Why B2B Companies Should Be On SlideShare

SlideShare, the social media network that hosts online presentations, is kind of the unsung hero of the B2B world. Maybe it hasn’t exactly caught fire precisely because so much of the content is B2B-focused.  The truth is that SlideShare is one of the most useful, if not the most useful, social media network for businesses that need to educate prospects about their products and services in a fun, engaging way.

Buzz Words – Past, Present & Future

Behind every brand, there’s a message. And, in that message, you can usually find choice buzz words that companies have carefully chosen in an effort to draw in consumers and stay current. By attaching their brands to catchy jargon or popular, new phrases, companies hope to stay top of mind and while promoting a positive image.

As noted on a recent CBS news segment, in the 1980’s, one of the most popular buzz words was ‘real.’ As Ronald Regan became president, people wanted to reflect a more rugged image and brands picked up on that very quickly. For instance, beef came out with a new slogan “real food for real people” while other companies like Winston’s cigarettes followed suit with an ad claiming “real people want real taste.” However, people’s enamor with the word ‘real’ was lost as reality shows gained hold of pop culture.

What the Heck is a QR Code? [STATS]

Have you noticed an odd square icon cropping up on more and more packages and advertisements? It almost looks like a bar code that’s been scrambled into a cube of nonsense. Well, these matrix-like squares are actually codes – QR codes to be exact – and were first used by the auto industry in 1994 to track car parts during the manufacturing process. They were found to be extremely useful because of their fast decoding capabilities and high storage capacity.

Social Media Tug of War – PR vs Marketing [STATS]

Online marketing tactics have been all the rage for quite some time now and the surge of social media has boosted its priority even further among many companies. But when it comes to implementing a social media campaign, who gets to sit in the driver’s seat – PR or marketing?

In the most recent Forrester Research Interactive Marketing Forecast, social media marketing is predicted to grow at an annual rate of 34 percent through 2014. This is faster than any other form of online marketing and actually doubles the average growth rate for all online mediums.

New research from AMI Partners shows that around 70 percent of SMBs actively use social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn to promote their companies with 61 percent of medium sized businesses maintaining that social media is a strategically important element to the success of their business.

So, with social media clearly still on the rise and infiltrating company business practices more and more, again, I ask, who takes control of social media efforts – PR or marketing?

Well, according to the sixth Communication and Public Relations GAP study, over a quarter of companies put PR in charge of 81 to 100 percent of social media budgets instead of marketing. PR was given strategic control of social media campaigns for nearly 25 percent of respondents, compared to only nine percent who gave control to marketing. What’s more, just over one-fourth of respondents said marketing has no budgetary control at all and approximately 22 percent said marketing had no strategic control.

In PR Week Lab’s recent virtual event, I attended a session by John Bell of Ogilvy PR and Scott Monty of Ford Motor Company in which they asked attendees who leads their social media programs within their organizations. The results showed PR taking the lead over marketing yet again. The poll found about 35 percent of companies entrusted their social media campaigns to communications and PR departments whereas only around 20 percent allowed marketing teams to run their social media programs.

Why is this? Isn’t social media another online marketing tool?

In Shel Holtz’s recent article, he notes some good reasoning on the subject from Jerry Swerling, who brings across three main points:

• Social media require a non-commercial approach
• Social media use dialogue to interact, not monologue
• Social media are free form, not controlled

These characteristics are ingrained in PR and communications, whereas marketing is a more controlled environment that may not be as able to adapt. PR professionals are naturals at conversation and relationship building, which is what social media is all about. And companies are clearly recognizing this by handing PR the reins.

Who do you trust with your company’s social media efforts?