As the economy seems to be going through a sluggish phase, SMBs are beginning to wonder if there is a paucity of demand out there.  Judging by how the stock markets have bounced back in the past couple of weeks after their early August volatility, it might  be fair to assume that a double dip recession is probably not in the cards.  In business terms, this implies that demand is not really drying up – all you have to do is tap into it in the right places, nurture it for as long as it takes and then capture it when the time is right.  To put it in my favorite Garden State lingo, “You want leads, I got your leads right here!”

But seriously, as an SMB, if you are not already immersed into social media and inbound marketing, you are quite likely losing out on a substantial portion of your leads–because they are out there but your current marketing setup is probably not allowing you to access them!  The Marketing Id culled what it perceives as pertinent facts from a 96-slide HubSpot (an Internet marketing company) presentation.  HubSpot’s complete presentation can be viewed at http://www.slideshare.net/HubSpot/marketing-fact-vs-marketing-fantasy), but from The Marketing Id’s perspective its Top 10 facts are as reproduced below:

1. 57% of small businesses say social media is beneficial  to their business
2. 39% of B2B companies using Twitter have acquired new  customers from it
3. Companies that use Twitter average 2X more leads than  those that don’t
   • Companies with 1000+ Twitter followers get 6Xmore traffic
4. 41% of B2B companies using Facebook have acquired new customers from it
5. 54% of companies increased their investments in social  media and blogs in 2011
   • Leads generated via inbound marketing tactics like blogging & social media cost 62% less
6. Companies that blog get 55% more web traffic than those  that don’t–they also get 70% more leads
7. 57% of companies have acquired a customer through their blog
8. Blogging can increase your Twitter reach by 75%
9. Businesses who blog at least 20 times per month  generate 5X more traffic
   • They also generate 4X more leads
10. 2/3^rd of marketers say their company blog is “critical” or “important” to their  business

It should be noted that some of these facts apply to  companies in general and not only B2Bs – where they do, it has so been  indicated.  Nonetheless, all of these facts  are also relevant to the B2B domain.  A  simple way to sum up these Top 10 facts – if, as a B2B, your company is not  blogging and tweeting, it is leaving a lot of money on the table!

The Marketing Id has previously blogged about this new marketing paradigm that has evolved over  the past few years and changed the way business is conducted, including in the  B2B long sales cycle domain.  It is fair  to say that the B2C companies were first to cultivate this new marketing paradigm, but it is now increasingly dominating the B2B world as well.  So The  Marketing Id would like to conclude this post with a parody of a famous  dialog between actors Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise from that classic  movie, “A Few Good Men.”

The Marketing Id  (asking in Jack Nicholson’s agitated voice): “You want demand?”

A hapless B2B (replying  in Tom Cruise’s earnest pitch): “I want  the leads.”

The Marketing Id (growling in Jack Nicholson’s full-throated roar): “You can’t handle the leads!”

This is it, B2Bs, if you think you can “handle” the leads, you  must make some serious changes in the way your marketing is currently being run  on the demand side.  With a few good men,  it is money that you can take off the table!