Tarun Khanna is the Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at the Harvard Business School, where he has studied and worked with entrepreneurs and investors in emerging markets worldwide.
In September 2014 he published his research on “Contextual Intelligence” found that most universal truths about management play out differently in different contexts and that best practices don’t necessarily travel.
His research simply repeats the implications on the phrase “Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast” wherein a best practice in one country or industry, does not necessarily bode well in another. Companies have repeatedly learned the hard way that unless they adapt—or even rebuild—their operating models, they won’t succeed.
Adaption to a new approach starts with jettisoning assumptions about what will work and then experimenting to find out what actually does work. One such change is the shift towards non-B2B networks to market products that were considered to be strictly B2B. This thinking comes at the heels of H2H, human to human selling, wherein we stop looking at people as information processing beings and more as human being capable of being influenced with emotions, regardless of the titles they hold (or thinking caps).
One way of approaching this, is to recognize that a business owner is more concerned with sales, while an employee is more concerned with sign-ups, engagement and footfall, as per his/her pre-set KPI’s. Another way is to acknowledge that your product may lead to executives becoming more accountable to business results.
We spoke to Phil Bienert, GoDaddy‘s Chief Marketing Officer to learn more:
Why do you think more and more B2B marketers are turning to social media?
Social media is universal. People from all walks of life engage in social media. GoDaddy is able to engage with our target customer – small businesses – on social media, just like a B2B marketer targeting enterprises could engage with their customers because, chances are, the influencer’s for the companies that you are trying to work with are there on the major social media sites.
What mechanisms help social media work well for B2B brands?
Social media allows for a two-way conversation, which is extremely valuable in a B2B relationship. Also, it allows you to see connections that you didn’t know existed with your customers, whether that be B2B or small businesses. For example, you might find out that you have a friend in common or that you and your client both love cricket!
What are the best social media sites to consider using for B2B marketing?
We’ve found that a large number of our small business customers are on Facebook. While that may seem to be an “old school” social media site, it’s where the customer is and, thus, it’s where we are. We also like to experiment with newer social media sites and tools. For example, we recently started using Periscope, the Twitter app that allows us to live-stream important events so that our customers can be there virtually. At the end of the day, though, which tool or site you are on doesn’t matter – social media is about connecting with your end customer wherever and however is most convenient for them.
To get involved please email Babar Khan. For more information on the B2B marketing power of GoDaddy, click here.
