BMA-Minnesota to Explore the Use of Social Media within the B2B Marketing Arena

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Minnesota chapter of the Business Marketing Association (BMA-Minnesota) will host a panel discussion on how business-to-business (B2B) marketers can use social media to boost their performance metrics and support a customer-centric business model. The session will be held on October 18, 2011 at the Metropolitan Ballroom & Clubroom in St. Louis Park, Minn. from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Featuring local social media experts, the session will provide an overview of social networking sites, search engine optimization and emerging new media to watch for as well as discuss what's working, what's not and what's here to stay within the social media universe. Panelists include:

• Jane Payfer, chief marketing officer of Ergotron
• Kara Thornton, international interactive market development manager of 3M
• Kathy Jalivay, chief business development officer of aimClear

"Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels make sense for business to consumer companies, but many B2B companies can also make a killing by harnessing the power of social interactivity," said Jeff Sauer, event moderator for the BMA event, and partner/vice president of Three Deep Marketing. "The key is understanding the new mediums available, targeting the right audience and identifying quality leads."

Sponsored by Minnesota's only professional organization dedicated exclusively to the needs of business-to-business marketing professionals, the event will be held at the Metropolitan located at 5418 Wayzata Blvd, Minneapolis.

The program will run from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. with registration and continental breakfast beginning at 7:30 a.m. The cost of the event is $25 for BMA members and $40 for non-members. Attendees can register online at www.bmaminnesota.org through October 15. A limited number of walk-up registration is available.

About the Panelists

• Jane Payfer. Jane Rodmyre Payfer joined Ergotron in November, 2004. Now, with over 20 years experience in commercial and consumer marketing for small, medium and global organizations, she continues to learn new ways to refine her craft. The Ergotron marketing team is among the first B2B marketing organizations in Minnesota to understand and embrace social media practice, and has successfully built a global community through blogs, Facebook and Twitter initiatives. Payfer is currently on the boards of several organizations: WomenVenture, the Business Marketing Association of MN, and is also on the board of directors of St Paul based non-for-profit WomenVenture. Get to know Jane at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jrpayfer and www.twitter.com/jrpayfer
• Kara Thornton. As the international interactive market development manager for 3M, Kara is responsible for developing successful B2B interactive go to market strategies that have measurable ROI for 3M's international subsidiaries. She focuses on leveraging best practices and developing SEO, email, social media, mobile ecommerce and interactive marketing best practices with 3M's international eMarketing teams. She recently rolled out 3M's International Collaboration Community site that allows marketers from all of the 3M global regions the ability to instantly collaborate. Get to know Kara at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/internetmarketer2011 and www.twitter.com/Interactive3m
• Kathy Jalivay. As a member of aimClear, Kathy is responsible for external relationships, internal account leadership and the smooth execution of strategic online campaigns for clients. aimClear's services include blended search and social demographic research; search engine optimization (SEO) technical and semantic audits, analytics monitoring, and consulting; pay-per-click (PPC) audits, setup, testing, and ongoing management; online reputation management (ORM) dashboard configuration and ongoing monitoring; social media marketing consulting and data-driven community management; public relations; and copywriting. Get to know Kathy at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kathyjalivay and www.twitter.com/KJalivay
• Jeff Sauer. As partner at Three Deep Marketing, Jeff created his first web site in 8th grade and hasn’t looked back. Through initiative, opportunity, curiosity and good old-fashioned elbow grease, he is now a master of web analytics, web site optimization and testing, social media, online reputation management, e-commerce, competitive analysis, online surveys, email marketing, lead generation, and more. He advises some of the world’s largest companies on interactive marketing strategy and monitors web analytics profiles for hundreds of companies and web sites.

About Business Marketing Association

Business Marketing Association is the leading professional resource for business-to-business marketers and communicators. The organization develops and delivers services, information, skill enhancement, and networking opportunities that help its members grow, develop and succeed throughout their marketing careers. For more information on BMA-Minnesota, visit www.bmaminnesota.org.

SOURCE BMA-Minnesota