Trends Report

Effective Customer Reference Management Anchors B2B Community Marketing Efforts

May 27th, 2009
Laura Ramos, Vice President, Principal Analyst
Laura Ramos Vice President, Principal Analyst
With contributors:
Peter Burris , Christina Lee

Summary

Customer references validate product claims and streamline the sales process, both vital activities in business-to-business (B2B) marketing. Yet, even as program budgets grow and reference pools swell, customer reference management risks sliding to second-class status if marketers fixate on increasing numbers and fail to bridge the gap between encouraging advocacy and creating community involvement. As business buyers embrace the social Web, reference management can play a breakout role in the transition from collecting testimony to building community adoption.

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