In yesterday’s post, we considered the ever decreasing gap between b2b and b2c consumer behaviour. In today’s post we will look at the role social media will play in marketing to the b2b consumer.
While for many executives, social media may seem like a relatively new phenomenon. Actually, though using social media as a platform for b2b communication has been relatively low profile, those business professionals who have been using it for the last few years have achieved some powerful results. Marsden’s Matthew Taylor, is an early adopter of the social media platform and has long felt that the principles of b2b marketing could -in essence- be applied to the b2b sector, and when Tom Barnes, managing director of Collonil Technology began to use social media in their B2B campaigns, he found out that “Ultimately, most b2b marketers do not understand that, regardless of whether they choose to participate in them or not, there are many conversations already going on about their brand.”
“For an example of this, simply enter your company’s name into the Twitter or Facebook search and your will be shocked at the number of results returned – comments on your products, customer service and importantly issues relating to the way in which your customers have experienced your brand.” Barnes suggests that this sort of customer feedback is invaluable.
There are a few large corporations who understand the power of social media as a b2b marketing platform. DELL, IBM and Apple, for example, have all embraced this technology. DELL for example uses Twitter in an engaging and interesting way – using it as a platform to inform customers of upcoming product releases, handy tips on how to use them and as a way of dealing with any customer issues. Indeed, the success of this platform for these big brands has lead many business analysts to predict that marketing to the b2b sector via traditional forms of media will be virtually obsolete in the coming year.
This statement may be a little dramatic. We feel that social media is merely a more formal extension of the ‘word of mouth’ mentality that has always informed b2b marketing. However, social media is an essential platform for the b2b sector if a recent company formation or small business is to communicate with different demographics and retain or gain a share of voice in the increasingly hostile space of the current economy.