The B2B Social Media Book

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