Communities on the web: what good are they when they are in a rut?

Lynda St-Arneault – May 19, 2016

Recently, Exo B2B took over the management of a LinkedIn group called “B2B Marketing Montreal“, with the primary mission of revitalizing its community of experts and above all, to get it out of a rut, as are many communities on the web that are promoting content for commercial purposes (marketing material). It’s kind of ironic to have to face the dilemma of expertise sharing versus the promotion of content, especially for a firm that has been specializing in B2B marketing for over 14 years now and that has even recently published an eBook on the content crisis the web is now going through.

Promotion

Indeed, in all forums, the current hot topic is content marketing and its promotion (earned, paid or owned) but also of the renewed customer engagement that they are supposed to elicit among community members or among potential customers. However, as noted in the eBook, this “Marketing Nirvana” called “commitment” is increasingly difficult to create and above all, difficult to support.

Whether in groups or communities on LinkedIn, Facebook or other sites, what we see most often are numerous members, who manifest themselves only to publish and promote their content or content related to their expertise and then disappear, to return only for their next publication.

There are a few “likes” on these publications and few comments, but more importantly, there is no interaction, such as can be found on Quora and some “chats”, be it sharing knowledge, questions and answers, in short, a conversation.

 

Yet communities owe their existence to these interactions, right?

 

Let’s give ourselves a second chance

So, as mentioned, we want to give this community a second chance, to see if sharing and commitment are still possible.

  • First step: change the name to “Le Marketing BtoB au Québec” (BtoB marketing in Quebec”).
  • Next, clean up its members and keep only those directly involved.
  • Third step, establish real rules of use.
  • Fourth step: identify a moderator for this community. Then, set a clear goal for the community. The aim of “Le Marketing BtoB au Québec” is awareness; to enhance and promote expertise in BtoB marketing and promote networking among members.

This community is open to all marketing professionals in businesses large or small, who have to manage the challenges of innovation and creativity in business to business marketing (BtoB) and who need peer support. Use it to share ideas, tips, good and bad experiences.

Join us!

So if you feel that the characteristics of this new community apply to you and you’d like to get involved in sharing information and expertise, join us by clicking this link. Our community manager welcomes your inquiries.

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