Check out this video from last year that documents Arketi’s 2010 New Year’s Resolutions. How’d we do? Or better yet, how’d you do?

eMarketer recently reported on the findings of the “2010 Social Media Benchmarking Study” conducted by Ketchum and FedEx and presented data from SmartBrief and Summus. The article posits that while businesses engage in social media at different levels, the goals are relatively consistent across the board.

What struck me in the findings was the absence of one goal – according to the article none of the companies in the study (or too few to warrant inclusion in the story) are using social media as a means to drive revenue. It is worth noting, 49% did cite using social media to identify new business opportunities or leads – but anyone who has been responsible for driving sales revenue knows there is a difference between driving and converting leads.

I know social media purists will say that the channel is all about forming relationships, increasing awareness or growing the number of fans, followers and connections a business has. Personally, I think this is a case of practitioners creating objectives they can easily achieve, rather than setting objectives that create bottom-line results. For example, the top two objectives survey participants identified setting were: 

• Increase awareness and interaction with our brand
• Create a community for our customers and fans

I would venture to guess that by increasing their numbers of friends or followers these companies would say they increased awareness and interaction – whether they ever buy the company’s good or service. I would also assume the creation of a Facebook page or LinkedIn Group for the company checks off the second objective.

My response to achieving these watered down objectives: So what?

Unless social media can show a measurable business benefit (especially among B2B companies) I’m not interested in hearing about your new shiny initiative.

Am I crazy? Perhaps I’m too skeptical about the business benefits of social media? Have you used social media to great business success? If so, please leave your success stories in the comments section below.

Mike Neumeier, APR, principal of Arketi Group ( www.arketi.com ), a high tech business-to-business public relations and marketing firm, discusses the importance of thought leadership within an organization’s PR efforts.

Arketi Group, a high-tech BtoB PR and marketing firm, recently spoke with Chris Sweigart, reporter and director of social media for 11Alive, about the ubiquity of social media technologies and how reporters can leverage them to expand the traditional newsroom.

How many of you have started a blog with the greatest intention to write daily or weekly but over time the blog fell by the wayside when ‘real work’ got in your way? Let’s admit it – it happens to the best of us.

And it’s not surprising. With more than one million blogs tracked by Technorati, and more than 20,000 of those being business blogs, it is difficult to get noticed and create a following. Often companies redirect resources when they aren’t seeing immediate results. While that may be the right move, first ask yourself a couple of important questions:

1. How frequently do you post? The more you post, the more often your RSS subscribers get notified. The more often they are notified, the more likely they are to visit your blog.
2. Who are your authors? It is difficult for one person to dedicate themselves to an ongoing blog. Therefore, get your co-workers involved. At Arketi, every account person is involved in our blog.
3. What’s your expertise? While it is great that in today’s world my 10-year old cousin could blog, would he be the best source on entrepreneurship? I doubt it. However, Arketi’s principals could speak to it. In other words, talk about what you know. As an example, one of our VPs was previously an analyst; therefore his take on analyst relations is seen of high value.
4. Why would people care what you have to say? Using a conversational tone and tying your blog into an industry trend, makes you relevant and interesting. Even more important, pointing to industry research while discussing your own views on the subject makes your blog a worthwhile read.
5. How are you marketing it? If you think that people will magically stumble across your blog and start promoting it to their friends, you’ll probably be waiting for some time. Instead, market it! Link to it from your website, marketing emails, tweets and personal email signature. You can never remind people enough that there is current, relevant information available to them.
6. How are you measuring it? This is a common question we receive from companies wanting to start blogs. Some proven methods of measurement include the number of comments, page visits and RSS subscriptions.
7. How are you leveraging it? If you blog a great topic and leave it at that; you are losing out on a great opportunity. Blogs, especially when gathered from subject matter experts within your organization, are a hotspot of great ideas for newsletters, podcasts and videos.

Based on your responses to these questions, perhaps you should refresh your approach to blogging and see what it can do for you.

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Sami Jajeh, principal of Arketi Group ( www.arketi.com ), a high tech business-to-business public relations and marketing firm, discusses the importance of customer research in the positioning and messaging process.

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Mike Neumeier, APR, principal of Arketi Group ( http://www.arketi.com ), a high-tech digital marketing firm, discusses the importance of clear writing in todays BtoB marketing world. Additionally, Neumeier highlights three all too common mistakes in the world of business writing.

To examine these mistakes in further detail and learn additional insights on effective business writing, visit http://arketi.com/newsletter/newslett…

While BtoB buyers say price is what they care most about, do they really mean it? According to the recent study by McKinsey & Company, “The basics of business-to-business sales success,” the findings show that tech buyers’ behavior is driven more by a great sales experience than by price.

Customers said price is the most important factor in influencing their opinion of the vendor, yet when McKinsey’s research team of Nate Boaz, John Murnane and Kevin Nuffer dug into the data they found a disconnect.

“The most important factors were product or service features and the overall sales experience,” according McKinsey Quarterly. The research team found that getting these two elements right is necessary to have a high-performing sales force which often can boost shares of a customer’s business by an average of eight to 15 percentage points.

Especially interesting to BtoB technology marketers are habits the report identified as “most destructive” to the sales experience. Shockingly, 55 percent of those surveyed said two behaviors put them off the most, 1) failing to have adequate product knowledge and 2) contacting customers too frequently.

The percentage of U.S. and European tech BtoB customers selecting a given selling activities as “most destructive” are as follows:

35 percent     Too much contact (in person, by phone or by email) 
20 percent     Lack of product or competitive knowledge
9 percent      Lack of business/industry knowledge
8 percent      Sales style is too aggressive
8 percent      Forgotten and/or ignored after contract is signed
20 percent     Other*

*Comprises the following issues, each cited by <6 percent of respondents: inconsistent sales teams, slow response to sales-related inquiries, too little contact, no help in optimizing spending, no single point of contact available, no information sharing on matters specific to my business.The good news here is the two most destructive behaviors are ones that technology marketers can help change. As marketers we need to ensure that our organizations have uniformed and consistent messaging the clearly communicates true differentiation. But the work does not stop there.

We must make certain that the message is applied consistently to all communications tool from websites and brochures to sales PowerPoints and blogs. Next we have to ensure everyone inside our organization; especially our sales teams, embrace and can articulate that message.

Tackling the tendency to over communicate with prospects is also something marketing teams need to own. It is marketing’s function to establish the right communication pattern with prospects but it requires sales and marketing to work together. Seeking to understand prospects’ needs and the current stage in the buy cycle is necessary to strike the right balance in prospect communications. At Arketi we call this 3D Content Mapping and have found it to be invaluable in moving technology buyers through the sales pipeline in the most constructive way possible.

Technology companies that understand the role of these two behaviors – prospects’ needs and buy stage – in driving buyers forward have a competitive advantage. Marketers who actively work to ensure their technology company attains this advantage are truly helping their organization generate revenue.