Social Media And B2b Marketing

Recently, B2B marketing agencies have started to examine social media closely what it is

, how it works, the different types, and what social media means within the B2B marketing environment. Even though it is still too early in the development of social media to have crystal-clear answers for its ideal use in business to business applications, there are many exciting social media opportunities for B2B marketing agencies and their clients to learn about and explore.

Before discussing the many exciting opportunities social media present for business to business marketing, it is important to keep in mind that there will also be a place for traditional marketing communication efforts, such as direct marketing, in the future. So while our world is definitely changing at a quick pace, the challenge is not how to replace traditional efforts, but how social media can complement what you already have in motion for your clients PR, business to business advertising and marketing efforts.

The details of how social media will impact B2B marketing remain to be seen. The following items, however, are a few things that we do already know:

1. By using Twitter, a start-up company received one hundred great marketing ideas for free; a group of women raised more than $6,000 in a day; and a wooden toy maker in New Hampshire obtained a nationwide contract.

2. IBM received more leads, sales and exposure from a simple podcast than it did from a major print campaign.

3. Ninety percent of industrial buyers go to the Internet first when searching for a new supplier (ThomasNet, 2007).

4. A total of 3.3 BILLION text messages are sent every month globally, with 95 percent of them being read by their recipients.

In addition, a recent study by Marketing Sherpa of 400 business to business marketers from across varying industries discovered that given the recessionary economy of the past couple years, 48 percent of those surveyed had added social media marketing to their tactical mix in 2009. Relatively low-cost tactics based on social media are getting high attention and use as marketing budgets face more scrutiny.

Clearly, there are significant opportunities for social media for B2B marketing to benefit from. It is well worth taking a look to learn how it works, and how it can uniquely fit your own business to business marketing plans.

So, where does social media fit in your particular world? First, pay close attention to your audiences; listen and learn from them. Take a look at the websites or blogs your audiences visit regularly in order to understand what information they are looking for and to see how they interact with each other online. Then, when you initiate your own social media, take small steps. Build slowly. The trick with social media is that it is community-based and takes time and consistent participation.

Dayton marketing agency TriComB2B believes in walking the talk, and has invested in a blog of its own to participate in the online conversation, as well as a Twitter account. If youre curious to see how one B2B marketing agency participates in social media, check TriComB2B out when you have an opportunity.

Welcome to the brave new Social Media World!

by: Sundar K

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