B2B CMO’s Still Don’t Get Social Media

BtoB Online caught up with several CMO’s to get their take on what they are doing different this year versus last year. In short:

·         Trend to Online media

·         Much more use of social media in marketing programs

·         Greater use of rich media (i.e Video)

·         Using marketing tactics in a more integrated way to build thought leadership

·         Leveraging social media to bring the voice of the customer into play.

I’m very surprised at the number of CMO’s who use the term social media, marketing, and lead generation/sales in the same sentence. I have a hard time bringing social media into that context. Social media, in my view, is about the conversation first and foremost and in being authentic, transparent and honest in that conversation. Lead-gen, and sales are nice things that may, or may not happen, but to focus on those areas as the primary objectives of bringing social media into the mix still confirms to me that most of us in B2B marketing view social media as tactics instead of communication.

(Too be fair to all. These comments are short and may not represent the ideal context of their intentions)

Tom Haas, of Siemens, did say that their goal was to really support a conversation between their company and its customers and I think that is the right goal to have. I also liked the thoughts from Jack Mason, of IBM, who said that IBM has launched a new program using rich media to capture a much more personal, and real side of the people that make up the their brand. This is a brilliant agenda, in my view, as we too often hide behind technology, and don’t get the individuals that make the brand out in front. Of course it may be that I’m the one who doesn’t get it. Nuff said