Myra Norton Offers Hope to Businesses Who Want to Quantify Value in Social Networks
Baltimore, February 2008 — Community Analytics’ Chief, Myra Norton was consulted for the BtoB Magazine article, Social networks starting to click. Written by BtoB’s own, Rebekah Tsadik, the article focuses on the rapid growth of social networking in the business-to-business marketplace. Tsadik notes the need for marketers to quantify the value of social networking in a way that is relevant to an organization’s strategy.
Tsadik asserts that “b-to-b companies are borrowing social networking ideas from the b-to-c space while creating measurements and tactics to fit their own needs.” A joint survey by the Association of National Advertisers and BtoB last year showed that b-to-b marketers utilize social networks for brand-building and awareness.
Decision-makers use relationships to filter product and vendor information when making purchasing decisions. While some businesses assume they must go online to have conversations with these decision-makers and their connections, Norton argued that these relationships already exist offline. “In the business world, relationships that already exist offline may be nurtured through online social networks,” said Tsadik. Norton continued, “There’s a lot of value there because those sites are providing a platform that allows a dialogue and the relationships that happen between people to happen faster.”
Norton pointed to research and interviews that highlight the important differences in the social dynamics that govern sites like Facebook and MySpace, where people find ‘friends’ and create networks based on similar interests, versus those with a corporate focus. Furthermore, the article maintains that the focus should not be on creating networks but on engaging the networks that already exist. Marketers need to listen to their audience and meet them where they are.
Creating value from social network analysis entails a mutually beneficial relationship between an organization and its audience. After all, “This is not ‘Field of Dreams,’ where you build it and they will come,” Norton stresses.
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About BtoB:
BtoB, the magazine for marketing strategists, is the only publication dedicated to all disciplines of business-to-business marketing. In print and electronically, BtoB delivers the latest trends, best practice case studies, research, and analysis senior marketers need to develop a winning integrated marketing strategy.
About Community Analytics:
Community Analytics is a research organization based on the principles of social networking. We understand human networks and the roles they play in the decision making process. We offer customer engagement solutions that deliver measurable results in an ever‐changing and customer‐driven business environment. Through a combination of proprietary research and analytical techniques, Community Analytics helps you uncover these networks and create strategies to connect them with your brand.