B2B Voices

What is social media success in B2B… and some examples

Who are your content superheroes?

Curious George Goes to the Office

Why Aren’t You Using More Stories? Here’s Why They Matter

Posted on 16 May 2013 by Allan Schoenberg

The “human mind is a story processor, not a logic processor,” says Jonathan Haidt in a story last week in Scientific America. If you haven’t read it yet take some time to and think about the implications for your B2B business. Stories are a powerful tool not just because of the way we think, but because of they help make connections to people — your stakeholders.

Aaron wrote in a previous post about Corning and its storytelling around making glass and I wrote before about three ways stories can help your brand. But does this mean you have to change all that you’ve done with key messages? Do you need to update your website? No, of course not.

Take some time now to think about the last project your worked on. Maybe it was a media interview or an internal meeting with colleagues or even just a coffee with a vendor to talk about planning. Did you use a story to get your point across? If not, why?

Historical stories give meaning. Our brands have histories and these are great ways to tell stories and remind your stakeholders about how your company/culture was formed, how a product developed or why strategic decisions where made. You not only can use stories to show how something developed, but stories bring your thoughts, ideas and decisions to life. For example, when I was with Accenture I remember hearing the story many times at how the name was created. That story became part of its culture around employees working together.

My son loves comic books (okay, so do I), which are great examples of storytelling.

Stories make a point. Have you ever struggled during a meeting to get people to understand what you need? I know I have. Or worse, have you had to sit through a presentation that was lifeless? What I like about stories is that they can take a dry subject, or a subject that is only of interest to you, and give it shape, form and color. Essentially, it helps others understand what you want.

Stories help make the complex simple. I’ve worked in several industries that have involved very complex technologies or products. Reminding spokespeople to use stories can give a very technical product an interesting angle. The best spokespeople I have ever used all have one common trait — they tell good stories. You should encourage this as much as you can.

Stories make you…human. At the end of the day people like working with people. Using stories in your presentations or interviews makes you more believable and trustworthy to your audience. And while we are helping our companies sell products or services, we are really trying to build relationships.

We’ve written a few times about storytelling, so you may want to check these previous posts out as well:

You Can’t Make a Cake Without Great Ingredients

Use Storytelling to Draw in Customers

Social Media: A Crucial Component for Success

Posted on 7 May 2013 by Kate Brodock

This is a guest post by Steve Nicholls, author of the best-selling Social Media in Business

Thinking of a business strategy without social media has become antiquated, unless you travel at least 20 years back in time. Today, a business is no longer sustainable without an effective social media agenda. Even giant organizations like Starbucks, Groupon, Reuters or British Airways have all started to incorporate social media; this is because businesses simply cannot do without it any longer.

Social media can be defined as the experience of sharing content online, whether music, videos, pictures, comments, reviews and news among other forms. Once, the ‘brochure site’ ruled over the Internet, static and imposing, allowing Internet users to simply view content passively. Today, anyone, anywhere and at anytime can generate and share content on the Internet: this is social media.

Social media is materialized through its many applications. The differences between each one are very wide, which means a range of activities can be done through social media. To give just a very few examples, Twitter can be used to send short messages instantly to a group of followers, Yahoo! Answers gives the chance to ask questions to the entire web community and receive a plethora of answers, Wikinews allows people to work jointly in order to write objective news articles and GoToWebinar is a conferencing tool that makes long-distance training possible.

Furthermore, each application is a world of small applications. LinkedIn, for instance, is very useful for the creation of a professional hub of current and past co-workers, who become connections. These in turn can link you to their own connections so that you become at the center of a web of professional connections – generating a lot of opportunities for network-building. Next to that, LinkedIn Answers allows users to ask business-related questions to their network as well as the bigger LinkedIn hub. Also, LinkedIn’s reference check helps users search for references on a potential employee or employer. These options are only a very few examples of what LinkedIn offers but shows how social media is extensive in both breadth and depth.

