Twitter’s prominence in b2b appears to be growing

Business to business (b2b) marketers are always looking for new ways to reach their audience and as Twitter grows in popularity and relevance it appears more marketers are using micro-blogging.

In the past year alone Twitter has seen its membership skyrocket, growing even faster than the popular social networking site Facebook. According to statistics from Nielsen Online, Twitter saw more than 7 million unique visitors this February – a 1,382 percent increase over the same time last year.

It would appear that much of that growth can be attributed to b2b companies which are looking to use the latest tools to get an edge on the competition.

Jon Miller, vice president of marketing at b2b software company Marketo, says he has taken to using the micro-blogging service as a part of the company’s marketing campaign.

“B-to-b buyers are still people, and in the end, they buy from people and not companies,” he told BtoBonline.com. “If you can build a relationship with a prospective buyer using Twitter before they are actively looking, you built your brand more effectively than you could with much more expensive options

ABM Commissions Booz & Co. for B2B Study

“Best practices” is a term thrown around most industries that evokes images of bland sidebars and regurgitated bullet points. American Business Media is attempting to turn those images around by commissioning global executive management consulting firm Booz & Company—established in 1914—to conduct a b2b industry study of best practices for revenue growth. While Booz & Co. declines to share its private clients, the firm notes that it has helped telecom service providers “migrate from legacy to next-generation networks” among its accomplishments.

“A Roadmap for Profitable Revenue Growth” will focus on top ABM members and the secrets to their success, according to Harry Hawkes, who leads Booz & Co. operations for media and entertainment companies, and Matt Egol, Booz & Co.’s ABM representative. “We’ve done a lot of work with members of ABM on issues related to their executive agendas,” Hawkes says.

“The study will be a representation of the diversity of (ABM) membership,” says Egol. “It will be a sharing of ideas of what works,” adds Hawkes, focusing on driving growth through content, distributing that content via technology, and organization and operating models. The set of recommendation will be broken down into relevant best practices for various segments of b2b publishers and ABM members.

“Our plan is to present [the survey] at the upcoming ABM event in the November time frame,” says Hawkes. After the presentation, Booz & Co. will be available for breakout sessions at the event geared toward the various member segments. It is yet to be determined if the survey will be available to non-members.

Parking Network starts new daily Parking Tender Service

In the last couple of days Parking Network has added a new service to its platform. It will publish on a daily basis summaries of worldwide Parking Tenders.

12 years ago, there was the idea to centralize all the information concerning parking at one place on the Internet. In co-operation with the EPA, this platform was launched in 1996 and has grown into the worlds’ largest information source on parking B2B.

This platform is now supported by all the major associations worldwide like EPA, IPI, NPA, China Parking Association and many more associations. On a monthly basis more than 54.000 professionals use this leading online platform to find the latest news, showcases, partner companies, job openings and many more.

The PCB industry recovers in 2009

In 2007 the PCB industry overall growth rate was 6%, while 2008 things where changed, due to the economical changes. However the German solar industry was showing major growth. The global EMS market was a different picture, the bigger was getting bigger while the smaller was getting smaller.

Worldwide output of PCBs in 2007 was 50 billion USD, with Europe standing for 8% and US 9%. Germany represented 36% of the European figure, with automotive, industrial controls and mobile phones being the core business. Some automotive PCB work was being withdrawn back to Europe from China because of the quality. So in overall the PCB industry according to Walt Custer in 2008 would represent a low point in the business cycle, and very little growth was expected. However 2009 should be a recovery year.

Prism supplies PCBs for new South African rapid transit scheme

Prism has received an initial order for 400 PCBs from ERB South Africa. ERB is manufacturing rail signalling equipment for the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link project – one of the largest rail engineering projects of its kind in the world. Prism was selected to supply PCB manufacturer for the project because it is already a trusted supplier for other projects in the rail signalling sector.

The tested PCB assemblies are essential to the ‘brains’ of the Gautrain rail control signalling equipment. The equipment comprises receivers, incorporating Prism assemblies, and transmitters fitted to rail track and to rolling stock.

The Gautrain Rapid Rail Link was given the go ahead in 2005 with the main construction of the project beginning early in 2007. It is set for completion in time for the start of the FIFA World Cup in 2010.

Originally conceived to ease traffic congestion in South Africa’s economic hub, Gautrain will link Pretoria in the North with Johannesburg’s Park Station in the South of the corridor in the Gauteng Province. There will also be a link to OR Tambo International Airport, which serves both Pretoria and Johannesburg.

