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I like your approach-
Social media marketing is really all fluff as far as I’m concerned unless you can build your own thriving community. Only a few have done this, and it is seldom seen in B2B marketing.

Obviously the tech companies (Intel/Cisco) are early adopters, but it will be interesting to hear how the CDC managed to get approval for a social media project… new administration…?

You should grill Intel on their approach- what are they doing building communities and venturing into social media?!? They create a component of other products! Shouldn’t people like IBM, Sun, HP, etc. be the ones building user communities and putting a public face into the networks?

sounds like a great panel – will be sure to tune in.

Thanks Lance, will do. Be sure to tune in live or on-demand.

So what if you have discovered that social media can work…now how do you optimise it so you are getting the best ROI?
Thanks!

Great Sophie, have put this on the griddle Thanks to everyone who sent their questions in via e-mail – will try and cover them all during the live broadcast on September 24.

Isn’t social media mostly about *restricting* access on the Web to Friends, Followers and Fans? I don’t understand why marketers think a limited-access web page is a good idea.

“Isn’t social media mostly about *restricting* access on the Web to Friends, Followers and Fans? I don’t understand why marketers think a limited-access web page is a good idea.”

That’s the way a lot of companies are doing it, that does not necessarily mean that’s the correct way to do it. Most companies on social network are using social media the same way they are using other “traditional” media

That’s one of the main reason why companies should limit their use of traditional marketing departments and marketers in social media and have separate teams who understand social media, can leverage social media within the parameters of the company marketing and communication strategy

Social media is about openness, not restrictions, it’s about listening and engaging to your constituencies, not about broadcasting your ideas, it’s about influencing while building relationships.

Social media is a two way communication, not the beacon traditional marketers are used to.

Coming back to another of Jack’s points, concerning 1st gen wedsites, and I would also encompass websites in general. Companies had a golden opportunity to do social media marketing over 10 years ago when their customers and prospects were contacting them through their websites. Instead, they removed most ways to be contacted and cut themselves off from their constituencies

At the time, engaging one’s constituencies was considered a “waste of time, a waste of resources” I could never figure that out. 10 years ago, as we were introducing a revolutionary new product, I did the opposite, listened to, engage our constituencies (customers happy and unhappy, prospects, media…) to adapt our product and approach, reinforce or turn around their perceptions, turn them into evangelists. As a result, we achieved 30% penetration of our targer market and increase sales by 200%

Social media works if you are willing to be honest, listen, engage and build relationships.

You have to be willing to rethink how you measure and track metrics from company based to customer based. That change of mentality alone will do wonder for your business.

LaSandra, how did you get management support for your team? Michael, how did you gain support for your team?

How do you change the corporate culture from old-fashioned nose to the grindstone to ‘group source’ and participating online?

Were there any social media technologies that you found worked exceptionally well. Did you find any good tools to capture results/metrics?