always the case. Sometimes it benefits you

to be a peacock marketer and make sure you are asattractive as possible to prospects who are alreadylooking for what you offer.

Push marketers will utilize moretraditional media tools (directmail, print ads, events, email,telemarketing) while pullmarketers tend to utilize newsocial media tools. There aremany other differences betweenthe two disciplines, but the major point is for you todecide whether you are a peacock or a ram when it comesto marketing, and adjust your strategy accordingly.


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CHAPTER 6

A Word (or Several) is Worth a Thousand Pictures

It is said that ―A picture is worth a thousand words.‖ While this can be true, it is also true that a mere handfulof words can have even more power. Words allow you to

form pictures in your mind that are sometimes as realand vivid as actual images. This is why people often tell you that the book was better than the movie.

Words help you develop your imagination and are aunique pathway to the emotions. If you doubt the powerof mere words, consider these examples:

―Never give up. Never, ever give up.‖

– Winston Churchill

―Ask not what your country can do for you…‖ – John F. Kennedy

―I have a dream…‖ – Martin Luther King

―Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.‖ – Ronald Reagan

These are just four examples. I bet you can think of manyothers. Words have caused people to march off to war,fall in love, create empires, change addresses and changetheir lives. It is said that Cleopatra, while not a raving

beauty, had a silver tongue that captivated the likes ofJulius Caesar and Mark Antony.

As such, words are critical components of the marketingmix. The ability to present the right words (content) to


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the right prospects at the right time can mean thedifference between success and failure. Timely,compelling and relevant content beats bland, irrelevant

and weak content every time.

Take a look at your website as if you were a personlooking for what it is your company offers. Does it say to

you: ―No need to read any further…nothing specialhere…this company is just like all the others.‖? Or does itsay: ―Stop….this is different…this company has just whatI need....I better engage with them right now .‖?

Content is king in marketing and sales. Words have thepower to move countries or to move prospects. Wordscan bore someone to tears or motivate them to takeaction. By all means, use interesting photos, but don’tneglect the words. Don’t be like Eliza Doolittle, who sangthe following in My Fair Lady:

Words! Words! Words! I'm so sick of words! I get words all day through; First from him, now from you! Is that all you blighters can do?

The words you use are crucial both in creating awarenessand converting website visitors. They are potentmarketing and sales weapons, so choose and use themcarefully. Are they reflecting your brand promise withprecision, or are they just sitting there on the page (or the

screen)? Did you write them with your audience andstrategy in mind, or were you just rushing through anassignment? If it’s the latter, your prospects might berushing off to something else – like buying yourcompetitor’s product.


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CHAPTER 7

How to Use Social Media to Build Awareness: Pace Yourself!

I have seen the following pattern repeated over and over when it comes to using social media in B2B marketing: acompany executive or marketing manager drinks the

social media Kool-Aid and decides to make it a big part oftheir pull marketing strategy. The next thing you know,he or she is posting, tweeting, responding, bookmarkingand otherwise fully engaged in every social networkingoutlet they can find.

This process goes on for a few weeks or months until theperson quits, realizing that social media didn’t producemuch results in terms of generating awareness, leads and

revenue. This is the classic ―sprint‖ scenario that we witness when clients tell us they tried social media but itdoesn’t work.

But actually, good social media engagement is more likea marathon than a sprint. When I decided to run my oneand only marathon, I read every book I could find on thegeneral topic of ―How a slow, middle-aged guy can

survive 26.2 miles.‖ The most important lesson I learned was that the fast starters are seldom the fast finishers(elite athletes excluded). The idea is to resist the urge tostart out quickly and rather pick up the pace as youproceed through the race. In other words, start slowlyand finish strong. If you do this correctly, you finish therace in a decent time and without killing yourself.