Six Mistakes B2B Marketers Continue to Make With Organic Search

By now, many B2B marketing professionals know the basics of content optimization and how to make a site search-friendly. With that complete, their focus turns to link building. While that’s an admirable pursuit, it may not yield the maximum results if unaddressed website issues aren’t resolved. Here are some of the most common mistakes we see.

Inadequate site architecture

I’m surprised how often even large B2B companies fail to have organic landing pages on their website related to key revenue streams (e.g., product or service lines). It’s usually not that they forgot key segments of their business, but rather that they failed to get specific enough. For instance, a leasing company promotes leasing of office equipment but fails to have a page focused on copier leasing. One of the reasons for this may be that many B2B marketers have often taken a minimalist approach to site architecture, incorporating only that which is necessary to establish initial credibility.

To be found for a specific keyword, there needs to be an optimized landing page on the website that revolves around that search term. Simply put, this means you need to review your business and ensure your site has at least one page that promotes each specific revenue stream. However, the complexities of B2B keyword strategy—which include the lack of shared lexicons in most B2B verticals—mean that you may have to create and incorporate several landing pages for each revenue stream. For instance, an accounting firm promoting litigation support services may have a page on expert witness services, but it may do well to also consider having a page on forensic accounting.

Simply put, most B2B websites need more content, both to respond to likely organic search and to be seen as being by the search engines as an authoritative site on a given topic.

Lousy meta descriptions

That is if any have been specified in the first place. It seems like B2B marketers often leave meta descriptions blank or simply leave it to the IT department to fill something in. This leads to poor descriptions in the search engine results.

When B2B marketers actually specify the meta descriptions for site pages, they often write from an internal standpoint, using corporate and internal lingo that doesn’t speak to the searcher. Typically, B2C marketers are much better at writing meta descriptions that promote click-through. When you write meta descriptions for B2B, think about what will entice the searcher (your prospect) to click on your search result versus all the others on the page. While you can write as much as you want, Google will only display about 165 characters. Make sure you use those characters wisely to create a keyword-rich, compelling message. You’ve only got a few seconds before searchers decide on which results they will click.

Not analyzing organic landing pages

Many B2B marketers don’t bother to evaluate, let alone manage, organic landing pages. Test your organic landing pages for all significant, ranking keywords. You may rank highly in the search results for a given search phrase. You may even have a meta description that drives click-through. But is the page searchers land on the page you want them to land on? If not, optimize a different landing page or make changes to the content at the current landing page.

Not monitoring analytics

The analytics associated with PPC landing pages are often scrutinized in great detail. Bounce rates are analyzed. Alternate landing page versions are tested. Ad copy is tweaked. Yet organic landing pages rarely see the same rigor, despite the fact that B2B purchasers tend to first look at and click on organic results almost twice as often as they do paid search results. So, dive into your analytics, and do the same for your organic visitors. Isolate your organic traffic. Look at the organic landing pages. Analyze the bounce rates. Adjust landing page content. Tweak meta descriptions. You’ll be glad you did.

Failing to optimize printed marketing assets before converting them to the web

B2B marketers are frequently guilty of mindlessly posting lots of print marketing communications to their websites, often in lieu of html content. Hundreds of hours and great sums of money have been spent creating these pieces, yet most people won’t spend even an hour to optimize these pieces before posting them to the web. These often include PDFs of brochures, case studies, technical or white papers, and product and spec sheets. While these represent valuable, influential information, if you don’t optimize them, they won’t show up in the search results; the only people that will find them are those who actually visit your site. Why not make sure searchers can find them, too.

B2B International expands into US

LONDON – B2B International, the specialist business-to-business market research consultancy, is making its foray into the US with the opening of an office in New York.

The firm is parachuting in staff from other markets to work in New York, including the UK, France, Spain, Germany and China.
The US office will provide a complete B2B research offering, with particular expertise in the fields of chemicals, oil and gas, engineering, finance and construction.

The company will also be holding two business-to-business marketing workshops in New York in October.
The workshops will take an interactive format, headed up by B2B International chief executive Paul Hague.
The new office will be headed up by Matthew Harrison, director of International Operations.
He said: “In keeping with our strategy of globalisation, this latest office is designed to meet the needs of our many existing US clients as well as appealing to a broader American audience.
“It will also provide clients from other areas of the world with the chance to explore the States in more depth.”

Xing ups the ante in B2B social networking

Six million member strong business networking site Xing is launching its first major marketing campaign in the UK. The campaign ‘Start networking not just Linkin’ aims to increase the brand’s awareness in the UK and position the company as Europe’s leading business networking site, according to Ralf Ahamer, Xing’s VP marketing. “With the campaign we aim to draw attention to our site and communicate the benefits of active professional networking,” says Ahamer. “This user engagement is what separates us from rival networks.”

