Idea Hall Blog Going Social in B2B

10/01/09

Going Social in B2B

The growing influence of social media in consumer marketing is staggering. A recent Nielsen Company report shows that consumer activity on social networking and blogging sites accounted for 17% of all time spent online in August 2009. We’re reminded almost daily through various videos and articles that the social media is a "must have" marketing tool.

This is great news for consumer brands, though what does it mean to those of us in business-to-business marketing? After all, what works for a restaurant or fashion retailer may not translate to manufacturing or legal services.

There are, however, several emerging trends that make a strong case for the strategic use of social media in B2B:

• It’s still all about the network: A quick search of the LinkedIn directory of groups reveals numerous business-to-business players. There are many groups here in Orange County, including groups for commercial real estate professionals and building owners. The Real Estate Finance and Investment Society alone has an impressive following of nearly 27,000 users. Members of these groups are successfully promoting their services, generating new leads and growing their businesses, even in a down economy.
• Who’s on Facebook? Everybody: Facebook recently hit the 300 million user mark, with 100 million of those users joining the fold since September 2008…unprecedented growth to say the least. Think Facebook is just a fun networking tool for Gen-Y? Think again: the fastest growing demographic is users over the age of 35. A vast majority of your existing and potential customers are already engaging this medium.
• Tweeting in the C-Suite: Social media is no longer a novelty for influential executives. In fact, this list of CEOs who use Twitter features influencers in management consulting, independent research, telecommunications and even wholesale building materials. These are real-life examples of executives that are improving and growing their business in 140 characters or less.

These trends make a compelling case for social media in B2B, but don’t lose sight of the ultimate goal…reaching your audience. The right mix of strategy, creativity and communications is necessary to have the right conversations with the right individuals. In other words, be social, but be strategic.