Do we really have a generational gap?

Arik Hanson here. I’ve spent a decent portion of my career working in the B2B sector—more specifically professional services. One concern I continue to hear from my former colleagues and others I work with in the accounting, consulting and legal professions: Are social networks really the best way to reach CEOs, CFO and controllers? Aren’t they too old for this stuff?

Let’s look at the numbers

According to eMarketer, B2B organizations spent $480 million in advertising on social networks in 2008. That number will skyrocket to $4 billion by 2012.

According to Nielsen, Facebook added twice as many 50-64 year olds visitors (13.6 million) than under 18s (7.3 million) between Dec. 2007 and Dec. 2008 (what do you think the number looks like now?)

And, according to a recent study by Accenture (hat tip to Steve Rubel), baby boomers:

· Increased reading blogs and listening to podcasts by 67 percent year over year; nearly 80 times faster than Gen Y (1 percent)

· Posted a 59 percent increase in using social networking sites—more than 30 times faster than Gen Y (2 percent)

· Increased watching/posting videos on the Internet by 35 percent—while Gen Y usage decreased slightly (-2 percent)

Clearly boomers are moving online, but really, the numbers are just one piece of the equation.

Wait, is it really all about the numbers?

Like so many other things in this space, it’s not all about the numbers. Clearly, numbers matter. Especially to bean-counting CPAs and those accountable for the financial performance of our organizations. But, there’s a softer, more relationship-based side to social networks that makes them invaluable to B2B organizations that make their living on longer sales cylces.

For example, what kind of dollar figure would you put on picking your customer’s brains around new products or ways to improve your existing ones? Don’t B2B companies invest millions in focus group research each year? Social networks give you the opportunity to tap into your customer’s minds—in many cases for very little money.

How much value does a new account have for your firm? By arming employees with the resources they need to tell your story to friends, family and business associates through social networks you can turn LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter into powerful sales tools. And the best part: It’s free and relatively easy—chances are, many employees are already engaging in social networks in their free time and talking about your business. Why not give them the tools they need to tell your story, further your brand and possibly convince a friend of colleague to give your product or service a try?

Is ROI really the roadblock?

There’s no doubt it’s tougher to connect social media strategy to your bottom line. But, don’t we have similar challenges with advertising and earned media? Can we really point to an article in the New York Times and say it translated directly into a $10 million account? I’m not so sure.

So, if you’re looking at participating in social networks from an ROI standpoint, it’s not all that different from the existing strategies in your marketing and communications plan.

Given the numbers mentioned above, the relationship value and the ROI discussion, does the perceived generational gap even matter for B2B companies? Or, does it make too much sense not to give these tools a try? You tell me.