One of the breakthrough ideas behind Web 2.0 (See Newsweek article: The new wisdom of the Web) is community building. It's all about me (the consumer, the customer). Instead of pushing content to the "assembled multitudes" like the old days, enlightened companies are trying to engage people.
Social networking sites like Flickr, MySpace, YouTube and Friendster are thriving with consumers because they are personally enriching – or entertaining – in some meaningful way. Can B2B technology companies engage in this arena? The answer is yes, and some already are.
A search on YouTube reveals early-days usage by some B2B technology companies. But don't go there expecting the world you live in. There's lots of junk to sort through. While "EMC" is a powerhouse brand in technology, on YouTube, EMC is a self proclaimed urban ninja. Oracle is a rock band.
Some companies, like Intel and Dassault Systemes, have posted their corporate TV ads on this site. Others are using YouTube to deposition competition. For example, you can find a video of Darren Entwistle, CEO of TELUS, making an inappropriate comment about Cisco Systems' John Chambers. It doesn't make Entwistle look good. Somebody posted this to YouTube.
Sun Microsystems and SolidWorks are all over YouTube, having seeded many videos on a wide range of topics, from highly technical, to customer profiles, to corporate content, to product demonstrations.
Yes, the B2B companies mentioned are "pushing" some of their content onto YouTube. But, a lot of the video content has been propagated by customers, which is a better way to go.
Social networking is community driven. Once videos appear, a different experience unfolds. Videos can be saved to "Favorites." You can add videos to groups. They can be shared with others. You can blog the video. It can be flagged for "inappropriate content." And you can vote with a five-star rating system. Static content becomes dynamic content.
A SolidWorks video on an eight year old inventor has a five-star rating and over 871 people have viewed it. The "pass along" aspects of social networking make this a very different medium from traditional B2B tech marketing.
This wave of personalization is also reshaping customer profiling.
Instead of assuming all customers are alike, some B2B technology companies are borrowing a page from their consumer brethren and investing more time understanding their customers. "Personas" (See article by Kim Cooper of Cooper Interaction Design: Perfecting your personas) are hot because they package customers in a way that enables companies to quickly visualize unique attributes.
Multiple personas are created to capture all major groupings of customers. So instead of talking about "customers" in general, companies can now visualize "Andrews," "Barbaras," "Ravis" and "Sophias." This helps them build communities, personalize communication and create more relevant dialogue.
Imagine how this kind of customer stratification insight can turn marketing – and messaging – on its head.
If you're selling anti-virus software, and "Sophias" (plus other personas) are important decision-makers, you can re-frame some of your sales, marketing and public relations messaging to make it a magnet to other "Sophias." Instead of focusing only on traditional tech media like Network World, for example, this insight enables you to create a subtle customer reference media opportunity (with the right "Sophia") for a publication like Working Mother, where other "Sophias" may notice.
It also enables you to write copy – for your Web site, a speech or a contributed article, for example – in a more engaging, personal style.
Another Web 2.0 advance some B2B tech companies are beginning to look at (and PR professionals should be nudging them toward) is adopting more online interactivity.
How many B2B technology Web sites provide interactive experiences for employees, customers, prospects, partners, analysts and the media? There aren't many.
We recently evaluated several leading software companies and remarkably, the only "pull" technique they all embraced was RSS. Only one was blogging. None of them were podcasting. Most of these software companies have annual revenues over $1 billion.
The playing field is wide open for most B2B tech companies to create more meaningful communities. It's not too early to start evaluating the viability of adding search, blogs, videos, photos, music, podcasts, maps, tags, wikis, message boards, social networks and even online payment.
This will differentiate B2B companies from their competition, engage stakeholders more emotionally and deepen brand affinity (See Buzz article: Building a high tech brand).
- Andy Beaupre
