Here was the LinkedIn:Answers question:
If you have any examples of a blog or other social media tactics that have worked with gritty B2B markets–particularly where complex buying processes are involved–, I’d like to hear about them.
If you have an opinion about the value of social media communications aiming to reach executives in the B2B sector, please share it.
Here’s my response:
I think that the biggest hurdle that you’re going to run into is the “chicken and egg” problem.
1) Typically a legitimately recognized expert is a pretty busy person doing “real work”
2) A new blog takes quite a while to build an audience without significant marketing expenses (in the B2B space that can mean a lot of off-line advertising in things like trade journals, etc.)
So now you’ve got the issue of trying to convince an expert at your disposal to spend a lot of time writing a blog that for quite a while no one is going to even be reading.
Yet without a lot of good, targeted content no one is ever going to find or read the blog!
It’s like having someone with the gravitas of Einstein giving a lecture to an empty hall.
So I’d say that if you really want to make it work in a B2B space you need:
1) A writer that people really are going to want to read
2) A significant marketing budget to “prime the pump” until the blog starts catching on it’s own.
The good thing about this is that if you are in a very specialized / targeted industry it should not take long for your particular blog/site to start ranking well due to the long-tail, niche nature of what you’re writing about.
For instance, I’ve been involved in e-commerce and internet/next-gen marketing in the motorcycle and powersports space for over 4 years. I’ve recently started focusing on providing consulting services on a more formal basis.
It’s a total B2B play where I’m writing to/for the OEM’s, disti’s, and retailers/dealers in that space.
Because of the sort of mom-and-pop nature of this market, I have the distinction of currently being sort of one of the only “experts” that’s focusing on this niche.
Good news: if you Google “motorcycle e-commerce” my site www.radicalpowersports.com is #1 after only like 8 months in existance
“Bad” news: there’s not a lot of people looking for this stuff now. So I sort of feel like I’m talking to an empty room. the upside is however that when someone does stumble across my little site, they are VERY targeted, and VERY interested.
But I also write for the leading offline trade publication for the motorcycle and powersports dealer community so I’ve got that offline leverage that helps drive qualified traffic.
So, there’s some general info from my own experience. Without more specific information on what market you’re looking to play in or what your specific goals are with regards to providing the information in question that’s about all I can offer now.
If you wanted to provide more information on what you’re looking to do specifically you might be able to get some more actionable ideas.
I’ve provided a link to a pretty good SearchengineLand post on B2B blogging that you might find useful.
Links:
Tags:B2B, blogging, consulting, LinkedIn-Answers
Here was the LinkedIn:Answers question:
Who is the BEST SEO Consultant out there?
I am looking for the best SEO consultant out there, to work with me on a content driven lead gen property we are working on.
This can be paid in Cash / Cash + Equity
This was my response:
There are some good recommendations here obviously, but I think it’s very important that you understand the scope of your question. I’m not trying to be pedantic, and if you already know this stuff then that’s great.
Fundamentally good SEO (and to a large extent SEM) is based around having a good site to begin with. That all comes down to having good content.
From there all the rest of the “stuff” comes into play:
-On page factors
-Intrasite link structures
-quality links to your site from outside with good anchor text
-Properly managed server infrastructure with all the appropriate redirects (if necessary)
-Good site hygiene (lack of duplicate content, etc. etc.)
In addition to that basic fact, SEO is VERY market dependent. If you are trying to compete in an area with highly sought after keywords, it’s a much harder row to hoe. If you are in a niche or long-tail market, it can be much easier. Obviously the nature of the market and the inherent difficulty of the SEO effort in each will determine how “best” you need.
Keep that in mind when you get recommendations as well. Someone with a niche site could have used Person X and gotten great results, but that same person in a more competitive market could have failed miserably.
As you’re evaluating an SEO consultant just be VERY careful of anyone that promises a certain result or rank. They can do all the “correct” work and it can still take a long time to see the results on your site.
That said, if you have the bank account to support it, the two heavy-hitters I’d look at are:
Bruce Clay (www.bruceclay.com)
Stephen Spencer (www.netconcepts.com)
Both of these guys/companies have a much more comprehensive outlook and toolset than a lone SEO consultant can provide not to mention the years and years of man-hours of experience that they can bring to bare on your problem.
I don’t work for them, and I’m not paid to shill for them. I’ve just seen them talk numerous times at shows like Search Engine Strategies, Internet Retailer, eTail, etc. and I’m always blown away by their presentations, and I’ve yet to meet a client of theirs that was not amazed with their results.
I write for and consult to the motorcycle and powersports market (www.radicalpowersports.com) which is a pretty niche space, so perhaps my outlook is different than say a large consumer goods space.
But I’d suggest starting with these top guys and if they don’t work for you, I’m sure they can point you a good, trusted company that would fit better for you.
Good luck, and my the Google gods smile on your efforts!
Links:
Tags:consulting, LinkedIn-Answers, Search Engine Optimization, SEM, SEO
I just discovered this pretty cool feature on LinkedIn called LinkedIn:Answers. It’s a public forum where LinkedIn members can post questions and then other LinkedIn members can post their answers. Now one would hope that (at least for now) the LinkedIn community is a little higher class of people than the general unwashed masses out there on the interwebs so the quality of advice you’d get would be a little better as well.
I’ve decided that it might be kinda cool to try answering a few questions that I think I can offer a valuable viewpoint on and see what happens.
I’m creating a site tag for LinkedIn-Answers where I’ll cross post the questions and my answers.
Tags:consulting, LinkedIn-Answers
