Sarah Goodall, regional head of social media at SAP, will be speaking at the B2B Summit in June about how to build a social business. Here she reveals why B2B marketers need to shift away from simply focusing on campaign execution
What was your first B2B-related job?
My first job out of university was with IBM working in partner marketing. I felt so lucky to get my first career break in such a recognised brand and learned a lot about how global corporations operate.
Which B2B brand do you most admire?
I would say Hitachi. I worked for a division of Hitachi for a few years and have huge respect for the brand. It is steeped in history and stretches across so many different industries. I’m fascinated by how diverse the company is but what I admire most is the strong Japanese values that live within the culture of the organisation.
What is your favourite B2B ad campaign?
Adobe recently targeted me with a social media sponsored campaign that I thought was quite interesting. First, it offered great content, something that’s necessary for any successful digital campaign. Second, it targeted me via a sponsored Facebook post so a business engagement over a platform I typically use for personal communication. It just demonstrated how the lines are blurring between business and personal interactions.
What’s the best piece of marketing advice you’ve ever been given?
Think like you’re in the shoes of the customer.
What is your proudest achievement?
I’ve had some fantastic moments in my career but the one that sticks in my mind is early in my career when the small company I was working for won a prestigious technology award. I remember sitting at the awards dinner seeing our logo on the big screen thinking: “Wow, after years of hard work our business was recognised by the industry.” It was the best brand recognition we could have got for such a small business.
To succeed, a B2B marketer must…
Become a digital marketer. The B2B buying process has changed. It often starts with a Google search, some online research and recommendations from peers. We need to understand where our target audiences are online, listen to conversations, develop relevant content and engage with audiences when they’re ready. We have to understand the true value of social networking and not use it as another broadcast channel for our traditional marketing campaigns.
What’s the next big thing in B2B marketing?
I believe marketing has a huge opportunity to transform the business. Social networking now means every employee has become a potential brand advocate and sales connector for the business. I believe we need to shift our role in B2B marketing away from just campaign execution and look more to enabling employees, helping them use social in a way that drives brand awareness and deepens customer relationships.
What marketing challenge are you currently wrestling with?
I’m working with a team to lead the transformation of our EMEA sales force into a social selling organisation. It’s a huge task, but I love a challenge.
What was your last marketing epiphany?
It was at the start of 2013. I took part in a job rotation scheme within SAP and it made me realise just how powerful digital marketing can be when paid, owned and earned media work together.
