Social Media means business.... to business?

I know, I know, in my earlier post I attacked advertising on social media, but I have noticed, much to my liking, that social media sites seem to have managed their ever-growing ad placements in a very subtle & non invasive manner. No screaming, oversized banners, or that ultimate epitome of annoyance - the pop-up window! In any case, I take my hat off to their restraint, professionalism and empathy of user experience.

It's old news that advertising on social media sites is a lucrative & cost effective channel. What's new is the sectors and businesses that at one time dismissed the media as superfluous and purely consumer oriented, are beginning to take notice of the benefits, not to mention their appeal to a wider range of users than just the plain old consumer (like me).

Lest we forget, CEO's also tend to have laptops and smart phones. And believe it or not, a surprising majority of them EVEN have Facebook & Twitter accounts. And quite a few of these key decision makers are running B2B brands and companies. They are also realizing the potential in social media. They also understand that key decision makers, their friends and families also very much lie within their either existing or potential client database.

The question is how to do this in an online advertising environment that is being increasingly regulated and monitored to ensure optimal levels of user experience and less downtime.

One example of a well orchestrated social media campaign was recently executed by Cisco - a well known brand and a leader in the technology industry. As part of a product launch for the ASR 9000 router, they created a campaign around a bumbling tech reporter who is assigned to break the story of the new product. Even their CEO, John Chambers, shows he can play along. The initial video was combined with a blog, Facebook group, Twitter account, YouTube and a preview launch site to build awareness of the product launch. You can read more about the success of the campaign and the importance of cross-promoting video content on Dianna Huff’s B2B Marcom blog.

The above is one example, but the possibilities for effective & creative B2B marketing via social media are ours for the taking. Facebook, for example. is allowing for sponsored applications that, with the right segmentation, can become a very powerful vehicle for an array of B2B marcom activities - CSR, brand awareness, product placement & awareness, leads generation... my mouth waters at the prospects!

All that needs to be done is to find B2B companies willing to do so. 44% of B2B companies aren't using social media yet. But 66% are, and that's not a bad start...