This principle also applies to social media. When we start

a new Fusion Marketing Partners client in social media,it is usually with a plan that allows for a slow pace andincreases over time. For example, we will set up aschedule that includes blogging every other week, plus


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one or two daily Twitter tweets and two LinkedInpostings (one to update the company’s or individual’sstatus and the other to respond or post to a discussion

group). This is not an onerous schedule and can becompleted in a few minutes per day. Over time, theschedule of blog postings, Twitter activity and LinkedInactivity can increase, and we can start folding inadditional social media outlets.

As you gain more experience with social media, you willfind that you are able to generate more activity with lesstime. You have a searchable history that shows you as a

credible, thoughtful participant in online conversations— and an expert that prospects will be more likely toinclude in their discussions and problem-solving.

You can definitely generate B2B awareness, leads andrevenue with social media. But it is seldom an overnightpath to success. You usually have to gain your followersand establish your reputation over a period of time. You

will be best rewarded by approaching your social mediaadventures as a marathon, instead of a sprint.


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CHAPTER 8

Blogging – Your FIRST Tool for B2B Social Media Success

In the book Naked Conversations, Shel Israel and RobertScoble observed, "In our vision, blogging changesmarketing more than marketing changes blogging."

Many companies and individuals have found this to betrue and have achieved spectacular marketing success with blogging. Straightforward and easy to manage, a blog is a good place for you to enter the world of socialmedia.

The important first question toask is whether your social mediaefforts will be built around your

company and brand, or focusedon an individual. While personal

blogs can be extremely effectiveat driving the company message, you run the risk of theindividual leaving your company and taking the blogaudience to their next endeavor. You can mitigate thisrisk and increase exposure by using multiple bloggersfrom the organization. If you like, you can have one or

more primary bloggers and several secondary oroccasional bloggers.

Do not expect instant results from your bloggingprogram. Unless your message is particularly timely andcompelling, it takes some time to build an audience. Youcan supplement your efforts with paid media buys.

Always include your blog address as part of your emailsignature, as well as a link to and from your Website.

Sharing your new posts on Twitter, Facebook andLinkedIn is also good practice. You can pick up a numberof visitors this way.


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Before you start your blog, remember that curiosity is animportant trait for a blogger. You should learn everything

you can about your potential readers. Find out what theycare most about and what they need to do their jobs better. Discover their desires, interests, and what they want most from their jobs and personal lives. Then writeabout these things.

Here are some rules to help you create a compelling andsuccessful blog:

1.

Be unique. Don’t waste your time rehashing thesame content that people can get elsewhere.Readers want a current and fresh look at yourtopic. Give it to them.

2. Be relevant. Stick to your chosen topic area.People read a marketing blog to learn aboutmarketing and a finance blog to learn aboutfinance. Keep extraneous text to a minimum.

3. Be interactive. Blogs that generate outsidecomments tend to be a lot more interesting.

Without outside participation, blogs are justanother online newsletter.

4. Link back to your corporate website – but try notto overdo the company connection. Over-selling

is a quick way to chase away readers. Remember, you’re in the business of fostering fruitfulconversations and displaying your expertise to atargeted audience — which is different fromovertly pitching your product.

5. Incorporate search engine research. Use thekeywords that people search in your blog title andtext, and perhaps create categories that include

these terms. This will help more people find your blog.


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6. Use category tags on your blog. It will help peoplefind you and drive up your search enginerankings.

7. Aggressively share the news about your blog withthe outside world. Send everyone on yourdatabase a link to the blog.

8. Post new content regularly to keep the blog fromgetting stale. Every other week is a minimumschedule; post more often if you can.

9.

Approve and answer comments as soon aspossible. I also suggest that you moderatecomments to keep out the spam and sales pitches.

10. Unfortunately, many comments will be almostincoherent, so you should edit these before youallow them to be posted.

One great way to gain blogging experience is to read and

respond to related blogs. Your comments on others’ blogscan refer to your own and is a great way to build traffic.

You may also find that leveraging and repackaging things you’ve already written can decrease the ―burnout‖ factorof constantly coming up with new material from scratch.

Chances are that you are overlooking dozens of potential blog posts in presentations, meeting notes, and other

materials that you have already written. Leverage themto keep your posting consistent. Just as we covered in thelast chapter, consistency over time is how you build afruitful social media presence for your company.


