It’s April 18th and I’m flying to Florida to enjoy a holiday. I typically take time off in late December as we shut down between Xmas and New Year’s anyway. This is something new… Turning the ship over to your co-pilots is a necessary evolution in developing your company’s management team. They may stumble or even fall but life and business does go on without you. I tried it a week last fall during our busiest season and now 2 weeks during an equally busy spring. My goal in the not too distant future is to try two months. I will be plugged in with e-mail and I’ll probably work on some of the writing projects we have on the go but that’s it. Everyone is pretty much self managed now. Over the last 5 years, we did the “Good to Great” exercise successfully. My team will be flying solo on a couple of RFP’s for the first time, moving a half dozen websites to completion…and enjoying every minute of it. I also had to broker out my position as front man for my band TreeoH. We are just 4 weeks into a new house gig and I hated subbing out in the infancy stages. The trick is having the right people around you regardless of the enterprise. It’s the greatest lesson I’ve learned and have discussed it on previous blogs. Having the right people with the right tools to do the job is critical. We make so many concessions in this area out of fear of one kind or another. It’s a big mistake for business of any size.

Lee’s quote for the day “If you’re only as good as your weakest link, try replacing that link and see your business flourish.”

As we were trying to put together some interesting facts about social media for B2B marketers, we discovered this interesting video. Then, we decided why would we tell you something, when we can show you instead. So, enjoy it.

B2B companies are ahead of their B2C rivals when it comes to social media adoption

• 81% of B2B companies maintain company-related accounts or profiles on social media sites versus 67% of B2C
• 75% of B2Bers participate in microblogging (eg. Twitter) versus 49% of B2Cers

Source: Business.com – 2009 B2B Social Media Benchmarking Study (http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007404)

And the FTSE 100 are just plain running scared of Twitter

• Just 16 of the FTSE 100 companies are using Twitter, despite the fact that 20% of Tweets contain a reference to a product or brand

Source: Virgin Media Business (http://ow.ly/1gDTf)

But CIOs could well be the biggest blocker to social media adoption

• 54% of CIOs prohibit use of social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, while at work

Source: Robert Half Technology (http://rht.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=131&item=790)

Use of social media by B2B companies is validated by B2B buyer perspectives

• 93% of business buyers believe all companies should have a presence in social media
• 85% believe companies should not just present information via social media, but use it to interact and become more engaged with them

Source: Cone Inc – Social Media in business (http://ow.ly/1dLqJ)

And that’s because the B2B buying process is fundamentally changing

• 9 out of 10 buyers say that when they’re ready to buy, they’ll find you

Source: DemandGen Report

• Over 70% of purchases are restricted to established vendors or are heavily dependent on Word of Mouth recommendations

Source: Buyersphere ebook, Enquiro (http://ow.ly/YbQm)

• More than 8 out of 10 IT decision-makers said word of mouth recommendations are the most important source when making buying decisions

Source: Forrester Research, How to take B2B relationships from Indifferent to Engaged: Jan 2009

• 59% of B2B buyers engaged with peers who addressed their challenge, 48% followed industry conversations on the topic and 37% posted questions on social networking sites looking for suggestions

Source: Genius (http://www.genius.com/marketinggeniusblog/2767/a-glimpse-inside-the-mind-of-the-new-b2b-buyer.html)

Yet there are differing opinions as to where search comes into play in the buy cycle

• 7 out of 10 buyers say that they start their buying process at vendor sites, not Google

Source: DemandGen Report (http://ow.ly/1d82N)

Versus

• 93% of B2B buyers use search to begin the buying process

Source: Marketo (http://bit.ly/9O6pix)

If you think C-level executives aren’t active online, you’re sorely mistaken

• The Internet is the C-Suites top information resource (74% of C-Level executives say it’s very valuable)
• 53% of C-level executives said they prefer to locate information themselves
• The C-suite first turns to mainstream search engines (63%) to locate information
• 6 out of 10 C-Suite executives conduct more than six searches a day
• Executives in IT are the most prevalent users of the Internet for information gathering

Source: Forbes Insight – The Rise of the Digital C-Suite (http://www.forbes.com/forbesinsights/digital_csuite/index.html)

Client marketers are warming to the idea of social media, but many are still to act

• While 92% of client marketers agree that it would be unwise to ignore social media, 63% do not have a social media strategy

Source: The B2B Barometer (http://www.b2bbarometer.co.uk)

The relationship between Marketing and Sales in B2B organisations still remains fractious

• Sales generate 53% of their own leads and marketing contributes just 24%

Source: 2009 CSO Report (http://bit.ly/7EbaHS)

• 90% of marketing deliverables are not used by sales

Source: The New Rules of Sales Enablement (http://tiny.cc/jXRxX)

• 49% of B2B marketers confess to not measuring ROI

Source: The B2B Barometer (http://www.b2bbarometer.co.uk)

And if you still don’t get the whole social media thing, it’s worth bearing in mind…

• 89% of journalists make use of blogs while conducting their online research and 96% turn to corporate websites
• 56% said social media was important or somewhat important for reporting and producing stories

* Note: We have used and abused the above information, as the author insisted. A special thanks for the folks at Earnest Agency.

In tough times, promoting price cuts and discounts are obvious ways to stand out against the competition. But going the extra mile and getting into the head space of existing and prospective customers will really help you break through the barriers and secure business on an ongoing basis.

John Quelch, Harvard Business School Professor, says, “It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times.”

Knowing your market is critical. And, no other marketing firm in Canada knows the transportation sector better than Palmer Marketing (PM), a boutique-style agency located in Mississauga, Ontario. After specializing in the Canadian transportation industry for 22 years, they have the experience and insight to develop creative web, print and promotions to convey a meaningful and measureable message to assist their customers’ sales efforts.

It all starts with the PM Drill Down Deep process, where they discover what sets one company apart from the next. In a recession, you want to remain top-of-mind with your customers. Formalizing your key strengths and vision in your communications strategy will naturally present great opportunities for growth.

Sho-moves.com is a great example of PM’s recent work and Jason Faubert, President of Sho-Moves states, “Palmer Marketing took our branding to new levels with a fresh logo, tagline and web presence. In addition, they helped me reach out to customers in a new way. In the first week after the launch, I secured two significant contracts as a direct result of their marketing efforts. I would highly recommend them.”

Lee Palmer, President and Creative Director at PM states, “The greatest value we provide is our ability to take the ball and run with it…saving time and frustration for our clients. We keep the message simple, have it resonate with potential buyers and support it. At the end of the day, utilizing our services brings clarity and solidifies the actions necessary to move forward quickly.”

So, is it time to ramp up sales efforts and renew advertising support? Palmer Marketing says yes and suggests if you have the resources to promote yourself now, it will definitely come back to you. To Quote DJ Francis, “Now, ‘same’ is synonymous with ‘lame.’ The market demands change. This includes a change in the marketing you produce.”