In a business context, interchange via all these applications can take place between the company and its customers, between customers themselves but also within a company and finally, within a business-to-business environment as well. Steve Nicholls, author of the book Social Media in Business, explores these avenues in depth. He explains that “this sharing allowed by social media translates into invaluable opportunities for businesses,” which he divides into five main categories.

First and foremost, social media gives access to the largest marketplace on the planet. In a matter of a few seconds, companies can transcend traditional boundaries to reach more people or create a presence beyond geographical limits. This gives rise to the second opportunity: communication. Social media improves communication between any two or more parts of a business: between employees, between staff and customers or between upper and lower staff. Blogs, for example, are a very good way for a company to communicate with its customers and having a Facebook Page can be useful to create an internal online community amongst employees, especially the bigger the organization is.

Third, social media allows managers to tap into communities where prospects – such as customers, freelancers, business connections, etc. – can be found or created. Every time this happens, it is not one individual that is found but an entire pool of prospects. For example, a Facebook Fan Page is great to nurture a community of customers and keep them updated with product news while Elance is a community of freelancers with all sorts of skills where the ‘right person for the job’ can be found.

Fourth, social media allows businesses to get information from collective intelligence, i.e. the ‘global brain’ of the web community, as Tim O’Reilly, founder of O’Reilly Media, defines it. Exploiting this facet of social media means that companies can obtain competitor intelligence, customer insights or find cost-effective business solutions. For example, through Brainrack, companies can crowdsource business-related issues to students and get a diversity of solutions and the student with the best solution wins a prize. Rating systems are another way to use collective intelligence to find out how much consumers like a certain product for instance.

Finally, social media allows collaboration, i.e. co-working on a certain project, or participating in its development. A very simple application is Skype, through which colleagues living in different countries can form an online conferencing room. DropBox is an excellent tool to create files which can be accessed by colleagues online, from anywhere in the world.

By adopting a good social media strategy, a company can thus leverage its competitive advantage substantially. Nicholls however stresses the use of social media within a company must be clearly fitted to its general business goals to avoid going enthusiastically in the wrong direction. Nicholls also warns that social media does have a ‘dark side’ and that managers should be aware of its pitfalls, but that these, if properly prepared for, are just a small obstacle in comparison to social media’s great potential. Adopting a successful strategy is one that will take advantage of social media in the context of a company’s business goals, while at the same time mitigating its risks.

Steve Nicholls Bio

Steve Nicholls is the author of the best-selling Social Media in Business, international speaker, and social media strategist who helps business executives implement a winning social media strategy into their organization. After beginning his career as a project manager in skyscraper construction, Steve earned his MBA at Henley Business School in 1992 and his Masters of Science in Organizational Development from the University of Portsmouth in 2008. His background as a project manager, combined with his extensive experience in the business and technology industries, has given him the unique ability to help companies lay their own blueprint for social media success. www.socialmediainbusiness.com

How B2B Companies Can Leverage Events to Build Awareness

Posted on 29 April 2013 by Allan Schoenberg

Last week, my ability to navigate London was put to the test as I attended four different events across the city. Luckily, I was able to be at most of the activities I needed and wanted to see, and attending them made me think of ways B2B marketers can take advantage of events — either by attending or hosting.

Aaron Pearson and I have written here about the importance of face-to-face time. Here is his post from SXSW. Today, digital helps us bridge the chasm of actually attending events in person by following the social stream, but they both have their advantages and disadvantages.

How are you turning your events into opportunities?

Here are some of my thoughts based on last week’s frenzy of events.

Twitter. Keeping on top of events via Twitter in particular can be very beneficial, but there are always limits and challenges. It was very helpful for me to follow the streams from multiple events while I was moving between them last week, but unless there is a regular stream of tweets it becomes difficult. Here are some ideas that I’ve found to be useful:

If you want your event to stand out (or if you want to stand out during an event) then make sure you are posting good content. Re-tweeting and adding favorite tags help, but most people are looking for content, so be prepared ahead of any conference and know what you plan to post and when; think of this as your Twitter editorial calendar.
If you are adding thoughts into the Twitter stream don’t just think about adding content from the event, but think about the messages and content you already have that can complement the event and topic. We did this effectively last week around a number of our key activities — both talking about the event but then also adding relevant links to information (e.g., research, job openings, blog posts).
What makes this easy to do via Twitter is the ability to hashtag each tweet. While hashtags are a great way to join conversations on Twitter and to search for information, I’ve found more than once that some events suddenly have multiple hashtags (which make it difficult to follow) and hashtags can be hijacked as well. Here are some excellent ideas and examples on how to create a useful hashtag.
Finally, I like the use of Twitter streams mostly for connecting with people that I either want to meet up with later or follow. If you are managing a B2B event think of ways you can use Twitter to not only push out content but also to connect people at the event and following your activities.

Video. If possible, live-streaming sessions or even having a few of them available to watch after always makes for a good marketing strategy. Last week’s FT Digital Media 2013 Conference did just that, and you can register and view four of the sessions from last week. One thing I noticed in particular among the scores of tweets was that there was very little use of Vine (Here’s my Vine from the FT Digital Media event). The challenge, of course, is that Vine is very limited (six seconds), but thinking of creative ways to use them throughout your event may provide additional ways to promote certain aspects of your initiative. I also found the use of Skype at The Economist Bellwether event a really interesting way to have participation from one speaker who could not attend be interviewed following a panel discussion. This can be a very risky option, but the quality of the video and discussion made it very good on this occasion.

Photography. Another useful way to bring people into your event is through either the use of event photography. The Economist has posted a number of photos online already showcasing speakers and attendees. There were also several Twitpics from people during the event. At the FT Digital Media event there was a live Flickr stream of photos being posted as well as participants posting their own Instagrams and Twitpics. In addition to Twitter, using a social resource like Instagram can give your event more exposure as you can share those photos across multiple platforms. Images provide another way to bring people into your event and visually tell a story, so think about how you can add these to your B2B arsenal.

Networking. The true benefit of conferences ends up in the face-to-face time. I was able to be at our conference booth for both the events at City Week and Profit & Loss and each one allowed me the opportunity to talk with conference participants. If you attend events for your company where you have a booth I encourage you to always take time to play a part in working at it. It’s not as easy as you think and you never know who you may meet. In addition, planning the right types of networking events for participants remains a very valuable part of any event. No matter how large or small of a conference or event you are managing, you should make it a priority to connect people.

Website. One thing that is frustrating by trying to follow an event online is going to the event site and seeing nothing updated. Simple things like adding a Twitter stream and photos are helpful, but more importantly add special announcements, news and links to helpful resources. You want to make sure that you are leveraging your site to keep attendees and non-attendees up to date. Ideally, think of your site as the hub for your event.

Event management is an area where I think social media has really changed the landscape for B2B marketers. Unfortunately, I think they are often an afterthought as communicators chase blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn and other platforms to tell their story. But events can be a great tool for connecting people to your brand and driving further awareness across both the digital and analog worlds. If you are simply attending or planning to host your next B2B conference, hopefully you will think slightly different about ways to make it more relevant and personal for your stakeholders.

If you enjoyed this post you may also want to read the following:

Craft work — what’s your B2B expertise?

What is social media success in B2B… and some examples

Social Clutter or Social Clarity?

Is Motivation the Key to Success?

Stop Throwing Paint Against the Wall

Posted on 19 April 2013 by Allan Schoenberg

Social media continues to change the way brands communicate with stakeholders. Its introduction into the our arsenal of tactics has provided many benefits, including the ability to share important information, listen to feedback and connect with others. When I speak at events I continue to be impressed with the growing surge and interest from B2B companies in developing programs leveraging social media.

Last summer I introduced my kids to Jackson Pollack...and then we went and had some fun in the garden.

Last summer I introduced my kids to Jackson Pollock…and then we went and had some fun in the garden.

But the easy path to do go down is building a social media program versus taking advantage of social media to be your brand. There is a difference and the earlier method usually results in the cliche of, “Throwing paint up against the wall and seeing if it sticks.” It’s also very one-way — you throw the paint and it doesn’t come back. The only person I can recall who could do this method well and make it work is Jackson Pollock.