Xing doesn’t deny that they are taking a poke at competitor networking site LinkedIn, and say its aim is to draw a clear line between the active networking that Xing provides and merely collecting business contacts through other networking sites. “Xing is an active community and not just a passive database of CVs,” states Ahamer.

Xing is taking a multi-pronged offence on its campaign, including ambient, print, SEO, online presence. “All business people who want to actively network, manage and capitalise on their business network,” are the target, according to Ahamer, with a special focus on London’s commuting business people. Business commuters will be targeted via 400-plus billboards throughout underground stations in London, as well as advertisements running in freesheet Metro (which reaches 1.3 million commuters per day). The online offence will feature display advertising on websites such as The Guardian, The Times, Sky News, Reuters and MSN Hotmail, in addition to search engine marketing and a ‘Network Value calculator’ microsite. This feature will answer the question “why network?” says Ahamer, as it calculates the pound value that networking will have for you.

Xing will be launching a promotion for members in the UK and Ireland during the campaign. Any Xing member who invites a friend from the UK or Ireland to sign up will receive one free month of premium membership. “The UK is one of the most interesting markets for us to grow internationally. We already have an active nucleus of members in the UK and are keen to expand on this,” says Ahamer. The promotion runs until 31 October.

Other B2B marketing activity for Xing includes sponsorship of events such as Ad:Tech and partnerships for a ‘Best Offers’ programme. “Sponsorships…mean we can position Xing within a key decision marketing target audience,” says Ahamer. Last but not least, the company attract potential recruiters to capitalise on the highly valuable audience on Xing by using the network to recruit business professionals.

Meanwhile, Xing has appointed Davide Villa as senior vice president of B2B. Villa will assume responsibility for the newly created department and will manage all German and international B2B activities including Xing marketplace, advertising, best offers, company pages and enterprise groups.

HP Taps Social Computing To Boost B2B Podcast Results

Business marketers hole up to produce boatloads of content that customers and sales seldom see and value little. Determined to do better, HP social media managers engaged experts who work daily with customers to develop relevant marketing content grounded in true client need and real-life business issues. By combining podcasting with blogging and traditional tech-media syndication, HP now validates its messaging via an extensive buyer audience review process that yields vetted, relevant content that HP marketing can deploy in its ongoing sales and marketing efforts.

Media Power, IT FACTORY Team Up to Bring Augmented Reality Technology to B2B Communication

Media Power Inc., the recognized leader in Augmented Reality, mobile technology’s newest innovation, is pleased to announce a partnership with IT FACTORY A/S, an IBM Premier Business Partner and SaaS Specialist Partner.

IT FACTORY A/S is an independent software vendor (ISV) focusing on the emerging market for Software as a Service — (SaaS).

IT FACTORY A/S is a strong believer that in the future, all software will be delivered, operated, serviced and maintained on line. IT FACTORY A/S delivers to the global market “infrastructure as a service” and SaaS enablement unified in their unique Platforms as a Service offerings.

Teaming with IT FACTORY A/S greatly enhances Media Power’s ability to apply its mobile technologies to B2B communications.

“Our new relationship with IT FACTORY represents a great opportunity for us to find new and expanded markets for our mobile technology,” says Rich Jenkins, Media Power’s CEO. “Thanks to IT Factory’s extensive corporate relationships, this partnership we are forming opens up a vast new business audience for all mobile technology products, including our groundbreaking Augmented Reality applications.”

Augmented Reality promotes a totally new way for business-to-business to interact via rich media, print, communication and support services. Using a proprietary method of content delivery, Media Power provides unprecedented reach for enterprises who want to send highly targeted messages directly to potential and existing partner’s and consumer’s mobile devices.

“Augmented Reality represents the next, and quite possibly the most powerful, weapon in a mobile communications arsenal by turning virtually any prospect with a cell phone into a potential customer,” says Jenkins.

“One of the most critical aspects of software as a service is the ability to create value added dialogue with your prospects, partners and customers,” says Stein Bagger, CEO of IT FACTORY A/S. He continues, “As the undisputed leader in bringing Augmented Reality to the mobile market place, Media Power gives us a new outlet for our cutting edge products and services.”

About Media Power Inc.

Media Power is a unique technology company that provides an unprecedented competitive advantage to advertisers who want to deliver video content to people on the move. Its division, GetFugu, has one of the web’s fastest growing mobile databases with highly specific, detailed demographic profiles of each member.

