What Do You Make of Social Media?

I was looking for case studies and ROI data to build a business case for Social Media in B2B marketing. It wasn’t easy to find any solid proof until I came across this podcast. In “Behind the Curtain of Social Media,” Social Media experts from Intel, Cisco and HP share their thoughts and successes. The podcast is from 1to1 Media and sponsored by RightNow

You can view (hear?) Part I of the podcast from here.

Key Takeaways:

1. All three experts have been actively using Social Media/Web 2.0 tactics for 2-4 years internally and externally (customers and regional partners)
2. Social Media as defined by these experts (internal users) is very different from those put out by consultants and agencies (external experts)
   

   “Social Media is a communication – not necessarily for increasing sales or conversions, or any direct marketing activities – but for driving brand stewardship, engaging in conversations with our consumers, and really listening to what they have to say.”
   Michael Brito, Social Media Strategist Intel

   “The common thread among the tools that are available is that it’s about conversation. It’s about being able to talk to our customers in new ways.”
   LaSandra Brill, Manager Web & Social Media Marketing Cisco Systems

   “The biggest challenge I’ve seen is making sure that the goals are properly aligned with what the medium is for.”
   Tac Anderson, Worldwide Enterprise Business Interactive/Web Marketing Mgr. Hewlett-Packard

3. It is not enough to use Social Media tools; you must have a clear understanding of how your audience is using them. The recommended approach is to use something like the POST method from Forrester. The acronym POST stands for People Objectives Strategy Technology
4. Do your research and get some hard data before you jump into Social Media. In some cases, it may not be the right thing to do
5. Find a personal voice that resonates with your customers and get away from straight corporate-speak
6. Real world success stories from all three companies

Part II is all about how to tie Social Media activities to measurable results.