The need for online communities in businesses is growing, particularly in the B2B sector. In the spirit of transparency and Web2.0 thinking, I have decided to publish this document that goes through the planning stages for a social media network.

Whether you feel there is a need to allow your customers and partners to interact more closely, whether you need a bug fix tracking system or a wiki where experts can post best practice applications, you may well find that a social media network will fit the bill and improve the interaction between you and your customer base. Going forward, do you need a blog, wiki, forum, or combination of these? Maybe it is something completely new.

A lot of this information is based around the research conducted by Forrester, and in particular the technographic ladder they have developed:

I would encourage you to read Groundswell, if you haven’t done so already. It is packed with action plans and case studies that are particularly useful at the planning stages.

This document should help you during the planning stages to isolate exactly what community you can sustain. It will also help when you sit down with one of the miriad of vendors out there, to help identify whether their solution will work for you.

View Social Media Network Requirements (Google Doc)

If you are new to the area of corporate blogging, or are just considering where this tool fits in the marketing mix, then this post could be for you. Pros and cons of corporate blogging are discussed in equal measure, and there’s a bunch of useful links to launch into.

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If you are a marketer working in the B2B tech field, you’ve probably noticed there’s a dearth of marketing studies in this area. eCommerce reports are ten to penny but precious few researchers seem interested in this area.

For that reason I was particularly happy when I came across this report by Enquiro entitled ‘Marketing to a B2B Technical Buyer’. There are some great stats including research such as this into top online influences:

So if you are interested in more figures in this area, go ahead and download the report now!

(Just to be clear, I’m in no way associated with Enquiro)

Forrester have really stirred the pot this time. In a recent B2B study, they note that the number of companies seeing corporate blogs as a key marketing channel is decreasing (year on year). A number of blogs have picked up on this, and it’s interesting for Forrester to take such a sombre tone, given their penchant to evangelise social media.



The one thing they point out is that blogs are often ill thought out and the reason behind starting a blog is not fully fleshed out. If the blogs start out with a clear objective, they are far more likely to succeed.

 

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