(editor’s note: Two minor corrections and voting link added below.)

In the vast ocean of companies that sell products and services to businesses, all boats look alike.

“We’re the leading provider 0f (blank) software.”
“Our products are world-class.”
“We have the best people.”

Sure you do.  But there’s one BIG problem.

NO ONE CARES
(except you and your staff)

How you you stand out in that vast ocean? How do you get the attention of busy, skeptical executives?

My answer? Stop taking yourself so seriously and simplify your messages. Make it all about them.

Let’s look at an example. Andrew Spoeth, Director of Marketing at  Enquiro turned me on to one of their clients, Kinaxis, that did a fabulous job of engaging target buyers. I thought it would make a great story to share with readers.

Let’s examine the core element of what they did. They created a community. It’s simple, elegant…. and very funny.

learn, laugh, share, connect. Four words. Four ideas. Four things for the visitor to do.

Learn connects you with industry experts. Share takes you to discussions on supply chain issues. Connect let’s you connect with your peers.

Laugh is the most interesting section as they commissioned a humorous series of video clips that make fun of big ERP companies. Two egotistical software CEOs merge their companies.

“We just created the world’s richest software company. BilkERP and SoftMore are now BilkMore.”

Note from the image below that it is funny, slickly produced using a movie metaphor and very, very funny.

Here’s what the Company has to say about it.

Just the Facts:

• BtoB Magazine’s inaugural 2010 Social Media Award honors Kinaxis, provider of the on-demand supply chain management service RapidResponse™, for their superior use of social media.
• Kinaxis was also selected as one of the judges’ top 4 favorite entries from a tech company, making them eligible for a People’s Choice Award.
• Kinaxis was honored alongside Cisco Systems and Microsoft Corp. in the category of Best Integrated Campaign from a Tech company.

Why Kinaxis?

The award honors Kinaxis for its multi-faceted ‘Learn, Laugh, Share and Connect’ program which includes:

• the Company blog, The 21st Century Supply Chain, written by Kinaxis executives and employees;
• the company’s LinkedIn activity as well as its use of Twitter; and
• the Supply Chain Expert Community, which was launched last summer as a free, public forum for learning about and discussing supply chain. Since its debut, the community has quickly built a strong following and it continues to grow daily.

For your readers, please be sure to place your vote in BtoB Magazine’s Social Media People’s Choice award:
http://www.BtoBonline.com/vote

Voting ends this Friday (Apr. 23) and Kinaxis is one of the four finalists!

What do you think? We love comments (click Leave a Comment at the top of the post) and people who share our content. Thanks.

Join us every Thursday at 8pm ET/5pm PT for Twitter chat about b2b demand generation. Just go to http://tweetchat.com/ and enter hashtag #b2bchat.

Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor, is President of Find New Customers “Lead Generation Made Simple.” He’s also the author of two highly acclaimed white papers, How to Find New Customers and Definitive Guide to Making Quota, as well the ebook, Prospect Driven Marketing.

Find New Customers helps business develop and implement programs to improve the way they find and acquire new customers using best practices in lead generation.