The B2B Social Media Book

Advance your B2B marketing plans with proven social media strategies
Learn social media s specific application to B2B companies and how it can be leveraged to drive leads and revenue. B2B marketers are undervalued and under appreciated in many companies.

Advance your B2B marketing plans with proven social media strategies

Learn social media's specific application to B2B companies and how it can be leveraged to drive leads and revenue. B2B marketers are undervalued and under appreciated in many companies. Social media and online marketing provide the right mix of rich data and reduction in marketing expenses to help transform a marketer into a superstar. The B2B Social Media Book provides B2B marketers with actionable advice on leveraging blogging, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and more, combined with key strategic imperatives that serve as the backbone of effective B2B social media strategies.

This book serves as the definitive reference for B2B marketers looking to master social media and take their career to the next level.
* Describes a methodology for generating leads using social media
* Details how to create content offers that increase conversion rates and drive leads from social media
* Offers practical advice for incorporating mobile strategies into the marketing mix
* Provides a step-by-step process for measuring the return on investment of B2B social media strategies

The B2B Social Media Book will help readers establish a strong social media marketing strategy to generate more leads, become a marketing superstar in the eye of company leaders, and most importantly, contribute to business growth.

Foreword ANN HANDLEY xi Introduction We Didn't Wake Up One Day and Write This Book  xv
How We Got Here xvi
This Book Is an Offer xvii
You Want More Examples? xvii
What Did We Miss? xviii
Are You Ready to Go? xviii
I The Fundamentals of Social Media Lead Generation 1
1 Why B2B Is Better at Social Media Than B2C 3
The Marketing Status Quo 3
What Your Marketing Could Be 4
Five Reasons B2B Companies Are a Better Fit for Social 4
Media Marketing Than B2C Companies
When Social Media Isn't Right for B2B 6
B2B Social Media as an Annuity 8
Results Independent of Effort 8
Annuities Facilitate Scale 9
Social Media Is Only One Piece 9
Building a Next-Generation B2B Marketing Team 10
Storytelling + Data Analysis = Great Social Media Marketer 10
The Perfect B2B Marketing Leader 11
Three B2B Social Media Steps to Superstardom 11
2 Five-Step Social Media Lead Generation Process 13
Step 1: Getting the Basics Right 14
Step 2: Maximize Content Discovery 17
Step 3: Create Conversion Ubiquity 21
Step 4: Test and Fail Fast 22
Step 5: Optimize for Maximum Lead Flow 25
Three B2B Social Media Lead Generation Steps to Superstardom 27
3 Yes, Chapter 3 in a Social Media Book Is about Search (It's That Important!) 29
Evolution of Search 29
Context as the Foundation of Search 29
Four On-Page Optimization Opportunities 30
Authority Drives Ranking 32
Three Strategies for Link Building Success 33
Changing Authority 34
Social Search and B2B 35
Unifi ed Keyword Strategy 35
Rank Is Dead 37
Search Isn't Just Google 38
Three B2B Search Engine Optimization Steps to Superstardom 39
4 How to Close the Loop of Social Media ROI 41
The Math of ROI 42
Calculating COCA 42
Understanding Total Lifetime Value 43
Social Media Is Good for COCA and TLV 46
Intent Is Attribution 47
First- versus Last-Action Attribution 48
Gathering the Data 49
Measuring to Superstardom 50
Integrating Marketing and Sales Databases 50
It Is Math, Not Hugs 51
Three B2B Social Media ROI Steps to Superstardom 52
5 Reach: More Is Always Better 55
Being Targeted Isn't Enough 55
Be Able to Sell Anything 56
Six Time-Tested Methods for Building Reach 57
Remarkable and Frequent Content Fuels Reach 58
Paying for Reach Is Okay 59
Nearsightedness Kills Great Marketing 61
Three B2B Social Media Reach Building Steps to Superstardom 61
II Social Media Lead Generation in Action 63
6 Creating Ebooks and Webinars That Prospects Love 65
Create Ebooks Everyone Wants 66
The 10-Step Blueprint to Ebook Awesomeness 67
