Miriam Kutcher, VP of Marketing at IDC Insights was kind enough to sit down with me earlier this week to discuss the IDC Insights community.  Our discussion covered the community's goals, process, milestones, as well as success metrics for the community.  Miriam does of a fantastic job of talking about how she is linking the community to real sales at IDC! A video of our conversation is below:

To see the IDC Insights community in action, just visit: http://idc-insights-community.com or follow them on Twitter at: @IDCInsights.  You can find the blogging tips presentation that Miriam refers in an earlier post of mine: 10 Tips for Better Business Blogging.

I love the way Miriam measures her community's ROI through the SalesForce integration.  I would love for others to comment on how they are measuring their community ROI (if they are measuring it)?  

I've always believed that tapping into passions and open communications are the corner stones of success for digital engagement, community building and social media.   We hear about these successes within consumer focused and B2C social programs all to often.  P&G, Home Depot, Sharpie and H&R Block are all examples as well as New Marketing Labs' own B2C successes with Sony's DigiDads program and Citrix Online's WorkShifting.com.   Yet the same unique strategy of listening, storytelling and sharing that make B2C digital engagement programs a success hold true for B2B, perhaps even more.   They tend to be less well known for the unique nature of B2B which tend to be focused on addressing niche vertical market needs.  
 
Not every household needs an IBM Mainframe or a German engineered, industrial level, self-cleaning toilet system.  But you will find ideas and eventual success within B2B business by encouraging personal and professional interests from within the company's employee base who have a keen drive and unique knowledge to share.  A sense of humor, personal touch and authenticity help as well.

These invaluable resources have no unique title, hold no particular degree, years of training or experience and most often are not part of the communications or executive teams.  They are within your R&D, Customer Service, Product Development, Human Relations, IT, Sales, Training, Financial, Operations, Marketing, Branding and even Legal departments.

Emerging social teams within B2B companies today need to ensure they tap into all resources, divisions, departments and business units to educate and harness these invaluable gems.  Social media is not another department within a company.  No more silos.  Social media can become the digital bridge that runs through every touch point of a company and then out to your customers, partners, market influencers and industry.  This happens just like the energy of one of natures most powerful elements - water.  Tap into and harness it.   Identify those rich giving resources within your employee base - encourage, support them.

How do you tap into the your teams' potential and harness it?

Photo Credit: Post Scriptum