As I reflect on my notes for these fab five posts my personal feelings about Facebook are coming to the surface. This is not by design I assure you; I simply don’t see how Facebook ties to B2B…at least for the time being.  I don’t see Facebook being a threat to Linkedin nor do I see Google + as being one to the big three (Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter).  

 

Also, as us marketers start to look towards mobile as a channel to promote and engage we need to recognize that people don’t want to see ads pushed to their smartphones.  My recommendation is to think about how you can re-purpose existing content from the web and package it in to an app.  

 

And finally, I am very concerned when read stories that penalizes women for being Moms! If a Dad posts a photo of his baby girl on Facebook is that a career limiting move too? 

 

If you want to chat with me on this topic connect with me and I’d be happy to have a conversation with you.

 

Our Favourite Posts for Week of Apr 23, 2012

This article asks whether Branchout, a Linkedin like application for Facebook, will become a serious competitor of Linkedin? From a B2B perspective my answer is no. Linkedin and Twitter are the two core social networking platforms B2B companies should look at using (there are initial things they need to do prior to jumping in though) as part of an engagement, networking and community building strategy. Facebook will never, in my view, be a place where serious buyers will “hang out”.

 

I find this very disturbing to think that women would put their careers and professional advancement at risk because they post pictures of their newborns on Facebook. I’m seeing firsthand how a couple of women are successfully balancing being a mom, wife and business professional. In my view, the fairer sex is also the stronger by far.

 

Twitter has implemented it’s own link shortening service (t.co) which now better measures referral traffic from Twitter to your site. In the past Twitter traffic was being recorded as direct traffic when using client applications like TweetDeck.

 

Google has and continues have trouble with social networking related products. Prior to Google + there was Buzz and Wave and they flopped. From a B2B perspective I have yet to find an application and use for Google +. But, my advice is to experiment with Google + or at the very least keep an eye on it.

 

Are we surprised that consumers, (us) are turned off by advertising to them via their mobile phones? If you’re a B2B marketer thinking about jumping on the “mobile advertising” bandwagon bear in mind that some consumers are now using their smartphones for work. Don’t add to the noise and advertising. Instead think about your audience and helping them be successful. Create opportunities where they can learn, maybe connect with peers and improve the quality of their work and work experience…and produce results. [Promotion: If you are interested in a simple way to deploy mobile quality apps that leverages your web content try apps.Now mobile. Disclosure: I'm working with them]