FOUND the ROI of Social Media for B2B Marketers!
Paul Dunay is an award-winning B2B marketing expert with more than 20 years’ success in generating demand and creating awareness for leading technology, consumer products, financial services and professional services organizations.
Paul is the global vice president of marketing for Maxymiser a leading web optimization firm, and author of four “Dummies” books: Facebook Marketing for Dummies (Wiley 2009), Social Media and the Contact Center for Dummies (Wiley Custom Publishing 2010), Facebook Advertising for Dummies (Wiley 2010) and Facebook Marketing for Dummies 2nd Edition (Wiley 2011).
His unique approach to marketing has led to recognition of Paul as a BtoB Magazine Top 25 B2B Marketer of the Year for 2010 and 2009 and winner of the DemandGen Award for Utilizing Marketing Automation to Fuel Corporate Growth in 2008. He is also a finalist for the last six years in a row in the Marketing Excellence Awards competition of the Information Technology Services Marketing Association (ITSMA), and is a 2010 and 2005 gold award winner in Driving Demand.
Buzz Marketing for Technology, Paul’s blog, has been recognized as a Top 20 Marketing Blog for 2009 and 2008, a Top Blog to Watch for 2009 and 2008, and an Advertising Age Power 150 blog in the “Daily Ranking of Marketing Blogs.”
Paul has shared his marketing thought leadership as a featured speaker for the American Marketing Association, BtoB Magazine, CMO Club, MarketingProfs, Marketing Sherpa, Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG), and ITSMA. He has appeared on Fox News, and his articles have been featured in BusinessWeek, The New York Times, BtoB Magazine, MarketingProfs and MarketingSherpa.
Paul holds an Executive Certificate in Strategy and Innovation from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Computer Science from Ithaca College.
Paul,
Its amazing that social media had definitely hit the mainstream market, and yet so many people fail to grasp exactly what you’re saying. Look at using the media for customer support and the positive experience will go viral. Try to push your message, events or videos and your message will stop dead in it’s tracks.
I remember hearing a saying once, ‘customer service is the new marketing.’ If we take that approach than social media marketing is really delivering great customer service using social media.
A great post. Thanks for sharing.
@Mike – amen – I love that notion of Customer Service is the new Marketing – it can even go so far to be Customer Service is the new PR!
best
p
I could say this message has hit at the perfect time and has given me some great ideas for workshops to. Thanks as usal the tips here in your newsletter/blg are priceless. I have always been big on customer service but sadly many managers and owners look at it as a ower priority than a new sale.
@Mark – great I am glad you found it useful – thanks for commenting
I love this idea!
Are there any social computing companies that devote themselves exclusively to providing customer service?
Thanks!
@Jacqueline – not pure social computing companies but many firms large and small from Dell to Comcast to AT&T to Citigroup to even Avaya ;-))
What I love most about social customer service is that you can actually shift some of the burden to your customers and they will perceive it as an improvement. Engaging the customer on the front line — the person who has been through real-life situations and solved the problem — is the most powerful kind of customer solution. I laugh at how rarely are the questions on a customer support FAQ the questions *I* have. But when you peruse real customer questions, that’s usually where I find my best answers…from other customers.
From a business perspective, you’ve shifted some of the burden to your customers, decreasing your costs and improving your perception of responsiveness. A beautiful thing.
@Jonathan – Agreed – which is also why forums like the Apple forums where brand enthusiasts make it so easy for you to find an answer!
thanks for commenting Jonathan!
I think it’s important to point out that social media based customer support requires more than just agreeing on the strategy and opening the doors. Successful companies provide (at minimum) well-crafted membership programs that encourage and reward customer involvement and well trained company moderators who ensure answers are reasonably accurate and keep the conversations on point. Without these two elements,customer involvement is hit and miss, and unhappy–and very vocal- customers can ruin your brand.
@Marty – I love your take on this – yes that’s the next layer down as far as specificity of a social customer support program – we started with a few trained people (including me) to do support and we are now institutionalizing it within the firm. We dont do a membership plan per say but we have done an “advocate” plan with Zuberance.
Using social media as a customer service tool is a great way to utilize it. Often people jump into social media without a strategy, but this is a great one. Customer experience with a brand is very important when it comes to long term success.
@Nick – thanks for the comment – yes customer experience is the key especially as we scale social media and social customer support!