Writing a book is certainly a mammoth task – but it’s one that some B2B organisations seem to be taking on willingly, in a bid to position themselves more effectively, or to bolster their thought leadership strategies. Take, for example, Eloqua’s Digital Body Language, Salesforce’s Behind the Cloud, and two recently produced ‘For Dummies’ guides – B2B Marketing for Dummies and Service Chain Optimization for Dummies, by IAS B2B Marketing and ClickSoftware respectively.
It may seem a surprising trend, given the migration to all things digital – often at the expense of print – and the sheer amount of work involved in writing and publishing a book. Why, then, are B2B marketers choosing to go down this route?
Rob Morrice, MD of IAS B2B Marketing, which published B2B Marketing for Dummies earlier this year, and 101 Clichés – B2B’s most notorious creative faux pas, last year, says that the rewards of publishing a book for thought leadership marketing purposes are phenomenal. “The book [101 Clichés] won us six industry awards,” he says. “It was the best thing we ever did. It’s given us a profile for being a creative agency that we never had.”
He estimates that IAS’ latest ‘For Dummies’ book cost around £12,000 to produce, but that the real cost, including the agency time involved, was around £25-£30,000. “But this is a pittance compared to the publicity you get,” he adds.
Simon Morris, vice president of marketing for ClickSoftware, which also produced a ‘For Dummies’ guide to help the company’s positioning, and to provide more structure to its thought leadership marketing strategies, agrees. “The cost of production was roughly £1 per book. I thought that was phenomenal value,” he says. “We’ve had enquiries come in directly linked to the book and we’re seeing new sales opportunities. We’re close to closing a deal this quarter with one client.”
Avoiding marketing speak
Marketing automation specialist Eloqua also opted to produce a book for thought leadership purposes. Author Steve Woods, Eloqua’s CTO, says that he felt there was a ‘story to tell’ about the wider marketplace. He explains that he was careful to ensure the book was not about product push – the word Eloqua, he says, is not mentioned once in the text.
The whole process took about 18 months but he is “100 per cent sure” it was worthwhile. The book’s title, Digital Body Language, is the number one search phrase people use to find the company online, after Eloqua and Eloqua.com. “It also gave us the opportunity for many press, media, and event conversations,” he explains. “We’ve used the book in a number of ways – as an e-book, in our blog, in our social media efforts, and for speaking slots. In combination, these efforts have seen the biggest generation of leads bar none this year.” Woods admits that the whole process was challenging, but says that the equivalent media spend that would have been necessary for the amount of publicity the book was able to generate would have been “huge.”
The book-as-marketing-tool strategy, however, does have its sceptics. Karine Del Moro, director of marketing at Net Promoter company Satmetrix, believes there are easier, and sometimes more productive, ways of producing thought leadership content – such as creating whitepapers or easily digestible content for use online, taking part in webinars, conferences and events. Satmetrix produced the book, Answering the Ultimate Question, with the aim of increasing the validity of the Net Promoter metric and discipline, and providing best practice hints and tips. Del Moro is keen to stress that there are no regrets about publishing the book, but that it was never created for use as a marketing asset.
“It was a costly, lengthy process – doing lots of interviews, compiling lots of research,” she says. “But our book wasn’t designed as a marketing tool. ‘Net Promoter’ isn’t something we sell.
“We spent several months writing and editing,” she adds. “We wouldn’t have done this just to collect a few leads. It’s a heavy, heavy task producing a book – there’s the cost of writing and editing, production, translation, logistics such as distribution. It has got to be from the heart.”
Woodson Martin, vice president strategy at Salesforce, also stresses that the editorial task of putting a book together is considerable. The editorial work on Behind the Cloud, which was published late last year, took about two years from concept to launch, he says. He believes that creating a book isn’t necessarily a ‘great idea’ for every company or every CEO, but believes that the investment was worthwhile.
Martin adds that, unlike many other B2B marketing tactics, where the message is tailored for relevancy to small target groups, books need to have widespread appeal to a large audience. Behind the Cloud, for example, is targeted at entrepreneurs globally, and outlines key strategies for business success.
Integration with ‘social’ strategies
It is important, say experts, to integrate a book within the overall marketing strategy. “It’s the entrance ticket, not the show,” says Eloqua’s Woods. Next time, he says, he would initiate a related blog at the same time as writing a book, since he believes doing so can provide a valuable test bed for ideas, as well as a ready-made audience. He explains that he often sends a copy of the book, with a personalised note, to key decision makers with which the sales team are in discussions. “Very often I’ll get a thank you note – people appreciate that gesture,” he says.
And the key to success, according to those who have done it, is to make sure you pick the right topic. The subject matter, they say, cannot comprise merely of loosely-disguised marketing material for your products or services – it must be more lateral, more creative – otherwise your book may get mistaken for just another piece of marketing collateral, of little value, and more than likely end up in the bin. “Over the last few years people have starting jumping on the bandwagon. It has to be a good book,” says IAS’ Morrice. “I hate it when people package case studies and try to masquerade them as a book. That isn’t a book, it’s a brochure.”
Those who’ve done it also agree that, despite the fact we live in a digital age, the printed word has considerable power and a perceived value. We can all find out specifics via the web, or obtain a copy of an agency’s client list online, they say, but through a book people feel that they are “really learning something”.
But any B2B marketer who decides to go down this route must remember that, in today’s digital world, it is crucial to offer the book in a variety of formats – whether via audio book, digital download, or with key sections presented on a blog. Eloqua’s Woods also recommends thinking about the impact of e-book readers, such as Apple’s iPad, and including links in copy. “Don’t get trapped into a purely offline media type,” he advises. “There’s an opportunity to be adventurous.”
It may not be for the fainthearted, but the fact that IAS and Eloqua are both already thinking about their next books is a pretty good indicator that, done well, writing a book for use as a marketing tool can be a successful strategy.
