In B2B we do business with people. It is the power to connect with the decision makers that secures existing customers, creates a loyal following and generates referrals. Customers might be fewer and more discrete than in the consumer world, but relationships are often stronger. These relationships need investment of both time and resource.
Social media intensifies customer and potential customer relationships. But building social media connections is more than enabling staff to access Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
Here are the first steps to consider when looking to your employees to engage with your customers:
1. Take one step at a time
Start by considering your customers: how they are using social media; where they discuss their concerns; and what the issues are. You will find that conversations do happen on the more prominent platforms like Facebook. However, many more can be found in communities that exist in forums and professional networks.
If you find a network of potential customers, you may consider engaging your sales force to start developing stronger relationships. If it is service issues that bubble through the conversation, then you might set a priority for customer service to be deployed.
But you should not let this be your only approach to social media. Responding and reacting to customer commentary alone does not connect you to your customers. Social media enables you to build a community. A community of media, analysts, suppliers, partners and customers – your very own focus group. This in turn creates an opportunity to collaborate, crowdsource and share ideas.
IBM has proactively encouraged employees to openly blog, tweet and engage with social media (without the need to regulate in the minutiae). As a consequence it has 17,000 internal blogs, thousands of external blogs, 200,000 LinkedIn connections and as many as half a million participants in its crowdsourcing jams.
2. Take responsibility
No matter what the rules, the company culture must adapt. You can explain the subtleties of the social media customer and you can set out inviolable rules, but ultimately a team that is actively engaged with what they are doing will be natural thought leaders. Best practice is to outline a framework for engagement. Recommend connections, suggest groups and platforms that might work, and set out potential conversation starters. Ema Linaker, Global head of online engagement at AVG, says, “Our communications on LinkedIn requires a clear framework that details the customer interests that inspire dialogue, the content that provokes engagement and the tools that facilitate the relationship. This provides a structure that ensures we maintain customer conversations with consistency.”
3. Be passionate
Not every employee is suited to social media. What you don’t want is a company where everyone blogs because they have to. You need people that are motivated by their involvement with social media. You want to build a culture where you are able to reward employees who participate and create an environment where others see the value in being recognised.
It helps if they are passionate about their subject. Xerox, for example, has multiple blogs that reflect several of the company’s core B2B capabilities. With 303,000 monthly unique visitors it is certainly having an impact.
If you are going to maintain momentum you will need senior level buy-in. Internal advocates and social media evangelism encourage greater executive accountability and responsibility. If it comes from the top, it accelerates the change needed for sustained social media communications.
4. Test and tailor
Social media is constantly evolving. As such it is essential to keep trying new approaches. Together you must experiment and then share what was learnt, set benchmarks, and assess the success of various communications.
For some B2B companies, social media is also integral to internal communications. Blogs and wikis have been set up to offer social media empowered employees to share insights and answer questions.
Of course, you will need to establish measurements at the beginning of each activity. It is best to measure at the start and then at intervals in order to evaluate success and provide clear next steps.
Making better business decisions
Active customer relationships will result in continuous, meaningful dialogue and a community that will feedback into the business. You will become more customer-centric as you create an open channel to stakeholders, partners, customers and influencers. The benefit is a competitive edge drawn from a clearer understanding of trends, greater customer insight and referrals borne from trusted connections.
Social media empowers your employees to better understand their customers and their end user. Managed effectively, the result is greater innovation, sharper sales and an opportunity to be in front of potential buyers, even when you are not face-to-face.