About IT FACTORY A/S

IT FACTORY was founded in 1997, developing applications for IBM’s Lotus Notes/Domino. In 2005 its was decided to transform IT Factory’s business and delivery model in order to become a leading provider in the emerging SaaS market and to create a one-stop shop in the SaaS market place.

That transformation is manifesting itself this year by the commercial introduction of IT Factory’s platform as a service.

Building a strong and appealing B2B blog

Forrester implies the problem may lie with B2B companies themselves, using words like “dull” and “drab” to describe some of the B2B blogs. Among the knocks against blogs noted by Forrester: not enough personality in most of the posts, an irregular posting schedule and bloggers who simply just don’t stick with it.

Overall, 55.8 percent of such B2B blogs feature mostly press releases or other well-known news, giving people little incentive to read them in the first place.

Some marketing observers say that if it’s a B2B blog, shouldn’t it be about business? There’s certainly nothing wrong with inserting an occasional personal anecdote to help illustrate a point or otherwise liven up a business topic, but most people don’t want to read about the hobbies, pets or personal lives of vendors or business partners.

Some have seen business-oriented blogs that read like a particularly painful holiday newsletter, with the added subtext of trying to sell some product or service.

Forrester also presents the lack of comments on most B2B blogs. About 58 percent receive no more than a single comment per post, a sign that the intended audience isn’t being engaged.

There are some that wonder why Forrester mentions “sticking to business” and/or technical topics (something that 70 percent of B2B blogs do) as a negative.

There are some that disagree on that.

Just because people don’t leave comments doesn’t mean they aren’t engaged. They may see little reason to reiterate points already made in a post, and it often just takes too much time to leave more involved comments.

Some may go back later and respond to a thought-provoking post, but it appears that most never do.

Shanghai Belling likely to acquire ASMC

China-based wafer foundry Shanghai Belling is reportedly likely to take on the management of another foundry, Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (ASMC), amid ongoing restructuring at the company, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

ASMC’s vice chairman Van Bommel and director Van der Zeeuw have reportedly resigned from the company following the recent resignation of president and CEO Hsueh Cheng Lu, the sources noted.

The reshuffle of top executives at ASMC could be related to a strategy shift in global manufacturing policy at NXP Semiconductors, a major shareholder of ASMC, the sources speculated. NXP has said that it plans to release four production plants worldwide.

Shanghai Belling has expressed interest in acquiring ASMC following these latest developments, said the sources

The boundary between netbooks and notebooks may disappear in 2009

As first-tier notebook vendors continue to push the specifications for netbook products set by Intel and Microsoft, notebook industry sources are afraid the boundary between netbooks and notebooks might disappear by 2009, with netbooks becoming part of vendors’ notebook lines instead of a whole new market.

Acer was the first vendor to break the restrictions set by Microsoft when it announced the launch of netbook using a 120GB hard drive before Microsoft said it would ease hard drive capacity limits set in the Windows XP OEM license.

Asustek Computer also recently broke Intel’s restriction that products with Atom processors must not feature a PCI Express port with the launch of its N10 notebook, which uses an Intel Atom processor and features a built-in discrete graphics card.

If first-tier vendors continue to only pursue market share without considering the impact netbooks have on the notebook market, the sources expect Intel’s netbook standards will become just a set guide lines and the term netbook will completely lose its original meaning. As a consequence the average selling price (ASP) of notebooks will be brought down.

TSMC bracing for gloomy prospects in 4Q08, say investment banks

A number of investment banks, including Friedman Billings Ramsey (FBR), HSBC and Merrill Lynch, have issued a conservative guidance over the prospects for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in the fourth quarter of this year.

FBR expects an 8-10% sequential decline in TSMC shipments in the fourth quarter due to order cuts from a number of sectors, including games consoles, digital video equipment, STBs, DVDs, flat panels as well as Bluetooth chips.

TSMC is likely to see its shipments continue to decline 5-10% sequentially in the first quarter of 2009, FBR added.

HSBC expects TSMC’s capacity utilization rate to fall to 75% in the fourth quarter and further decline to 65% in the first quarter of 2009 – the lowest level in recent years.

While forecasting TSMC’s revenues are to drop 18-22% sequentially in the fourth quarter, Merrill Lynch also lowered its projection for TSMC’s EPS (earnings per share) for 2008 from NT$4.11 to NT$3.68 and cut its target TSMC share price from NT$60 to NT$57.

Taiwan IC makers urged to explore semiconductor market in China

Taiwan semiconductor makers should team up with EMS/ODM companies to jointly explore the IC market in China due to the lower self-sufficiency rate for ICs there, according to Clement E Pausa, senior technology adviser, PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Technology Center.

