Last updated on September 28th, 2015 at 03:32 pm

Welcome to another Hashtag Team report, when B2B News Network brings you our weekly roundup of the most buzz-worthy B2B-related tweets.

How do we find the standouts? By utilizing Nexalogy, a cutting-edge social analysis platform that allows us to seamlessly sift and sort the best of the B2B Twittersphere.

This week, we’ll explore successful B2B social media marketing strategies, how to gather the right kind of data, what #PizzaRat and B2B sales have in common, and much more.

TRENDING TOPICS

B2B Social Media/Marketing

RT @mavsocial 3 Effective #B2B #SocialMedia Case Studies http://t.co/D9yCNHg0sY  #contentmarketing #SMM pic.twitter.com/XT9JYhDRwb

— Social Marketing (@socialhelp) September 19, 2015

MavSocial examined three successful B2B social media case studies to learn what worked so well in the extremely tricky B2B marketing space. Traditional marketing methods aren’t really effective when you’re marketing to people with a high level of technical knowledge and expertise. So which brands are winning at social B2B marketing?

International shipping giant Maersk Lines uses just about every imaginable social media tool available. The company’s social media managers have said the ultimate goal is to gain helpful insights into the current market, foster closer customer relations and boost employee satisfaction. The company also made it clear that the purpose of its social media approach isn’t to increase sales but rather to increase customer engagement and leverage employee expertise to create value.

“Social media is about communication, not marketing. It’s about engaging, not pushing,” says Maersk. “And social media is definitely not just about the media side. For a company like ours, social media creates more value when it challenges the way we think and interact. In fact, social media is a mindset, a way of thinking and working together. It’s based on the fact that we are social animals, and that means we can only benefit from sharing our thoughts and ideas with each other.”

Finally, American Express, which has long been harnessing the power of social media, took its social presence to a new level with its OPEN Forum, which not only allows users to gain knowledge but also facilitates a network of small business owners who interact with each other on the forum. These efforts have resulted in a 30 percent boost in sales and an increase in valuable leads.

B2B Big Data 

It’s Not #BigData that counts, It’s The Right Data—Predictive Intelligence Transforms #B2B #Marketing: http://t.co/JbszSezouy #DataScience

— Kirk Borne (@KirkDBorne) September 17, 2015

In a guest post for Inside Big Data, 6sense CEO Amanda Kahlow outlines how asking the right questions and exploring different assumptions can deliver the right data, not just a lot of data. With more than 90 percent of the world’s data having been created within the past five years, it is imperative to find the important time-sensitive digital signals that provide insight into what prospective customers want and need, and who is likely to buy, and when.

Kahlow asserts that finding the perfect mix of data starts with a basic understanding of data sources and the relative value of each source when making predictions. Using machine learning to fine-tune predictive intelligence allows us to test whether or not specific actions will occur and to accurately forecast a company’s likelihood to make purchases. Most of all, machine learning gives us a powerful tool to glean meaning from what Kahlow calls “huge and chaotic piles of data.”

B2B Sales 

6 Things You’ll Learn About Success From #PizzaRat http://t.co/JGTbplcf7C #inc — dailytweetforalena (@tweetforalena) September 22, 2015

And now for something completely different, Howard Raucous LLC owner Chris Matyszcyk highlights six things you’ll learn about success from #PizzaRat, star of a viral video in which said rat drags a slice of pizza down the stairs of a New York City subway station. What do a determined, hungry rodent and B2B sales have in common? Matyszckyk found six lessons to be learned from the plight of our plucky pizza-pulling pal:

                         Aiming big is not the same thing as greed.

• Going down is a lot easier and quicker than going up.

• There’s a little joy in feeling bloated.

• Just because you’re small, it doesn’t mean you have anything to prove.

• Giving up in OK.

• Enjoy things along the way.

      B2B Email Marketing 

Experts weigh in on the common bad habits within #B2B email mktg campaigns: http://t.co/X3VpA9s6Oz #emailmarketing pic.twitter.com/ZaRWO9oSnV — AMA (@AMA_Marketing) September 17, 2015

Julie Davis at B2B Marketing examines the worst habits of B2B email marketers. Davis notes that while 82 percent of B2B respondents said they plan to increase their digital marketing spending and 71 percent said email is the most effective means of reaching marketing goals, poor email practices can dampen overall results. She came up with this list of the five worst mistakes B2B marketing execs make when sending email:

1- Blasting out desktop-only optimized messages ignores the simple fact that 82 percent of people check email on their mobile devices. A 2013 study by email marketing service GetResponse concluded that 42 percent of respondents delete emails that don’t display correctly on their mobile devices.

2- Jason Janoski, CEO of B2B marcom consultancy Emerging Marketing says trying to be “all things to all people” when emailing is a surefire way to decrease your response rate. “It’s OK to be simple, short and clear,” Janoski insists.

3- Being overly sales-driven could scare away potential customers. Don’t make every email a request for information or a follow-up conversation. Instead, send informative content and build up your company’s reputation as a trusted advisor, says Patrick Tripp, senior product marketing manager at Adobe Campaign.

4- Ignore metrics at your own peril. Don’t send emails without a plan to track their success. Tripp recommends tracking open rates, CTR and delivery metrics, then applying that information to test various email strategies. “Test the day and time of delivery, along with subject lines to drive open [rates] and clicks,” he advises. “Be sure to try different strategies with subscribers that may have become inactive.”

5- Misrepresenting your company’s mission is the final mistake to avoid. Using clear email messaging and trackable goals and metrics will help bolster your company’s identity. “The most successful marketers will know what they want, who they are, and where they’re going,” says Janoski.

B2B Infographics/Marketing

What can B2B marketers learn from Netflix? http://t.co/iSKObZE3iY #B2B pic.twitter.com/ar6KoTLZ0G

— B2B Marketing (@MarketingB2B) September 14, 2015

What can B2B marketers learn from Netflix? This infographic shows how B2B brands can gain valuable insight from the online streaming giant’s policies and practices, including personalization, encouragement of bingeing, and cross-platform availability.

“More and more successful B2B marketers are moving away from the traditional scheduled content strategy, because if Netflix users can instantly access the next piece of content, why can’t yours?” asks Alex Clarke at B2B Marketing.

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If you missed last week’s Hashtag Team report by Sarah Dawley, you can catch up here. As usual, if you have any B2B content you feel is share-worthy, don’t hesitate to post links below or tweet us at @b2bnewsnetwork.

Photo via video screenshot

Related posts:

How to get your content in front of the right audience Pulse Conference 2015: Moneyball’s Michael Lewis on business data, Box’s Dan Levin on a winning CSM The guide to knowing the right metrics for B2B landing page success Hashtag Team: Converting data into content, inside B2B marketing case studies