There is nothing wrong with experimenting in social media — it’s cost effective, it can allow you to be more creative, you can learn from your experiences and it should be encouraged at this stage. We’ve experimented many times during the last six years and trust me, not everything works. However, everything we do has a purpose and reason in order to tie into our brand and who we are as a company.

Let me give you an example of what I mean. Our latest effort involves Instagram as a recruiting tool and using photographs to tell our history and for people to gain insight into the company. While more brands are using Instagram, we could have easily opened an account and pushed out stock images of graphics and photos we’ve had professionally taken — our paint against the wall approach. But we thought about “why” we wanted an account and “how” it could help promote our company. Our conclusion was that Instagram helps give us a personal touch through visuals, so we wanted to take advantage of that by leveraging our employees to share photos from inside the company as well as people around the world who visit us. Images tell stories and we wanted ours to help humanize and capture the heritage of our brand. We have also integrated our Instagram account with our Facebook page.

No offense to Pollock. He was brilliant and one of my favorite artists, but moving from experimental/one-way “paint throwing” social media into strategic communications is how B2B companies need to think about.

But don’t stop experimenting. Don’t stop thinking about what you can do to leverage social channels and networks. But do think carefully about “why” you want to use them and “how” they can help you. And be patient. B2B communications is not as far-reaching as B2C and it will take time, effort and consistency to be make it work for you.

I did buy the Tate’s “Art in a Box” kit so our next weekend art project may involve Lichtenstein. Stay tuned.

If you enjoyed reading this post you may also want to read the following:

Craft work — what’s your B2B expertise?

Three areas to focus in 2013

What is social media success in B2B… and some examples

Who are your content superheroes?

R “Ray” Wang on customer engagement

Other Voices: Ann Handley, MarketingProfs

Posted on 15 April 2013 by Allan Schoenberg

This post marks a milestone for the group at B2B Voices as it is our 200th since we launched four years ago. And to help us celebrate, I was able to convince Ann Handley, chief content officer of MarketingProfs, and co-author of the best-selling book on content marketing, Content Rules, to spend some time with us.

You are clearly very busy. Tell me about how you process information and content.

I try to touch things once (email, social updates) when I can. I’m pretty controlling when it comes to my work, so I don’t outsource well or shortcut much. In other words, this is actually me answering these questions, and not a robot. Surprisingly, huh? (I’m kidding.)

I wish I could say that I have a secret weapon or cool tool that makes me incredibly efficient. But the truth is straightforward: I’m pretty disciplined in my approach, is all. The key is simply staying on top of things, and not getting too distracted while you’re doing so: For example, when I’m writing I shut off email so that the constant alert of incoming mail doesn’t divert me. Otherwise, I’m like the dog Dug in the movie Up. (“Squirrel!”)

There are so many comparisons of B2C vs B2B communications and how B2B seems to lag, particularly in social media. Do you think B2B communications is misunderstood? Or is it just that we are more focused on our work and approach?

I’m not sure whether business-to-business communications is misunderstood, or whether social media is simply misunderstood by B2B companies. I wish more B2B brands used social platforms not just as a way to amplify their content (to repost blog headlines, for example), but as true storytelling platforms. I wished they used them more thoughtfully: As a way to tell a larger story, and express their value and mission.

Here’s what I mean: MarketingProfs is a B2B training and education company, and we’ve found great success in using Pinterest and Slideshare as platforms to showcase our lighter side – through our Marketing Humor board or our presentation about how to ruin your presentation. Those efforts tell a small part of a broader story: We are approachable. We are human beings. We love what we do. We are serious about marketing, but we also think that marketing doesn’t have to be boring. (It shouldn’t be, in fact.)

What’s your biggest pet peeve when it comes to marketing?

How much time do we have…? Here are two:

1. People who don’t walk the walk.

2. Brands (and people) who speak Frankenspeak instead of using the language of actual human beings.

If you were advising a client and they could only use one social media platform what would you recommend and why?