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CHAPTER 9

LinkedIn – Your SECOND Tool for B2B Social Media Success

LinkedIn (linkedin.com) is a terrific social media tool forthose who market to businesses. WikiAnswers claims

there are over 40 million LinkedIn users, and unlikemore consumer-oriented tools such as Facebook, the vastmajority of people use LinkedIn primarily for businesspurposes.

It is very easy to get started on LinkedIn and you cangrow your presence incrementally. Keep in mind thatLinkedIn is a relationship medium, not a transactionmedium, and you will receive negative feedback if you are

too blatant about promoting your business. You can letpeople know what you do, but subtlety works better thana hard-sell approach.

Here are some tips to make your LinkedIn experiencefruitful:

1. Get started by posting your complete profile,including education and past positions. Thisallows more people to find you and request to beconnected. For example, I have over 900connections and add several more every week.Many LinkedIn members have thousands ofconnections. You can choose to be more inclusiveand allow anyone to connect to you, or moreexclusive, and only allow true colleagues andfriends.

2. Join groups that are relevant to your profession,industry, and personal interests. There is noreason to limit the number of groups to which you


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belong. As I write this, LinkedIn allows you to join up to 50 groups.

3.

Create your own group. It is easy to start andmanage LinkedIn groups, and this can get you agreat deal of attention with a highly targetedaudience.

4. Each group has its own discussion forum. Startanswering other people’s questions and post yourown. This is a good way to get to know groupmembers; you might even learn something in the

process. If you provide relevant answers overtime, you can be awarded with LinkedIn ―expert‖status.

5. Use the recommendation feature. Recommendingothers gains you exposure on their profile page.Likewise, you can ask others to recommend you.Do not neglect this because employers oftenreview their potential candidate’s profiles and

recommendations before making contact.

6. Update people about your work, projects andsuccesses. This only takes a few seconds andkeeps you top-of-mind in your network. However,do make sure updates are relevant and timely.Leave the trivia for the social media platforms

you share with friends.

7. Increase your visibility by making your profilepublic. This allows search engines to index yourpage.

8. Fill out your company profile and provide links to your blog and company website.

9. Make use of your contacts. Find ways to keep in

touch. Ask for referrals and do whatever else ittakes to prevent these relationships from goingstale.


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If you use it properly, LinkedIn can be a source ofawareness, leads and revenue. It can expose you toindustry leaders and potential employees and partners.

For many companies (including Fusion MarketingPartners), LinkedIn is by far the most effective socialmedia platform.


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CHAPTER 10

Twitter - Your THIRD Tool for B2B Social Media Success

According to Twitter, the service now has over 190million users, and this number is growing rapidly.However, keep in mind that many Twitter users areinactive – they sign up for the service but seldom, if ever,use it. Twitter started as more of a consumer medium,

but has made major inroads into business-to-businessusers.

A useful way to look at Twitter is to consider it a micro- blogging tool. Twitter posts (known as tweets) arelimited to 140 characters of information, so you need tolearn how to share information in very small bites. It

enforces brevity and focus of message, especially when you want to use tweets to reference your blog or Website.

Just as with blogging and LinkedIn, there is little or nocost to use Twitter, other than the value of your time.However, you must make a time commitment, or Twitter

will be a short-term experiment that will not benefit you.The basic idea is to find and follow people who tweetinteresting and useful things, and contribute your own

valuable 140-character gems in the hopes of gettingothers to follow you. You can make things happen veryquickly, assuming you can acquire a large list offollowers.

Here are some tips on how to get the most out of Twitter:

1. Have a unique brand. This is just as important onTwitter as in blogging. You have to differentiate

yourself and stand out from the crowd.

2. Use Twitter for quick marketing research. Youcan conduct an online poll and have the results in


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minutes, but you must keep the poll or survey very short.

3.

