What’s in Your Plan for 2008?

  Over the last several months I’ve been reading about how new media might apply to B2B Marketing.  With the announcement of Open Social support from Linkedin (http://blog.linkedin.com/blog/2007/10/linkedin-open-s.html), it seems every day there are leaps and bounds towards creating new interactive environments for professionals and thus, for companies engaging to reach those individuals.  Still, it’s not always clear how to leverage these new ecosystems for clear return on investment.

 There are a few sentiments that seem to commonly weave their way into almost every posting/article on the topic of new media and B2B marketing: 

• Social networks, community email groups and independent blogs are the first in a long list of tools that individuals will use to form their own communities to pull information, rather than be the victim of push by marketers.  Some industry experts are predicting that smart filters will enable users to avoid unwanted information altogether (see http://www.conversationagent.com/2007/11/web-30-artifici.html )
• Marketing efforts are generally perceived to be evil (see bullet one) due to the constant and annoying push of promotions.
• Marketers must change their way of thinking to engage in a two way conversation with their constituencies in order to both offer value, resolve customer service issues and glean product requirements.

 So what’s a B2B marketing exec to do?  Warnings abound about waiting to jump into the fray of new media.  No doubt these execs are struggling to resolve serious cultural and practical issues around control of messaging, resource allocation and a fundamental strategy change that will have ripple effect on every function in the company.  If I was running a B2B marketing organization right now, here are the questions I’d be asking myself about integration of new media techniques in my 2008 marketing plan: 

• What new media venues are my clients and prospects using and which are the most trafficked?
• By starting a direct and open dialog with my constituencies online, what risks do we incur and how can we mitigate these risks?
• What resources should I allocate to new media as opposed to traditional marketing efforts?
• What new media are my competitors using?
• How can I measure the success of new media efforts?
• Do I have the talent on my staff to manage new ways of communication and promotion?
• How might my proposed changes effect the sales organization and processes?  Product development? Customer support? Other groups?
• What consensus do I need to build with my peers, my CEO and the Board of Directors for any significant changes in marketing strategy using new media?

 I thought I’d outline what I’d recommend for B2B companies to do right now about new media, starting with participation in social networks.  Check back here in a bit and I’ll compile a list of actions that I think you should take in early 2008.  How aggressive you will be will depend on your style, your audience and the tolerance of company for such changes.

What new media activities do you have in your 2008 plans?  I’d love to know.