Keynote: ‘Social Media and B2B: How to Build Outstanding Advocacy’
Speaker: Yann Gourvennec
Head of Internet and Digital Media, Orange Business Services
Twitter: @ygourven
@growwithorganic on Social Media and B2B: How to Build Outstanding Advocacy
I love what Yann and his team have done at Orange Business Services. It is a fantastic example of how you can use social media to solve a problem and generate ROI in a B2B environment. It shows how social media is game changing because it allows you to do something that logistically would never have been possible before.
What I like even more about what Yann has done is that he has done it in a way that any business (large or small) could do it. He may not like my Blue Peter analogy, but its like he’s set up a social media cottage industry in the midst of the corporate world where digital sticky back plastic and virtual washing up liquid bottles are employed to build the equivalent of ‘e-advent crowns and electronic desk tidies.’
Here’s one I made earlier
There is one particular story he tells about how his team initially used Windows Media to create and publish heavily produced and edited videos before realising it was blocked by firewalls so none of his corporate clients could see it anyway. They scrapped that and started shooting ‘ one take only’ in house videos with little or no editing on YouTube - and hey presto – thousands of views!
As an open source advocate, this is something that really excites me! I think it gets to the core of what makes social media great. It is just so honest.
Using Social Media in B2B to create Advocates
In a previous talk, Yann points out that the problem with selling B2B services for Orange is that there isn’t just one person in any company that you have to convince to buy your services. You often have to convince hundreds of people that your product is the best.
This just wasn’t possible before social media, and where it was possible, it just wasn’t cost effective.
Yann uses social media to build advocacy within the organisations his team is selling to. By inviting them to watch videos and read content that is freely available on the net, Yann can reach people within organisations that he would otherwise not be able to reach and get them to turn from suspects to prospects, customers and eventually advocates for his product. Getting a potential client to watch a two or three minute video explaining your product or service is invaluable in helping them make a positive buying decision.
If you haven’t come across the customer loyalty ladder before it is is a way of modelling the steps you have to go through to get people to buy into and believe in your brand, product or service. It is a really useful (if a bit 'old skool') way of visualising the changing customer/client relationship in B2B and B2C.
Why Social Media?
Social media allows you to communicate directly with people on a one to one basis. People always respond better to people, (which is why word of mouth marketing is so effective), and an honest and open communication about your product to another person is a very simple but powerful way of getting your message across.
Social media is also permission or need based (most of the time). This means that social media reaches people who want your message. By using social media you can communicate with thousands of people for a fraction of the cost that you could without it, and avoid a lot of the issues that enterprise solutions may provide. Social media is open, so anyone can access it.
Using Social Media to build Advocacy in B2C
I have seen the same kind of activity in the B2C sector. Jack Wills, the college outfitters sent a surprise gift to someone I know who blogged about how much she loved them. This person Tweeted and Facebooked and blogged about nothing else for an age afterwards, and made sure everyone she knew also knew.
So I think Yann will put a powerful case for using social media to build advocacy. I would go further and say that Yann may go so far to say that social media is possibly the most cost effective way to build advocacy in B2B – although Email marketing still has big role to play.
What is even better is that using social media to build advocacy is not exclusive to B2B. It can be seen in B2C as well, so I think it qualifies as genuine P2P engagement.
Post your thoughts and we will add them the Likeminds stream. Do you think Social media is a good tool for building advocacy? Is it a great example of P2P? Have you got any examples? We are keen to have you opinions! Let us know what you think.
Subscribe to this comment's feed
written by James Moffat, February 24, 2010
-
- +0
-
-
written by Colin Winstanley, February 24, 2010
Colin Winstanley (SuperLiving & SuperVid)
-
- +0
-
-
written by Michele Price, March 03, 2010
Likeminds is a perfect example of how social media is something that starts with two people talking and grows from there. Love the picture of the ladder and stages.
-
- +0
-
-
Show/hide comment form