Monitor your company name to learn whatpeople are saying about you in real time.(search.twitter.com) Do the same with yourcompetitors. Many large companies use one ormore employees to monitor Twitter posts thatreference their name. You may also want toevaluate third-party software tools, such asTweetDeck, that help you manage and monitor

your contacts. If you are tracking or starting

conversations important to your brand, you won’t want to miss a thing.

4. Post only when you have something useful to say.Just as with LinkedIn, please resist the urge topost on inane subjects (e.g., what you had for

breakfast), especially if you are using Twitter for business purposes. Too much irrelevant content will cause your followers to ignore you or remove you as a contact. Likewise, be careful aboutsharing your political or social viewpoints sincethis may turn away potential business contacts.

5. You can create several tweets at once and pre-schedule them for specific times. I know Twitterusers who schedule their tweets as much as amonth in advance. TweetDeck is a good tool to

accomplish this.

6. Never confuse tweeting with blogging. The 140-character tweet limit means that you should postonly time-sensitive snippets and use your blog todevelop topics in more detail. (Although you may,of course, want to promote a blog post with asnappy, succinct tweet.)

7.

If in doubt, don’t send the tweet. Twitter is likeemail in that you can do a lot of damage if you hitthe send button too quickly. Your tweets areeasily searchable, and everything you say can


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either add or subtract from your reputation. Just because Twitter is a fast and easy medium doesn’tmean you should use it in a cavalier manner.

8. Be conversational. Twitter is a less formalmedium, so do not be afraid to let your uniquepersonality shine.

9. Publish your Twitter username on your blog,LinkedIn, and other social media accounts. Mineis @CRyanFusionMkt.

10.

Blogging, LinkedIn and Twitter will together give you a good foundation for social media success.Once you become proficient at these three, youmay want to add additional tools.


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CHAPTER 11

Five Rules for B2B Public Relations Success

We do a fair amount of public and media relations atFusion Marketing Partners and have seen companiesfollow best practices and others make lots of mistakes.

And while there are lots of moving parts to PR, there are

also a few unassailable, always-to-be-followed rules thatcan help ensure a successful outcome. Here are five of themost important:

1. Base your outreach strategy on your Big Idea. Youdon’t want people saying, ―So what?‖ when theyread your release. The Big Idea doesn’t have to beearth-shattering, but it should be better and morerelevant to the marketplace than ―ABC

Company’s CEO Believes His Product is theGreatest Thing since Sliced Bread.‖

2. Remember that the word ―public‖ is part of publicrelations. It isn’t just about the media andanalysts. While media and analysts can certainlyinfluence buyers, they seldom make a purchasethemselves. The availability of many types of

online and social media makes it possible to reacha far larger constituency, including prospects,customers and partners.

3. Align your PR efforts with the rest of your pullmarketing strategy. You’ll find lots of leveragepoints if you look at PR as a component of acoordinated B2B marketing strategy instead of aseparate activity. As one example of how to do

this, make sure all your social media messages aresimilar to, and synchronized with, your latestmedia outreach. Multi-channel marketing ismuch more effective than single-shot efforts.


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4. Have a goal. Public relations is considered bymost B2B marketers to be a ―soft art‖ rather thana hard science. However, it is always best to have

a goal for your PR efforts, particularly if the goal(or goals) is part of an overall pull marketingcampaign. One of the strategic pillars of FusionMarketing Partners’ work for clients is thecreation of a strong website presence. We preferto work with companies who use their website asan important selling tool, particularly at earlystages of the sales cycle. So a key objective for thePR campaign is not only driving awareness

(somewhat tough to measure) but also drivingtraffic to the website (easy to measure). If youhave an optimized website, you will create leadsand revenue from this extra traffic. If your

website is not optimized, now is a good time tostart.

5. Be consistent. While it is important to have a bigidea and coordinate PR with your othermarketing efforts, you must also practiceconsistency of message. There should be asimilar theme running through all of youroutbound communications, and this themeshould always reinforce your brand promise.

Those of you who practice public/media relations canadd other important rules for success. But I do believe

that the five I mentioned above can give you a solidfoundation for ROI-based PR.