I get this question a lot from people. But often the unasked question there — the question inside that question, if you will – is: How little can I get away with doing? Here’s the thing: Social media represents a rich opportunity to market in a whole new way. It’s not a task or channel, it’s a mindset.

I’d advise them to forget about social networks, and to focus instead on content. It’s more useful to focus more on creating great content for your prospects and customers (published regularly through a blog or similarly flexible content management system) and focus less on specific platforms. That can come later. Focus on your message and story first.

Data. More data. And more data. What do marketers need to think about when it comes to metrics and evaluation?

There’s no magic data elixir that applies to all businesses. If there were, I’d bottle it in beautiful packaging, set it in a velvet-lined box, and drive around the country, trading it out of the back of my car for ounces of gold.

It’s more important to figure out what marketing metric matters to you: It might be sales, but it might be something else, too: Customer engagement or sharing metrics, or the length of time between a lead generated and a sale. In other words, it depends.

But at a high level, look at your lead generation, sales, and sharing metrics. Those are ones that will give you a pretty solid sense of how well your marketing is driving business.

We’ve seen a real evolution of how people interact, communicate and share information in the past five years. What strikes you as the most relevant change for B2B companies during this time?

I’ll share the change I like best: I love the way that some B2B companies are embracing social media and content for what it is: An opportunity to connect in unprecedented ways with people who they are selling to.

I especially love it when I see B2B companies take that opportunity to lighten up a bit. I wrote about a few of those companies on American Express’s OPEN Forum recently. (The OPEN Forum platform itself is also a great example of a B2B company embracing the opportunities inherent in social media and content, by the way.)

What’s the biggest challenge ahead for communicators?

A big challenge for forward-thinking communicators in 2013 is how to produce the kind of messages and content that truly engage. While most companies understand the notion that they need to be producing content, many are still producing drivel. Producing enough content, and producing the kind of content that engages, are still major challenges for B2B marketers.

Think of your marketing through this lens: Is this marketing truly useful? Will my customer thank me for it? I believe that last question is the Holy Grail for marketing. It’s what I hope all companies aspire to, and it’s a fundamental theme that I focus a lot of my work around.

Finally, it was good seeing you, so when are you coming back to London?

It was so great to see you, too. I love London! Soon, I hope!

If you enjoyed this post you may also enjoy some OtherVoices:

Michael Pranikoff, PR Newswire on B2B digital communications

A Q&A With Jeannie Walters, Founder, 360Connext

A discussion with Mark Ragan, Ragan Communications

A brief interview with Kipp Bodnar, publisher at SocialMediaB2B.com

The Next Chapter for Social Finance and Three Things to Consider

Posted on 12 April 2013 by Allan Schoenberg

Some of the biggest news the past two weeks in social media surrounded the SEC’s announcement and Bloomberg’s news around social media. But what does this mean for communicators? While this is a big win for Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, it means we need to be even more engaged as communicators with these platforms. First, let’s look at a round of each announcement.

Securities Exchange Commission

The Wall Street Journal does a quick FAQ on the news and what it means. Over at CNBC they tell investor relations professionals to relax and enjoy some sleep. And Dominic Jones points out that the “devil is in the details” when it comes to interpreting the guidelines. So while the guidelines are meant to help companies, did anyone think of investors? Managing the information is important and Hootsuite offers some thoughts (we’re a Hootsuite client — and here’s a list of financial services firms currently using Hootsuite). In 2010 I wrote about why investor relations professionals need to use StockTwits, and Howard Lindzon sums up his approach to what they have done and the SEC’s announcement:

“No matter what others call us or think, Stocktwits is a NEWSWIRE. Information is flowing from one to many, all day, every day and it is full of context.”

Bloomberg Terminal

The others news came from Bloomberg and that they were now adding Twitters posts about companies to their terminal feeds. Mashable offers a screen shot of what this will look like. And Venture Beat points out that this won’t be a “firehouse” of tweets, so we’ll need to see what is chosen and what is not. With many financial companies still blocking social media, the importance of this is that people in the markets can now gain access to tweets that matter. And as Joe Weisenthal pointed out during the crisis in Cyprus Twitter was beating most other sources.

