I cut my social media teeth in the B2B space and have an affinity for it to this day. That’s why I found the article at the end of this link both interesting and grating at the same time.  While the author, Merlin Francis, sets out to dispel some of the myths surrounding social media, he does so while clinging to a few of his own. Chief among them is cost.
One of the great struggles is convincing CMOs that social media is neither free nor cheap. To be sure one can get into social for less than the average television commercial, but to do it correctly takes time and effort. Keep in mind, this is part of your marketing strategy and, as such, deserves as much attention as other elements.

With that said, Mr. Francis goes on to make a strong case for why B2B organizations need to be involved in social media. I’m not talking about an all-out assault using all the vehicles available, but, as with any other marketing initiative, a well-planned and thought out strategy that will deliver the results you need.

@MarkPalony

So you were intrigued by the B2B lead nurturing capabilities of Facebook, and you want to learn more. Let’s face it, Facebook is not a commodity understood by most B2B marketers. The better you can understand it and put guiding principles into action, the more pronounced your marketing edge will be over your competition.

While leads are the lifeblood of most B2B initiatives, Facebook can help marketers in all areas of the sales cycle. According to this Peripheral Visions article, eMarketer recently surveyed 643 marketers to determine what they felt were the most effective tactics for Facebook as a marketing tool.

The key to most of these marketing tactics is that they assume a Facebook fan base exists. Facebook users must voluntarily opt to be a fan of your brand’s page. Of these tactics, only buying targeted CPC ads are a means of building your page’s fan base.

Assuming you have a built-in customer base, initially acquiring fans can be somewhat easily accomplished. Integrating Facebook badges or links to all company touch points, such as e-mails or the web site, can drive traffic to your Facebook page and convert fans quickly.

This article from Peripheral Visions shows an example of a B2B Customer Survey that can be posted directly over to Facebook through an application called Survey Monster. Customer surveys can address a wide variety of needs, including gleaning insights for new products and features, addressing problematic areas of customer service and the charting of customer demographics.

If all you’re interested in is demographics, you don’t even need to go as far as a survey. If you haven’t looked, your Facebook Fan Page tracks the demographics of your fans through Facebook Insights. One Russell Herder employee shared the demographics of his band’s Facebook fan page:

Building brand equity by driving traffic to corporate materials is also an effective Facebook marketing tactic. According to a Facetime Communications Survey, 79% used LinkedIn, Facebook or YouTube at work. Fifty-one percent of workers said they used it at least once a day.

Perhaps most important, 52% of surveyed workers reported using social media for research purposes. It’s likely that within this 52% are more than a few key decision-makers. Making sure that your most valuable sales content makes its way to Facebook is an excellent way to widen the prospect pool.

Of course, the heart of the Facebook marketing experience lies in interaction and conversation. Facebook Fan Pages are an opt-in service; your fans may choose to opt out at any time for any reason. Many marketers view their fan bases as captive and receptive ears to their brand’s daily marketing message. Resist this urge.

Behave in a manner that resonates with your decision-making prospects. Speak in a language and tone that is familiar to them. Openly discuss their needs and what your brand can do to fulfill them.

The ultimate goal is to spread word of mouth about your brand through social media. Few vehicles are able to build the trusting relationships necessary to carry out a B2B transaction quite like word of mouth. As the Mayo Clinic’s Lee Aase noted in this interview, social media is simply how word of mouth happens in the 20^th century.

@NeilAndrewJames

Image – Tech Central