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CHAPTER 12

Outside-the-Box B2B PR Strategies

In the previous chapter, we talked about some important basic rules for B2B public relations success. Now that youhave this foundation, I will share some ideas about how

to think outside the box and

come up with messagingideas that will get younoticed and drive responsefrom your target audience.

Make it personal –Thereare two important ways tomake your PR personal.

First, by the tone you use for your communications. You

do this by focusing on the human side of your targetaudience. Communicate in the spirit of a person talkingto another person, not as a company talking to namelessand faceless prospects. The second aspect of beingpersonal is to base your PR on a key executive who hasspecial and acknowledged expertise in your chosenmarket.

Make it fun – People like to do business with peoplethey like. One of the best examples of a fun personalitycombined with great business acumen is Herbert D.Kelleher, founder of Southwest Airlines. When asked

what made Southwest Airlines unique, Mr. Kelleheranswered, “ What’s special about Southwest Airlines? Ourpeople…anybody can buy the tangibles, but nobody canreplicate the intangibles very easily. And I'm talkingabout the joie de vivre—the spirit of our people.‖

Although Kelleher has retired from the airline, you cantell that his spirit carries on when you take a flight onSouthwest.


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Make it unique –Make sure your PR strategy is incomplete alignment with your differentiation and unique

selling proposition. People notice uniqueness far moreeasily than me-too-ism. Uniqueness also sells, and itoften sells at a premium price.

Make it sticky – Stickiness refers to messages that arememorable. There are two ways to boost stickiness: first

with a unique and powerful message, and second with agood message repeated over and over again.

Persist – Many companies practice just enough PR tosay they have done it, but a paucity of PR will have littleor no impact. A press release every six months is notgoing to cut it. Send news out on a regular basis or the(old) news section of your Website will make you lookstale.

Use social networking – There are many social mediatools available to help you move the needle of publicperception, and gain far more awareness among yourtarget audience. For example, a blog is a great way forreporters, editors, and analysts to find you and get the

word out about your company and products.

Align with search terms – Coordinate your searchengine optimization (SEO) and pay per click strategies

with your public relations messages. Include key search

terms in the text of every press release.

Get published – There is something about the written word that adds to an individual's credibility andreputation. The greatest credibility builder is to publish a

book. All you need to get started is special knowledge in your field of expertise and a unique way of presenting your information. If you do not have the time andmaterial for a book, at least publish articles.

Self promote – Get your name out there with publicspeaking, presentations, podcasts, articles, blogs,


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LinkedIn, etc. If it helps the company, create your own brand and establish thought leadership.

Aggressive public relations can have an enormous impacton awareness and lead generation, and even more so if you think outside the box.


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CHAPTER 13

How to Expand Your Circle of Marketing Influence

Starting with your organization at the core, everyone that you can possibly do business with can be pinpointedsomewhere in relation to the center. As those individuals

in the outer reaches of our marketing influence are brought closer to you, they become part of your circle.Those nearest to the core are loyal, lifetime customers,prospects in an active sales cycle and others that youhave direct influence on. Those farthest away do not evenknow that you exist.

Traditional ―push marketing‖ models chart thismovement through the marketing and sales sequence

using terminology such as suspects, leads, cold prospects,hot prospects and customers. They try to find individualsuspects in the larger universe and convince them tomove up their purchase intentions. By contrast, intoday’s social media-focused ―pull marketing‖ model, theidea is to broadcast powerful and consistent messages tothe universe and give people good reasons to engage with

you. The key point is that prospects engage with you –

you do not have to chase after them.