Webinars Are Low-Cost Trade Shows 69
Five Steps for an Engaging Webinar 70
Marketing with Existing Sales Tools 71
Storytelling with Video 71
Three Commandments of B2B Video 72
To YouTube or Not to YouTube, That Is the Question 73
Being Interesting Is the New Black 74
Three B2B Social Media Content Offer Steps to Superstardom 74
7 Why You Are Already a Business Blogging Expert 77
The Origins of Corporate Blogging 78
The Thinking Part of Setting Up Your Business Blog 79
The Content Part of Setting Up Your Blog 80
The Nuts and Bolts Part of Setting Up Your Blog 82
The Ultimate Business Blogging Checklist 84
Blog Content Drives Leads 95
Three B2B Blogging Steps to Superstardom 96
8 Become a LinkedIn Lead Generation Superstar 97
Profi les Are Just the Beginning 97
Companies Can Get Recommendations Too 100
Business Value Through Sharing 102
Grouping Your Expertise: LinkedIn Groups 103
Answering the Questions: LinkedIn Answers 105
Professionals Need Advertising Too 106
Three B2B LinkedIn Steps to Superstardom 108
9 Twitter: Leads in 140 Characters 109
Five Off-Platform Benefi ts of Twitter 110
Anatomy of a Tweet 111
Replies and Mentions 112
Retweets 113
Direct Messages 114
Hashtags 114
Finding B2B Leads on Twitter 115
Setting Up a B2B Twitter Account 116
The 10-4-1 Rule of Social Sharing 117
14 Ways to Drive Leads with Content on Twitter 118
Five Ideas for Prospect Engagement for B2B Companies 123
Pushing the Twitter Envelope 124
Three B2B Twitter Steps to Superstardom 126
10 Maximizing Facebook Lead Generation through Engagement 127
Profiles versus Pages 127
It Made Sense for Cisco to Join 128
Three Reasons to Create a B2B Presence on Facebook 128
Yes, Facebook Is for B2B 129
Understanding the EdgeRank Engagement Algorithm 130
10 Ways to Drive Leads on Facebook 131
Facebook Engagement Means Leads 138
Three B2B Social Media Facebook Steps to Superstardom 141
11 E-Mail Is Social 143
Opt-In Is a Better Call to Action 143
Why Nobody Likes E-Mail 145
12 Ways to Get More Leads Out of E-Mail 145
Testing E-Mail Ideas Using Social Media 148
Four Ways to Socialize a Prospect's Inbox 149
Social Profiles within the Inbox 150
Three B2B Social Media E-Mail Steps to Superstardom 151
III Taking Social Media Lead Generation to the Next Level 153
12 Stop Preparing for the Mobile Web; It's Here 155
Getting Smart about Smartphones 155
Two Ways to Mobile-Optimize a Website 157
On the Go with Mobile Content 159
What Is the Context of Your Content? 161
Rethinking the Mobile Landing Page 161
B2B Mobile Apps Are for Suckers 163
Location Is for Sales, Not Marketing 164
Three B2B Social Media Mobile Marketing Steps to Superstardom 165
13 Making Trade Shows Social 167
Driving Trade Show Leads with Social Media 167
Treat Trade Shows Like Comarketing 168
Five Steps to Instantly Make Your Trade Show More Social 169
Taking Over Physical and Digital Word of Mouth 170
Three Trade Show Takeaways from "DNS Is Sexy" 172
Using Location to Become the Best "Party" at a Trade Show 172
Virtual Conference 173
Three B2B Social Media Trade Show Steps to Superstardom 175
14 Run a B2B Social Media Marketing Team Like a Start-Up 177
It All Starts with Passion 177
Where Does Passion Come From? 179
Knowing When to Ship 180
It Becomes Agile Marketing Anyway 181
Three Principles of Agile Marketing 181
When It's Time to Look for Funding 182
What's the Exit Strategy? 183
Three B2B Social Media Start-Up Steps to Superstardom 184
15 10 B2B Social Media Roadblocks 185
1. Legal Wants Full Approval-Of Everything 185
2. Social Network Access Is Blocked 186
3. Executive Support Is Lacking 187
4. The Customer Base Is Not Attuned to Social Media 187
5. But I Have a Real Job to Do 188
6. It Is Free, Right? 188
7. We Need the Right People for the Task 189
8. We Have Always Done It This Way 190
9. The Network Admin Is a Debbie Downer 190
10. You Don't Know Where to Start 191
Three Clearing Roadblock Steps to Superstardom 193
16 The Best Time Ever! 195
Social Media Marketing Is about Lead Generation 196
Be a Storyteller Who Uses Data 196
Second Is the First Loser 197
Useless Metrics 197
The Beginning, Not the End 198
Acknowledgments 201
About the Authors 203
Notes 205
Index 209