The Social Sandbox: Converting the haters
By Randy Mitchell “I hate social because my customers hate social. They’re engineers. They deal in facts, not fluff.” - Industrial Product Director “Social media is a popularity contest. We don’t need likes. We need leads.” - Entertainment Services Company Owner “Our products are SaaS. That’s a big investment. We sell to the C-Suite and they are not on Twitter.” - Technology Marketing Manager “Social is for branding. Social is for buzz. Social is not for B2B.” - Food Ingredients Regional Sales Director Sound familiar? If you believe social media is a waste for your B2B marketing mix, you’re not alone. Many B2B decision makers are devout social haters because they think it’s not substantial, serious and it doesn’t drive
The Social Sandbox: Blurring the lines
By Randy Mitchell Editor’s note: This is the first article in an occasional series covering the turbulent world of social media for businesses. We’re calling this series The Social Sandbox. This time we dig in to the shifting perceptions of LinkedIn. The vitriol is pulsating from the comments. A highly vocal section of the social community is up in arms and they are storming the castle from all sides. “What happened to my LinkedIn?” “I thought this was the PROFESSIONAL network.” “When did LinkedIn become Facebook?” “I hope Elon Musk buys this network and shuts it down.” “If anyone wants me, I’ll be on GlassDoor.” “#LinkedOUT” Why is LinkedIn under fire from the people who used to cherish it as
How to avoid the dweebinar
By Randy Mitchell This is the story of an accomplished professional. She always had interesting points to make about her industry, company, and other important topics. People respected her opinions both inside and outside of her firm. They honored her with glowing terms, like “subject matter expert,” “mentor” and “innovator.” But one fateful morning, she transformed from being a thought leader into a dweeb. How did this travesty happen? The sad truth is she gave a dweebinar and the whole industry was watching. At this point, you’re probably asking, “What is a dweebinar? And why should I care?” Both good questions. First answer: A dweebinar is a webinar that goes from being informative to intolerable because
When B2B goes off the rails
By Randy Mitchell There are some moments when the world of B2B does not make sense. Thankfully, these meltdowns are few and far between. I had one of them last week and I’m still reeling. My moment of madness happened because I read the following statistics from Hubspot: 73 percent of B2B firms have increased their marketing spending in 2022 63 percent of B2B firms do not follow a formal marketing RFP process The first stat made perfect sense. The second one is stupefying. Let’s say you work at a B2B firm that’s planning a major marketing initiative like a social media program launch, website redesign, video production or full-on rebranding. What’s the first logical step
Better than a Super Bowl commercial
By Randy Mitchell Every spring, my pushy Aunt Captious corners me with the same question: “Do you have any Super Bowl commercials in the works, hotshot?” Every spring, I sheepishly give the same answer: “Well, no. You see, I work at a B2B agency, and our clients don’t waste millions of dollars on a single commercial. But we do create a lot of great videos for them.” “Videos?” she laughs. “Who cares about videos?” That usually ends the conversation, and I slip quickly away. But just once, I want to boldly proclaim: “Listen Auntie dear, the last multimillion dollar spot I worked on took eleven months to produce. And when it was finished, it
Lost lessons from the creative brief
By Randy Mitchell If you were a student in my marketing class back in 2009, I am deeply sorry. Like a fool I stood in front of you and babbled on about strategy, concepting, workflows, tactics and the emerging role of social. And somewhere in that caffeinated wall of words, I devoted 30 seconds to the creative brief. Wait, what? It may provide little consolation now, but please know that I have learned my lesson. Over and over again. The creative brief is a topic that everyone wants to discuss in depth. In fact, it has become a focal point in every class I teach, from MBA level marketing down to creative basics. We debate the creative
The Tagline Tarpit
By Randy Mitchell The place: Prehistoric Los Angeles The event: The very first marketing meeting A small group of Paleoindians is gathered around a rock. They are locked in a heated debate over a timeless marketing question: “What should our tagline be?” The meeting drags on and on. It’s an epic decision and consensus seems eons away. Before they realize it, the meeting’s momentum begins to fossilize. Literally. Our intrepid marketing ancestors have been entirely engulfed by thick, black goo. I cannot confirm that this actually happened in ancient La Brea. However, I have empirical evidence to prove that the tagline tar pit is real. Agencies and clients frequently disappear into the primordial ooze of trying to
Want the best work from your agency? Use the Magic Document.
By Randy Mitchell You’re a reasonable marketing professional: smart, productive, and you have great taste in blogs. You work for a reasonable company: they have important programs, big plans, and they were wise enough to hire you. So, when your company’s leadership team makes the all-important decision to bring in a marketing firm, it’s only reasonable to expect the agency’s best work. But will that expectation truly materialize? Far too often the answer is no, particularly when it comes to B2B marketing. The relationship starts well enough. Everyone seems to connect, and the agency promises a quick ramp up and real progress. “They actually get it,” growls the company’s tough CEO, and everyone is smiling. Then
B2B marketing trends among friends
By Randy Mitchell What are your go-to resources for the latest B2B marketing trends? Popular options include HubSpot, Digiday, Forbes, the ANA and LinkedIn. But those industry experts only represent the top level of available insights. If you truly want to dive deeply into emerging B2B marketing trends, there is a data deluge just waiting to wash away a few hours of your day. For the sake of brevity and your busy schedule, I’m proposing an entirely different approach to trendspotting. Let’s call it: “B2B marketing trends among friends.” That title is appropriate because the driving forces behind these particular trends are our clients and contacts, and all of the topics we’ll cover are
The marketing elephant in the room
By Randy Mitchell It can crush budgets, trample timelines and smash strategies. It has a nasty habit of monopolizing planning meetings, status calls and your lunch hour. It packs about 13,000 pounds of angst, and it just landed squarely on your shoulders. What is it? The marketing elephant in the room. Every B2B marketer has one. I’m talking about the massive program that gets assigned to you as coworkers sigh audibly and avoid your glance. From that day forward, your pachyderm of a project will follow you around the office, onto the bus, and sometimes, it even comes home with you. Maybe your elephant is a social media program. It can be a beast to develop