How to successfully engage customers and partners in B2B online communities.

The acceleration of Web 2.0 has raised awareness with marketers of possibilities that reach beyond old fashioned push-based marketing. Of particular interest has been word of mouth marketing that leverages online communities.

However, many marketers are approaching this new channel with caution and with good reason. All of us have heard stories about online community programs gone astray and of the impact of word of mouth messages travelling through online communities.



Interview with Norm Johnston, Modem Media


Companies within a B2B arena face different challenges online to consumer-focused organisations. This interview with Norm Johnston, European Managing Director of Global Interactive agency Modem Media focuses on the new challenges around the shifting digital arena, particularly in the area of social networking.

1.What are some of the key trends you see in B2B marketing and B2B online media?

There are a couple of key trends that are emerging in the B2B marketing space. First of all, digital marketing is becoming the primary means of communicating to the business segment.

Why? Because the Web is the place where they get most of their information today, where they spend most of their media time, and where they feel they get the least biased and most relevant information.

Year on year digital continues its dominance over other media among difficult to reach C-Level executives. 56% of C-levels say that the web is the most important source of information on business. That is up from 38% just two years ago. The Web has a long lead over other channels, such as newspapers at 19%, trade publications at 11%, and TV and radio both at 4%.

Our C-Level market also spends 33% of their total time on the Web, excluding emails, compared to the next highest TV at 22%.

It is no surprise therefore, that the best way to reach the business audience is through the digital world. As we say “fish where the fish are”.

The other phenomenon, which the B2B marketer cannot ignore, is the rapid growth of communities and social networks. These communities may be completely independent, or can be hosted by the marketer in order to gauge feedback and build advocacy directly with end users.

2. Can you tell us a bit more about communities and social networks? What are they and what should B2B marketers do?

At its most basic, an online community is an environment that enables a dialog between people to share information and values over the Internet. It is a forum used to discuss, learn, share, socialize, or problem solve on topics that are of common interest to a group of people.

There has been a great deal of press about social networking, but it focuses primarily on the consumer market. Sites like myspace.com and flickr.com are often cited as being key influencers to large groups.
What is less well known is that communities are also critical in the B2B space. Networks have popped up across the Internet for the professional community and have a large impact on how parties are making purchase decisions.

This is not only limited to lower level employees or strictly technical workers. Increasingly, C-Level executives are joining these communities to learn about products or services and also to validate their decisions. More often executives have to present their purchase recommendations at the highest level (e.g. CEO, Board of Directors). Information that they can get from their industry peers is valuable to help validate their conclusions.

Setting up communities for decision makers, though, is tricky. You have to be careful that the integrity of the site is not tarnished because a branded company is involved. At the same time you want to ensure that visitors do not feel deceived that you are hiding your sponsorship. By offering a place for experts to come together and seeding the site with product information you can avoid this problem.

Here are some interesting facts from on of our IT clients relating to communities:

• Over 3/4 regularly utilise online communities as a substitute
• 9 out of 10 turned to online communities to help better understand new client technology introductions and potential benefits
• Over half of C-suite level respondents felt more comfortable turning to online community sources (vs. manufacturer site) to research a product and make a final decision
• EMarketer also reports that 39.1% of B2B buyers turn to online forums
• newsgroups or communities first when researching IT solutions.

3. Do you have any advice for the B2B marketer who’d like to start an online community for their product or service?

Absolutely. We have worked extensively with our clients to build and promote communities, such as 'the hive'

What can your community be? They can take the form of Newsgroups, Bulletin Boards, Chats, Blogs, or Forums, and can offer:

• Tips and tricks
• Troubleshooting help
• New product information
• Product or solution issues
• Collaborative projects

It is critical when setting up any type of community, however, that they are seen as not just self-promotion but as an enabler to interaction both between and directly with your customers.

It’s also important to remember that negative comments about your products or services may arise – while they are always difficult to view, these comments provide valuable insight enabling you to fix problems and/or de-bunk myths.

We’ve developed some best practice guidelines on creating compelling content for online communities. They include:

1. Content should be relevant to users and their needs
2. Content should offer value that other venues do not
3. Content should fit within the brand identity to ensure credibility
4. Content must be tailored to strike a balance between regional businesses and the global span of the Internet
5. Content should be updated and accurate
6. Content provided by the community and/or expert guest must be specific and easy to locate
7. Content should be easy to find and applicable to their needs as customers are pressed for time
8. Content from guest speakers are recognizable and well respected as users are wary of "expert" advice
9. Content should be actively promoted to ensure engagement and usage.
10. Content should be actively regulated and manage all information to ensure an optimal user experience

4. What about social networks and online communities that are not hosted by the marketer?

There is a lot of debate about this issue in terms of the marketers’ role in independent networks or communities. The biggest piece of advice that I can offer is to be honest and transparent. There is a real danger of negatively impacting your brand by pretending to be someone else or offering direct sales messages to visitors.

There is nothing wrong, however, with becoming part of the independent community yourself – listening to what is being said, and offering helpful advice when appropriate.

There is also an opportunity to build advocacy within independent networks. Why not offer active members ‘sneak previews’ of product launches or get them involved in R&D? That way, gurus can engage with your brand, and then come back into the community and provide independent, invaluable feedback.