Got a delicious latte this morning (Thanks K Mo!) and had an awesome conversation with Adam Vincenzini. Day 2 of MarketingProfs B2B was already off the a great start, except I’m pretty sure I have a tear in my tights. Cute, I promise.
Just like yesterday, I plan to post my complete notes after Day 2. I think blogging a transcript type post isn’t my style, so providing takeaways, jotting down thoughts and then asking community to discuss? Definitely right up my alley.
Three takeaways from a discussion on strategy and brand approach:
Always keep in mind the Trifecta: The customer, company and your competition. Focus on customer.
Marketers tend to focus solely on the consumer in the social space. Yes, this is where most of your energy should focus. However, one must balance it with the mentality of company brand and what competitors are doing. If you’re monitoring brand metrics? It’s just as easy to monitor your competitors. See what they are talking about; industry topics and conversation going on – this makes it that much easier to position yourself and the brand as a leader. Know that the brands you represent or work for also reflect on your agency/corporate image. They are laced together, it just depends on how tightly you monitor.
The consumer is in control. It used to be linear – used to have a big funnel of prospects, but now loyalty is in jeopardy. They can Google your name once, and the funnel increases. What does that mean? We have to change our way of thinking as it relates to the brand.
The Internet is like an ex-boyfriend – they tend to forget positives easily (but know that they respect you, like you) but once a negative hits? They hold onto it like a bull with a red flag. It’s easy to find negative; it’s easy to build an army against when you have a crap product and customer service model. That tight funnel can disappear at one negative mention, then the brand is up against the competition. That is why it’s imperative to monitor any competitors that might influence your audience. The internet has made many quite flaky. Loyalty? What’s that? You have to work at building those brand ambassadors.
B2B or Business to Institute: Forget that. You are selling to people with real minds, real problems, and people that are maybe afraid of their job security. (Business to Person mentality)
This is a mentality that brilliant minds such as DJ Waldow brings to light on a daily basis. B2B is very similar to B2C in this concept. Yes, the sales model is more steps and a bit more in-depth (more channels, dependent on product and industry) but you are talking to an individual. They deserve the B2C concept of speaking and allowing for an opt-in, not an opt-out. If we aren’t building relationships and understanding audience? Your percentages and metrics mean zilch. You have to back it up with qualitative metrics.
So what do you think?
