Social media the answer to PLM marketing budgets?

At a time when it is more expensive than ever to rely on traditional marketing outlets like user meetings, mailings, magazine ads and call centers, the perceived “free” nature of online marketing is very appealing. Do PLM/design/engineering/analysis software buyers respond to social media outreach? And how “free” is it?

Social media is a blanket description of existing and envisioned technologies like on-demand webinars, websites like Facebook and Youtube, and contact mechanisms like LinkedIn and Twitter. In the old days, a press release might announce a new product release and be followed up by sales calls to key customers, “learning lunch” demos at field offices, exhibits at trade shows, media junkets to create buzz — all expensive to stage and staff.

Today, it seems, companies concerned about cutting costs are blogging about an upcoming release, creating a press release when the product is actually ready and putting a series of videos on Youtube to showcase the product while the company crafts live (which are recorded to become on-demand) webinars. The whole idea is to create buzz and then make the details available at the time a consumer might want to learn about the product. In the best scenario, a vendor wants customers to promote it themselves in social media venues such as fan pages in Twitter, MySpace or Facebook.

Like any business exercise, embarking on a social media project should be part of a marketing plan. What is the ultimate goal of a social media campaign? Product awareness, which could be measured in conversations held or fans added? Lead generation and sales, measured in dollars or wins? Something else? How does social media fit into the overall campaign? Whom are you trying to reach with your message? It seems to me that too many organizations are blogging and Facebooking because they think it necessary (and maybe it is) but with no clear intention in mind.

Social media should be used as a complement to traditional media and marketing. Once a customer is aware of a particular supplier, social media can help create a closer relationship that can translate into actual attention — especially if the supplier uses the medium as a way to listen rather than only talk. If social media increases the number of ways customers can interact with an organization and participate in some of its processes, it becomes a toolkit as important as the telemarketer. It is, therefore, possible that doing a good job in social media is not necessarily cheaper than going the traditional route — carrying on many conversations and blogging requires expensive, highly-trained resources.

But part of what all consumers expect when researching any supplier is its wider, public presence — which, to many (especially consumers over a certain age), means traditional media. And, I would argue, the larger the dollar amount of the transaction, the more important that becomes. Send a flyer, meet customers face-to-face, be a presence at a trade show, call to remind them you care. That’s crucial if your social media presence at this point consists only of “push” efforts.

How successful is social media in PLM? I don’t think anyone has cracked the mechanism. Most vendors are blogging, several have created Youtube channels and quite a few employees have Twitter conversations about business and personal matters. Much of the official content is useful: tips and tricks for using new releases, marketing communications, teasers for upcoming events or news. Autodesk seems the most successful if one counts views, followers, tweeps and the like. It’s quite possible that Autodesk’s business model (inexpensive products, in general, sold through resellers to a very diverse group of buyers) stands to benefit more from social media than would a more tightly engineering-focused vendor selling enterprise tools. Autodesk does, however, complement it online presence with advertising, user events and other, more traditional contact vehicles.

Twitter, Youtube and other social media techniques can increase the frequency of contact between buyers and suppliers, boosting visibility and perhaps strengthening relationships. It has its place, but shouldn’t be the only tool in the marketing arsenal. This is especially true in the PLM world, where purchases are often strategic and expensive and the buyers are generally older. How would you react if your PLM supplier didn’t show up at an industry trade show? You’d be concerned about their financial well-being and interest in your market niche. And that’s bad, even if they are on Facebook and blogging like mad.