Why This Matters

Back in 2011 I pointed out that social finance had arrived. Traders, analysts and financial firms were already mining Twitter for data. The news this month continues the evolution of social finance and further emphasizes the importance and seriousness of the information that is being shared. Here are three things B2B firms need to think about as the SEC and Bloomberg help advance the significance of your posts.

It’s time to revisit your guidelines and disclosure rules. If you haven’t sent the news about what just happened to your compliance and investor relations teams then stop reading and do that now. If you are still pitching internally to use social media this will show that you are on top of the news and give you further leverage to discuss how you can build your social media strategy. At the very least, it should continue to build your relationships internally, and that’s always a good thing.
What you post matters (even more). Think carefully about how you word, when you post and what you want to say about your firm. And don’t be afraid to repost extremely important information. As information gets posted in more venues, and now pulled into the Bloomberg terminal, content management gains in influence. I would also continue to pay attention to what Bloomberg does with social media and integrating it across all of its media.
Register for StockTwits. It’s value as a company just went up, but more importantly for you it’s value as a reputation tool to promote and protect your brand just increased. If you are not using it for your company then integrate it with your Twitter account (and don’t forget to add your Hootsuite account). And if you’re a PR Newswire client (we are) you get the added benefit of having StockTwits on your side too.

I’m a long-time believer that social media can be a catalyst for change within B2B organizations — from sales to investor relations to content management — and this month was significant. The amount of discussions online around what the SEC and Bloomberg have announced, both in agreement and disagreement, makes the value of what has been accomplished in the past decade of information exchange and disclosure both challenging and exciting. As communicators, it’s just discussing “why” we should use these tools but the thinking has advanced to “how” we use them.

Do how do you think this news changes social finance? Or is it business as usual? Let us know.

If you enjoyed this post you may also want to read the following:

What drives your social media strategy?

Blogging isn’t supposed to be easy

How Well Do You Know Your Social Network? Probably Poorly

Five lessons learned after five years of B2B social media

What drives your B2B strategy?

Tuning into your industry

Are you ready for a real-time B2B world?

Need a Strategy? Start by Playing Games

Using Social Networking Sites in B2B Businesses

Craft Work: What’s Your B2B Expertise?

Posted on 2 April 2013 by Allan Schoenberg

It seems we continue to reap the rewards as marketers of the latest digital improvements — from dashboards to metrics — but that doesn’t mean we can instantly do our jobs better. There remains a deep level of expertise and skill that needs to be honed and improved in order to do any part of marketing communications well. Whether you are in web design, media relations, sales, advertising, app development or any other function in the marketing mix, we admire and look up to the people who seem to continuously create winning campaigns.

Like all good skills, developing a real craft or expertise is difficult and takes time. A craftsman knows that you learn from mistakes, you need to take risks, and you need to continuously practice and develop your knowledge.

It takes a lot of time, patience and perseverance to make your craft succeed.

So even though we watch and apply new forms of technology to help us advance our brands, there are areas where some stand out from others. Some of you may call this differentiation, but others call it expertise or skills or leadership. Here are some areas where true craftsmanship can come into play for B2B communications:

Content Management: More and more we are being asked to use content to differentiate our brands and stand out through the massive amounts of information online. Mastering the art of craftsmanship around content can make a big impact for B2B companies. Where the expertise lies is bringing it all together to find the right opportunities to develop content around news, issues or trends and then deciding how to present that content via blog post, infographic or some other distribution method. Tools like Visual.ly can help but sometimes it comes down to more than just choosing the right resource; it’s about having the right vision and integrating the message, visual and distribution. Content can be an exceptional way to make your brand and company stand apart from the competition but the true skill is making this happen consistently and over time. Doing this takes a lot of focus and someone who is connected to many parts of your organization, from customers to management to the people in sales and beyond.

