Selling Social Media in the B2B World

June 23, 2009 | Posted by: John Conrad

As part of Merritt Group’s book club, we just finished reading “Secrets of Social Media Marketing” by Paul Gillin who also wrote the “The New Influencers.” To quickly summarize, “Secrets of Social Media Marketing” is about how to use online conversations and customer communities to drive business -- and not just for B2C businesses! The book goes into good detail about mapping a social media strategy so that enterprises can engage their customers in such conversations. Because I represent B2B companies, this book, in particular, spoke to me. In my opinion, using social media to drive business for a B2C company is a no brainer (in most cases), but that is not always the case in the B2B world. Quite often convincing the B2B leadership that social media could benefit their business and customers is the most difficult part for PR and marketing people. Mr. Gillin recognizes that fact that social media marketing can be overwhelming for some businesses, but suggests that the “only two sins of the new media world are fear and inaction.” I agree. Some of our clients are testing the waters, while others are fully immersed in social media. Both are good things. Right now I don’t believe mistakes are a bad thing. But to help make the foray into social media easier for our clients, we as PR people need to give our clients the best counsel possible about what to do and what not to do. Here are a few facts, suggestions and observations from the “Secrets of Social Media Marketing” that I thought could help PR and marketing people “sell” new media to those executives who may fear social media, especially those wild bloggers! → Remember the cost of experimentation is low and the market is forgiving → Small is beautiful – embrace niche audiences (you don’t need mass-market appeal to adopt social media) → Start with the business goal – tools are secondary --The best technology is usually not the best choice → Social media tools work best when integrated with traditional marketing → If you elect to podcast, you are in good company… --Very popular among B2B marketers --Also popular for internal communications among global companies