People in B2B organizations are all too familiar with overused buzzwords (not to be confused with portmanteaus), jargon and marketing speak that prolong conference calls, fill up PPT slides and echo throughout the cubicle walls of businesses throughout the world. And with the rise of social media comes a tidal wave of new buzzwords for everyone to learn.
Using and understanding buzzwords seem to be a right of passage in business. Your buzzword vocabulary grows along with your years of experience. And, if you want to appear truly sophisticated, you can even make up new ones!
It’s disheartening when I see people attempt to prove expertise by buzzword intimidation. Shouldn’t we seek to collaborate, rather than alienate potential colleagues, prospects and customers? The best B2B marketers seek to distill down concepts to be as simple and straight-forward as possible when helping their clients implement programs that engage audiences and convert customers. The steps are simple:
1. Define what you sell
2. Determine how it is different
3. Explain why people should care
4. Understand the best way to communicate that information
To be fair, a lot of hard work surrounds these steps, but it gets even harder when you have to trudge knee-deep through the buzzword jungle.
Do you think it’s time to declare a National Day Without Buzzwords? What marketing buzzwords to you think are overused?
If you’ve read my previous posts on B2B Fishbowl, you know that I’m a big advocate for social media. I think it’s a great addition to marketing and PR campaigns and I always want to learn more about this ever-changing field.
This week, while implementing a new social media plan for a client, I wondered, when it comes to Facebook, is there a way to determine how much a Facebook fan is actually worth? Of course, I have other success metrics in the plan including measuring the velocity of fans within the first 30 days, visits to the fan page and number of comments or “likes” each week, but I was still curious about the value of a fan.
Through research, I found an article titled “How Much Is a Facebook Fan Really Worth?” It outlines a strategy from a firm called Syncapse that puts an actual dollar value on a Facebook fan. According to them, an average Facebook fan is worth $136.38. This was determined by asking fans of top brands on Facebook why they were fans of those particular companies and about their past and future buying habits.
I’m not completely sure that this conclusion is entirely accurate but, it’s interesting to see that companies are trying to put a value on a fan.
Have you ever put a value on your Facebook fans? What methods have you used to do this?
Most of us are at our computers or hovering over our laptops everyday and even into the evening. According to the National Safety Council, June is National Safety Month. The theme for this week is “Preventing Overexertion at Work and Home.” Granted it has more to do with jobs that require heaving lifting (sipping your latte doesn’t count), but it did inspire me to dig a little deeper into the subject matter to find something that us chair surfers could benefit from.
Check out these quick tips for ergonomic safety along with an entire checklist to ensure you’re working safely in front of your monitor:
Top of the monitor at or just below eye level
Head and neck balanced and in-line with torso
Shoulders relaxed
Elbows close to body and supported
Lower back supported
Wrists and hands in-line with forearms
Adequate room for keyboard and mouse
Feet flat on the floor
Did you have to adjust your posture or placement while reading through the list? I know I did.
Don’t you just love when you learn a new word that defines a concept you’re familiar with already? I recently found out that the formulation of a new word that blends two or more words or morphemes together is called a portmanteau (pronounced: port-man-too). Some everyday examples would be smog (smoke+fog) and brunch (breakfast+lunch). Corporate examples of B2B brand names include FedEx (Federal+Express) and NetApp (Network+Appliance).
Here at Canyon, we frequently use portmanteaus when developing new company names, product names, or even taglines to promote our clients’ businesses. In the B2B marketing space, where we are often charged with simplifying complex ideas, creating new words often helps avoid industry jargon and communicate multiple thoughts clearly to target audiences.
We even use this concept for our own business. Check out these portmanteaus that we’ve coined over the years based on the way we provide value to our clients:
Smartnerships (smart+partnerships): These are the relationships we have with our valued clients. Rather than a client/vendor arrangement, we forge intelligent, long-term partnerships with our clients.
Strategenomics (strategic+economics): This means, quite simply, developing marketing communications and branding strategies that result in tangible financial returns for clients.
Marketect (marketing+architect): This is the unofficial job title of all Canyonites, which speaks to their abilities to design and build integrated marketing communications programs that deliver measurable results.
Have you developed any new words to communicate complex B2B concepts? Can you wow me with a new Portmanteau word to describe your business? The best comment, as judged by me, wins a free ‘Buzzword Dictionary.’
Recently, I stumbled upon a new site that is still in beta testing called Readernaut by Nathan Borror. Readernaut makes the process of reading a little more interesting and fun!
The site is very easy to use. You sign up, create your profile, search for books and buy them directly online using Amazon, Google Books or BookMooch. They have books available in all topics including B2B marketing, design and leisure books.
Readernaut also allows you to create a list of books you are planning on buying and keeps track of the books you are currently reading. Then, Readernaut keeps up with how far into the book you are, and it allows you to rate books, record notes and share thoughts with others. But, I think the best feature of this site is the ability to follow other readers and see what they are reading. It’s a great way to get inspired. How neat is that?
And, as a designer, I must say the interface was designed beautifully. So go ahead and check it out for yourself here. If you are a book lover, this site was designed for you.
If you are new to the site and are looking for friends to connect with, make sure to find me at http://readernaut.com/renata.