Real-Time Monitoring. The world online is moving in real-time and this is no different for B2B brands than it is for consumer brands. Having the skills to know who to monitor and keeping on top of news and information is critical to various aspects of an organization. While is may seem obvious that this is something that needs to be done, the act of actually doing it can be an art and a skill in running down various content across multiple platforms. This also means you need to develop alerts, set aside monitoring time and learn to constantly adjust and refocus your attention. It becomes even more challenging to make all of this information relevant, which is where the next skill comes into play.

Metrics. More and more data is coming our way and it’s up to someone to not only find the critical connection points, but also wade through a lot of useless information. Knowing what activities or events trigger engagement and understanding qualitative and quantitative data results are increasingly becoming vital marketing and communications skills. For decades we’ve been able to rely on a few forms of metrics and measurement, but that has all changed as social media and digital content have turned information to “always on”. And knowing how to separate the “eyeball” metrics from the “influential” metrics that matter to your campaigns and brand is not easy. In addition, more and more solutions are being introduced, which may or may not help. The key skill here is knowing what to look for, where to find it and then interpreting it to both management and marketing.

Voice. How do you speak as your brand? Do you inject humor? Do you use social media for customers service? Does your social media align with your other branding and marketing efforts? Deciding how and what you post reflects on your brand and this is no easy task as you have to explain images, limit the use of characters and decide what audience you are speaking to online. Having a common voice in a global organization can be extremely difficult as you manage cultures, languages and offerings among a variety of stakeholders. But knowing what your brand represents and its key attributes can help guide the tone and focus.

Connector. While many crafts focus on content, one key skill is the ability to network. With B2B sales cycles longer and generally more complex than B2C, relationships really do matter. Social media allows so many people to gain access to others in your organization and beyond that you can become very good at playing the ultimate connector of people. There can be a clear advantage for you and your organization to bring people together — buyers and sellers — via social media and beyond, and people who network well know how to connect the online and offline worlds.

If there was one B2B skill you could add to this list what would it be and why? Let us know in the comments.

If you like this post you may also want to read the following:

What drives your B2B strategy?

What is social media success in B2B… and some examples

Who are your content superheroes?

Are you ready for a real-time B2B world?

Do B2B Companies Need Social Media?

Posted on 22 March 2013 by Allan Schoenberg

This question was posed to me by Paul Gillin for a Q&A I did with him for BtoB Magazine. There are a number of ways to define the word “need” but it is a good question for companies to begin when they think about starting or expanding social media.

The mistake and trap B2B companies get into is the idea that social media should equate to sales. While the ultimate goal of communications should be to help drive revenue, there are many ways that social media can be used that are just as critical to a brand. Without getting into the tactics of how to do social, here are three ways to think about how social media can build on a company’s efforts.

Don’t get so focused on social media to help sell that you can’t see the forest for the trees.

Recruiting. Recruiters and job seekers more and more are turning to social media to look for a job. Because of this, they are trying to follow and discover more about your company. Whether you use social media to directly recruit employees or not job candidates are researching you online to learn more about you and to decide if they want to be associated with your firm. In addition, tomorrow’s leaders of your organization have grown up with social media. They too are looking online and deciding if they should work for you or your competition.

Crisis communication. When something goes wrong with your organization people more and more are turning to social media for the news or to see what people are saying. In addition, if you are focused on media relations remember that news stories about a crisis will quickly spread online. If you are there to respond as quickly as possible you can learn to leverage social media to your advantage.

Education.Think of your social channels as an extension of your website and event activities. Using social media for brand awareness to celebrate your wins, promote your news and talk about what you are doing can make a difference as you work to build on your brand.

Don’t get into thinking that social media is just about sales. There is more to using these channels than just a sales tool and you need to help your management and sales team understand that your group of stakeholders is much broader than just customers. We continue to see ways that social media is changing the way we consume and communicate information, as B2B brands we need to be listening and a part of these streams and discussions.

If you enjoyed this post you may also want to read the following:

What drives your social media strategy?

Blogging isn’t supposed to be easy

How Well Do You Know Your Social Network? Probably Poorly

Five lessons learned after five years of B2B social media