Comments on: ROI and social media marketing for B2B

By: Case study: ShipServ « HaakonJensen.no

Case study: ShipServ « HaakonJensen.no — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:57:34 +0000

[...] 2009b. ROI and social media marketing for B2B [Online]. Available: http://www.velocitypartners.co.uk/2009/03/19/roi-and-social-media-marketing-for-b2b/ [Accessed [...]

By: Stan

Stan — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:26:24 +0000

Thanks for the comment Eli. ROI seems to be a hot issue among clients right now for obvious reasons. We’re trying to find ways to explain to clients how this social media marketing stuff works. Just like you I guess.

By: Eli S. | Vertical Measures

Eli S. | Vertical Measures — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:04:44 +0000

Very good piece, Stan. I really like that you clearly define Social Media’s ROI calculation to be quite a bit different from traditional marketing campaigns. Specifically, you said “social media is really more about listening to what your community is saying rather than telling it what to think” and you’re absolutely right. In fact, trying to sell something to the community instead of just being an active member is probably the quickest way to get people to ignore your products.

By: Stan

Stan — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:10:46 +0000

You’re right. If you only have 250 customers in the world (assuming you’re selling to telcos), you probably only want to influence 20-30 people (at most) within those companies. That’s fewer than 1000 people in total. While marketing is much more than contacting your prospects directly, it’s clear that being where those people congregate on the web will help you learn quickly about their needs, interests and challenges. If you provide information and no one takes it up, then you can learn quickly that you need to change tack.

By: Roger, Online PR Agency C&M

Roger, Online PR Agency C&M — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 14:13:03 +0000

The more I think about it, the more appropriate B2B is for Social Media Marketing and Online PR. In consumer land, the measurement can get very murky and contentious. In B2B land, because the samples are smaller, and the ‘conversion’ points are more pointed, it becomes so much more effective. Sign up, download, etc… all this can be pinned really easily to a new Social Media and/or Online PR campaign …in a way that buying shoes, eating Skittles and other stuff isn’t.