Over time, the inner and middle circles grow as people become closer to you. Because you are providing the rightmessage at the right time, people are educatingthemselves and willingly engaging with you – not

because of the persistence and brilliance of yoursalespeople and the fact you push yourself on them, butrather because they need your products or services. The

complexity of the sales process decreases and the salescycle shrinks.

http://greatb2bmarketing.com/category/social-media/http://greatb2bmarketing.com/category/social-media/http://greatb2bmarketing.com/category/pull-marketing/http://greatb2bmarketing.com/category/pull-marketing/http://greatb2bmarketing.com/category/pull-marketing/http://greatb2bmarketing.com/category/pull-marketing/http://greatb2bmarketing.com/category/social-media/


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Let’s take a look at how the circle of influence relates to your business. The Inner Circle is comprised of your KeyInfluence Group, and this includes employees, partners,

customers, active prospects, personal contacts, and blogcontributors. The Middle Circle is the ModerateInfluence Group, and includes contact lists, blog readers,suspects, social media followers, group members (e.g.LinkedIn), affiliates, industry influencers, press, andanalysts. The Outer Circle is the Low Influence Group,and includes your potential prospect universe — emaillists, direct marketing lists, occasional blog readers,media readers, and suspects.

Where you are today:

This first graphic (the ―before‖ situation) shows where

you most likely are in your current evolution as acompany. Obviously, the size of your key influence andmoderate influence groups are small in relation to theentire prospect universe. Marketing is more expensive atthis stage because you must often first educate suspects

before turning them into prospects. It may be necessaryto do a fair amount of push marketing at this stage.

Inner

circle

Contact

list

Prospectuniverse


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Where you are going:

This second graphic (the ―after‖ situation) illustrates how your pull marketing and social media efforts will help yougrow the number of key influencers and moderateinfluencers. Over time, these parts of the circle ofinfluence will become a rich source of qualified buyers.

Your efforts will evolve from push marketing to pullmarketing and you will be able to generate leads and newcustomers at a much lower acquisition cost.

The Circle of Marketing Influence is an excellent way toremember that your mission in B2B marketing is tocontinually expand the number of people who know what

you do and why you are the obvious choice in your

market space. Hopefully, you will find the tactics andapproaches in previous chapters helpful in expandingthis circle.

In the coming months, we will publish two follow-up e- books focusing on growing leads and revenue. FusionMarketing Partners is a small, passionate team of B2Bmarketing and sales veterans who focus exclusively onstrategies that achieve superior results and return on

investment. If you would like to discover how we deliverincreased awareness and leads, lower the cost ofcustomer acquisition and optimize sales and marketingprocesses, please visit us at fusionmarketingpartners.com.

http://greatb2bmarketing.com/category/b2b-marketing/http://greatb2bmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Circle-of-Influence-After1.jpghttp://greatb2bmarketing.com/category/b2b-marketing/


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ABOUT FUSION MARKETING

PARTNERS & CHRISTOPHER RYAN

Proven B2B Marketing and Sales Expertsthat Deliver Measurable Results

Stronger Brand Awareness More Highly Qualified Leads

Bottom Line Results

Fusion Marketing Partners is a strategic B2Bmarketing consultancy that analyzes and adds value toevery part of our clients’ marketing-through-salesprocesses. The company was founded by principals withdeep experience in business-to-business marketing and

sales at leading companies like PeopleSoft, Sybase,SpringCM, Zoot Enterprises, Group 1 Software, MCI,Stellent, Optika, IDC, and FrontRange Solutions.

Christopher Ryan, Founder and CEO of FusionMarketing Partners, is the author of many booksincluding Creating an Unstoppable Marketing and SalesMachine, written to provide companies with a repeatableand predictable framework for generating awareness,

qualified leads and revenue.

We look forward to helping you achieve your importantB2B marketing and sales objectives. For additionalinformation, please visit www.fusionmarketingpartners.com, contact us at [email protected] or call719-357-6280.

http://www.fusionmarketingpartners.com/http://www.fusionmarketingpartners.com/


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“Fusion Marketing Partnershas been instrumental inbuilding our business andhelping us develop a greatmarketing and sales model anda strong value proposition.

FMP’s extensive experience in B2B marketing is invaluable in

helping us launch ourconsulting practice into newarenas in a way thatcontributes to our futuresuccess. I highly recommendChris and his team.”

Jeanne Caldwell – President, Information

Mana ement S ecialists

powerful b2b marketing strategies to drive awareness fusion

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