Social Media Business Strategy
Social Networking as a Business Strategy
This Panel explores issues such as: How can companies best utilize social networking media? What are the risks and rewards? Can social networking be a money-maker for companies? Does advertising work in the social networking world? How does Twitter fit into the mix? What are some specific social media success stories for driving business?
Speakers:
- Jason Oberfest, Senior Vice President, Business Development of MySpace
- Paul Ollinger, West Coast Vice President of Sales of Facebook
- Sam Cimino, Sales Manager SW, YouTube
- Majid Abai, CEO of Pringo
- David Schwartz, Vice President, Corporate Development of Yammer
- Richard Neff, Head of IP & Tech Group of Greenberg Glusker
Moderator:
Dr. Tony Karrer, CEO/CTO of TechEmpower
Tags:
buzzgap.wordpress.com 
June 20, 2009 at 2:22 am
I agree with success based on adhering to a stragic framework as outlined, with the caveat of beginning with listening, learning and interacting with your customers, then over time identify the influencers and deepen the relationship with them. But never discount each and every customer/consumer that willingly engages with your brand/business. Good stuff Buzz Gap.
June 22, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Gabrielle, you are right on! The strategy is to identify and deepen relationships with influencers that have high SNP. Listening, sharing and interacting are the best ways to build rapport — thanks for reminding us of that valued truism. While social media marketing success begins with the Strategic Social Media Framework, the challenge of leaping what I call BUZZ GAP still remains.
Recently I read Bob Thompson’s article, “B2B Marketing 2.0: How to Engage Social Buyers and Break Marketing/Sales Gridlock”. Bob does a commendable job articulating additional hurdles, “While sales reps may never fully appreciate the value of brand marketing, and marketing professionals may not understand the art involved in selling, they can create common ground around lead qualification.”
The classic argument goes like this:
Marketing: “Look at all the leads I generated!”
Sales: “Most of these leads are crap!”
Marketing: “How do you know, did you call them?”
Sales: “Why bother, it won’t help me make quota this month.”
Throughout my 25 years working in both marketing and sales, my experience and findings match Bob Thompson’s. So what additional “marketing success steps” are indispensable? At Entellium, a CRM SaaS (Software as a Service) company, I worked with Dave Scott, SVP Sales & Marketing. Dave introduced our sales and marketing teams to a productive methodology: Marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) and Sales-qualified leads (SQLs). The knowledge of “how qualified are your leads?” is a further essential step in determining your success leaping BUZZ GAP.
Thanks again for the feedback Gabrielle. I encourage additional “social media marketing success” feedback, opinions and commentary — join the conversation.
Bob Newkirk
Chief Leap Officer
BUZZ GAP