This month I attended the Automotive Marketing Research Council‘s Spring Conference in Marco Island, Florida. The conference, titled “Surfing the Waves of Uncertain Economic Recovery,” focused on forecasting financial information for members in the industry.
The pool of presenters included super savvy market researchers who shared forecasting data that would blow consumers’ minds in terms of what companies are able to gather on their buying habits. And then there was me. My topic was “The Age of Conversation: Bringing Social into Business.” Beyond the stats of usage and volume and trends, I had just one forecast that is nothing new in media and marketing: this is your new way of doing business.
I made a big assumption walking into a room of 30+ executives from all walks of life in the automotive industry. I was sure that I needed to convince this group that their participation was required in the world of B2B social media. I quickly discovered, as the conversation only moved through my first two slides, that not only did they not need convincing, they were already putting it into play and were looking for bigger conversations about how they could affect the industry at-large to make real changes for how marketing and community get done.
When I say that they were “already putting it into play,” I’m not referring to Facebook fan pages or Twitter accounts. The “big 5″ manufacturers are following Ford’s lead to take social media head on (for better or worse) and it’s clear that members of the AMRC are paying attention to their successes and pitfalls. But, what I saw happening in the conversation in Florida was much more telling than a social media campaign. These executives were highly engaged, supportive of each others’ views and committed to building a community in the industry intent on strengthening their future existence in a scarily edgy commodity-based industry.
In contrast, another conference that I recently attended for a different industry is taking on the community philosophy with fear and protectiveness. I saw little gratitude or openness in that environment and, as a result, I have different forecast for them: casualties and early termination.
If anyone tells you that B2B is not “getting it” with social media, keep looking. It might be true in one industry but it is not true across the board.
Comment with Facebook
Posted by:
Brent Robertson
Email the author:
brentr@fathom.net
Leave a Comment
Thanks for the sensible critique. Me and my neighbor were just preparing to do a little research about this. We got a grab a book from our local library but I think I learned more clear from this post. I’m very glad to see such excellent info being shared freely out there.