Brought to you by the authors of "The Death of Propaganda" and Three Voices™ strategy
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Should B2B forget all about Facebook?

by David Hoskin

Many B2B marketers wonder whether their companies should establish a Facebook presence. Could it be the way to more leads, if they can get people to Like them? In conversations with B2B marketers, I often hear grave doubts. And I’m not surprised. Research from the University of South Australia sheds doubt on the value of Facebook Likes, showing that a mere 0.45% of a brand’s Facebook fans actually talk about it online. It also concludes that Facebook fans are un-liking themselves as they get overwhelmed by the amount of communication they get from the brand on Facebook.

For B2B brands, the number of potential fans is likely to be way lower than anything a consumer brand can muster up, making the numbers of people who actually engage with a B2B brand very low indeed. So this would surely question whether the efforts of creating and maintaining a good Facebook presence (because, just as with any marketing activity, it takes time and skill to do it well) are really worth the effort. The jury is still out.

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Target all stakeholders throughout the value chain

by David Hoskin

Does your pizza packaging stick?Once again, I was recently reminded of the complexity of B2B marketing in today’s connected world.  I was speaking at a seminar for a group of sales representatives from Cotes, a manufacturer of industrial dehumidifiers, and in a discussion about targeting stakeholders, someone astutely pointed out that the right people to target might be in any number of different companies throughout the value chain. A seemingly simple observation that has a huge impact on a marketing plan!

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The Propaganda/enthusiasm puzzle

by Jonathan Winch

TBKConsult CEO Hans Peter Bech is someone who likes to be pretty direct. Describing himself as an “international software business development evangelist” (which is quite a mouthful) his blog posts  expose quite a few home truths about the business consulting industry of which he is a part. For example, I particularly like his answer to the question: “Will the engagement of management consultants improve the probability of success?“. He writes: ““I don’t know. As an independent management consultant I can only answer for myself.  Call my other clients and ask them why they engaged me and what they achieved.” The words “I don’t know” really work for me. People should say them more often than they do in the world of business. Continue reading →

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Establish thought leadership through your annual report

by David Hoskin

While preparing the annual report of a global manufacturer of industrial products recently, it struck me what an ideal channel the annual report is for establishing thought leadership. But it seems that many companies lock themselves into a standard formula that is all about reporting from the perspective of the company – like a true propaganda Voice of Company channel. It’s easy to miss the opportunity to truly engage stakeholders with content that is relevant and interesting to them. Continue reading →

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The role of storytelling in Three Voices™ strategies

by Jonathan Winch

In a conversation two days ago with social media veteran Jomar Reyes, one of the people who inspired us to write The Death of Propaganda, he spoke enthusiastically about the role of storytelling in B2B marketing and communication—and emphasized that, in his view, storytelling was a key component of any Three Voices™ strategy. Continue reading →

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All things to all people? Your brand as a publisher.

by Jonathan Winch

When we use the word “publication”, we’re not necessarily talking about a newsletter or magazine—the sort of thing people normally think of when the term is used. Instead, we think of today’s B2B brands as publishers, creating a steady stream of tailored content that addresses the needs of prospects and seeks to influence their likes and dislikes. So a website is a publication. So is a newsletter or magazine, whether offline or online. Taking things a step further, we’re not that interested in talking about content from a device perspective, but encourage companies to think in terms of “conversations”. For example, the launch of a new product is one big conversation about the problem or opportunity the product addresses, the way these are addressed and so on. It’s a conversation that is spread out via various types of content (white papers, videos, brochures) in Voice of Industry and Voice of Company contexts. And it appears across a multitude of devices and events—preferably available in any format, context or on any device that your stakeholders use to access information.

To find out more about the brand as a publisher, visit http://corporatepublishing.eye-for-image.com/

 

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B2B marketing and the truth—a perfect match?

by Jonathan Winch

In this new world of straight-up, transparent, credible interactions with the company’s audiences, the “truth” is playing an increasingly important role. The trend is driven partly by the fact that attitudes are hardening toward corporate lies or other malpractices—just witness the number of whistle-blower programs that are being put in place across industries to enable employees to keep their employers and colleagues on the straight and narrow. In marketing contexts, easier access to essential truths about products and services from a customer experience perspective has started to make propaganda and/or outright fibs stand out like a sore thumb. Continue reading →

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Can your writers hit the right Voice of Industry tone and style?

by Jonathan Winch

One difficulty we’ve noticed companies running into as they make the transition to meet the needs and preferences of today’s B2B buyer concerns the ability to hit the right tone and style of a Voice of Industry. If your marketing and communications departments have become used to churning out company-oriented, product-based texts, videos and events, it can be tough to break the habit. What’s required is a more neutral, “journalistic” style, varied depending on the type of message being communicated. We all meet this style almost every day—when we read Voice of Industry publications for our own industries or when catching up with national and international news commentary. So really, you would think it wasn’t that hard to copy this more neutral style – if you are using professional writers, that is. Breaking long-established practices within the corporation, however, may require a complete change of content supplier and editor. You may also find it necessary to educate upper management on the new Voice to change editing and review practices from the top down.