In a keynote speech delivered at a meeting hosted recently by the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) in Taipei, Pausa indicated that total IC consumption in China reached US$88 billion in 2007, accounting for one-third of global IC consumption and surpassing the IC markets in Japan, North America and Europe.

However, IC makers in China supplied only about US$27 billion, or slightly over 30%, of the total ICs consumed in 2007, leaving a supply gap of US$61 billion/70%, the Chinese-language Commercial Times quoted Pausa as indicating.

Most IC component suppliers in China are multinational companies, with the top-55 IC suppliers being foreign concerns, Pausa noted.

A great deal of related IC business in China has been created by Taiwan-based EMS companies and ODM makers, Pausa observed, noting that Taiwan IC makers can cooperate with those EMS/ODM companies to further expand their market share in China.

Opportunities for online marketers to reach workers

According to Burst Media’s Online Insights market research, about 27.4 percent of at-work Internet surfing is completely unrelated to specific job duties. Burst Media sees this personal Internet usage as a great opportunity for online marketers and eTailers to reach many workers.

Overall, approximately 54.1 percent of respondents shopped online for personal items while on the job, and using their employer’s computers.

Burst Media’s market survey reveals that making an online purchase was the most common personal shopping activity conducted at work, followed by researching product features and comparing retailers, using search engines such as Google and others.

Judging by last year’s data from Nielsen//NetRatings, some workers may be conducting some of the busiest online holiday shopping days of the whole year.

Nielsen also found that overall daily traffic to retail sites was heaviest between Monday and Friday, when compared to lower traffic on weekends.

One explanation given for this behavior would be that weekends are spent with family and friends, whereas online shopping is mostly a solitary activity.

Jeff Grau, senior analyst at eMarketer said “eCommerce shopping frequently takes place at work, during lunchtime, and in the evening at home.”

Grau added that “consumers use their weekend visits to the shopping mall to get gift ideas, but return to their PCs at the beginning of the work week to search the Internet for better prices.”

Sony to spearhead its way into the B2B segment

Sony is reportedly planning to make its way into the B2B market in Ireland, with a new division that will target companies and even non-profits that need specific audio-visual equipment for their presentations.

Initially, Sony will focus more on the market for data business projectors, public display screens, CCTV equipment and videoconferencing used by many businesses today.

Sony’s specific target market includes organisations in the healthcare, media, network video monitoring, retail, eCommerce, transport and large venue sectors offered in today’s B2B activities.

Eamon Halligan has been appointed as channel development manager. Halligan was previously an account manager with Epson in Ireland.

Raj Pandya, general manager of the B2B department at Sony Ireland said “today’s announcement marks the direct presence of Sony Professional Solutions in the Irish market.”

Pandya added “its mission is to create and supply products, systems, services and solutions to the business market that draw on Sony’s audiovisual heritage.”

He added “overall, Halligan will be providing front-line support for the new B2B division and will actively develop the channel network to generate new business.”

Helping advertisers target mobile audiences

In addition to socioeconomic divisions, Nielsen’s advertising segments will integrate material divisions such as where consumers choose to vacation, which cars they drive and what kinds of clothes they wear, either for work or play.

Nielson officials didn’t specify whether Mobile-PRIZM will include data from its recently acquired IAG Research group.

So far, news of Nielsen’s new advertising program has been well received by most large advertising and marketing firms in New York.

In November, Nielsen is to offer the market an update as to how well its new ad program will have performed, followed with some numbers.

PCI Data Security Standard 1.2 not much better than version 1.0

Overall, PCI has not kept pace with current threats or technological advances, allowing dangerous security gaps in the protection of consumer and corporate data, and this is unacceptable in the view of many.

Even with the increased guidance found in 1.2, which is really an explanatory measure for earlier versions of the standard, PCI still sells the security industry way short…

What’s holding back the standard are a number of various issues that are common with all security standards that try to instill common safety measures across a disparate landscape.

As it’s almost always the case, the lowest common denominator, well dominates…

In particular, there are no less than two serious weaknesses that are sticking out that PCI does not address: internal threats to data and targeted attacks on a database.

Overall, correctly understanding how each security threat operates is essential in providing an effective defense. The model that PCI uses for a data breach is one that most people would give as the de facto means by which data is lost: A potential hacker attacks a database through a weak spot in the firewall and steals data.

In that specific model, the key to protection is securing the perimeter of the network. That usually starts right at the firewall. If you can keep the threat on the outside of the firewall, your data is secure.

The insider threat may be surprising to some. However, it makes a lot of sense when you delve deeper. If you think about the amount of personal data that is collected for, say, a mortgage application, then you have an idea of what these databases are holding…

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!