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How do you define your business?
I hope your definition, whatever it is, features the word marketing.
As Regis McKenna once said, "Marketing is everything and everything is marketing."
On that note, editor extraordinaire Alan Webber offers a "Book Store Parable" on his blog this week.
Recounting a visit to San Francisco's City Lights Bookstore, Webber writes:
"Once I walked into the book store it was clear to me—obvious beyond any need to state it, actually—that I was going to buy a book. At least one. I didn't know which one. But I kind of knew I'd buy at least one. Which made the following proposition clear: The task of a book store isn't to sell books. It's to get people to walk in the front door. Selling books: easy. Getting people to walk in the front door: hard."
In other words, your business is marketing; it's hard; and it's all.
In August, producers of the incentive travel-industry show IMEX asked 1,000 B-to-B buyers to share their views on social media.
The responses offer a good glimpse into buyers' current preferences.
LinkedIn is the networking site of choice. It's used by 64% of B-to-B buyers. Facebook is used by 60%; Twitter, by 27%; and YouTube, by 23%.
Blackberry is the smartphone of choice. Blackberries are used by 57% of buyers; iPhones, by 31%.
Nearly half the respondents (46%) also said they've increased their use of social media for networking in the past six months.
How beefy is your LinkedIn profile? How mobile-friendly is your Web site?
Personas are the latest craze among B-to-B marketers.
For good reason.
Like the GPS in your car, personas guide you in your quest to find new customers.
Jeff Ogden, president and CMO of Find New Customers, offers these five tips for creating strong personas:
1. Start with the companies of your ideal customers. Begin by developing profiles of your best buyers' companies. Think about the problems you solve for these businesses.
2. Identify your customers' job titles. Ask your salespeople who the decisionmakers are.
3. Ask 13 questions. What’s the prospect's role in the buying decision? What keeps her up at night? What motivates her? Is she acquainted with your organization? Where does she get news? How does she make decisions? What associations does she belong to? What events does she attend? Does she seek advice from colleagues and peers? How is she dealing with problems today? What words does she use to describe the problems? Does she prefer high-level or detailed information? What prevents her from choosing you?
4. Leverage all contact points. For answers to these questions, talk to all the people who deal with customers. Ask both sales and customer support. Pose questions on Linkedin and Twitter. Use internal surveys. Participate in blogs and online communities.
5. Keep revising the personas. "Personas are an endless quest for perfection," says Ogden. So set bimonthly meetings to review them.
During a recent phone call, a client said to me, "Your blog post today was better than Seth."
What I heard was, "better than sex."
I paused for maybe 10 seconds, at a loss for words.
"Seth Godin," he added, feeling the need to clarify.
High praise nevertheless.
Here's a fundamental law:
The majority of B-to-B buyers engage with a supplier only when they're ready to buy.
That's why all the "pushing" in the world won't budge them.
But you need to stay on buyers' radar screens, so when the "moment of truth" arises they seek you out.
So instead of pushing, try pulling. Use these five building blocks:
A. Social networks (especially LinkedIn)
B. Blogs
C. Public relations
D. E-newsletters
E. Paid search
