B2B Marketing and Social Media
June 20th, 2007 by Mike McKinnon
Is the promise of Social Media failing the B2B marketing space? Brian Carroll, on his B2B Lead Generation blog, writes that social media favors trendy marketing mediums because they are easier to link to and popular. Well, this may be true, but social media offers a lot more to B2B than “link love.”
As Brian states: “B2B is more complex. Complex things are harder communicate and take more time and effort to build momentum.” B2C is glamorous. Consumers are easily swayed by new trends and the “coolness” factor. On the other hand, B2B is about relationship building. Businesses want excellent support and a product that works; they are not swayed by glitzy marketing campaigns.
There is a point here. If you are using B2C social media techniques (viral content, link love) in a B2B environment, you may be disappointed. The strength of social media in the B2B space is in its ability to foster communities and build relationships.
July 12th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
Thanks for this important post. Finding ways to use social media to help B2B clients is a very big challenge for advertising and marketing firms. Clients think they need these media because they are so heavily hyped. Too many clients push to start these ventures against agency advice, and without having clearly defined objectives (and therefore unreasonable expectations). Worse, they clack a comprehensive picture of their users/customers. I look forward to hearing about B2B social media success stories here at ReadyTalk. We need your insight!
July 12th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Hi Deb,
Thanks for the comment. You are correct, social media is heavily hyped. With the successes of such B2C sites like myspace, facebook, youtube etc, many B2Bs are looking for the same type of impact from their social media initiatives. Even worse, they are using the same B2C tactics that these sites used.
At ReadyTalk, we really focus on the relationship and trust side of social media. We have several initiatives that are used purely to establish ourselves as thought leaders and build community (Our seminar series is one :www.readytalk/web-seminar-series).
As a B2B business, the focus should be on the relationship and not the sell as it is in B2C. As such, your social media efforts should be focused on building community. I would be interested to hear what industry you are in and whether your company is doing any social media.