Social Media has been both praised as the Second Coming, and also dismissed as the “flavor of the month” in marketing circles. At its core, however, contemporary Social Media is an evolution of tools that allow organizations and their devotees to maintain a dialog. Think “bulletin boards” and “discussion forums” from the ‘70’s and ‘80’s. (There’s nothing new since the Geeks.)

So is Social Media going to revolutionize B2B marketing? No. Does it have the capacity to strengthen the relationship between an organization and its most avid followers? Absolutely. Is it worth the effort? It depends.

What’s Different About Social Media?

Social Media has two key functions:

• It allows you to listen to what individuals are saying about your company, your competitors, and your industry
• It provides an opportunity to have conversations with individuals who have strong feelings about your products and services…positive or negative.

“But we do that now”, you might say. “Our sales folks report everything they hear about the market, and our Customer Service Department handles complaints within 48 hours.”

Having been an industrial salesperson, may I be candid? Your sales force captures and reports a fraction of the action. And the Customer Service Department is handling complaints, not kudos. And as you know, most people with complaints don’t take the time to contact you — they just stop ordering.

The Benefit of Listening

The beauty of social media tools is that you can set up a couple of simple, off-the-shelf tools that will automatically scan the digital universe for any comments being made about your company and industry. Examples include Google Alerts (free) and radian6 among others. You will be amazed by how much useful information is flying around out there. It’s a lot more than you’re getting in monthly updates from the field.

The Promise of Interaction

As valuable as “listening” is, however, the greatest value of B2B Social Media is the opportunity it offers to create an ongoing conversation with the most die-hard fans of your products and services! No other tool in the marketing bag provides that benefit.

You have other tools to blast out your marketing message, to provide generic responses to questions, and to handle one-off interactions with customers. But only social media presents a forum to maintain personal relationships with zealots…the people who are, or can become, evangelists for your brand. Social Media is a tool that allows you to interact with individuals who are at the pointy edge of the spear. No other club in your bag can handle that shot as well.

B2B Versus B2C Social Media Opportunity

In a recent article published in CPG Matters (Retailers Largely Ignoring Customers on Facebook), it was noted that during a five-day period in September 2011, nearly two-thirds of consumer issues raised on Facebook went unaddressed. Costco, Kmart, and Kroger failed to respond to a single comment. Others including Walmart, Macy’s, and Nordstrom responded in varying degrees. On the face of it, not exactly a customer-friendly modus operandi, but there is method in their madness.

From a financial perspective, retailers would need a large staff to respond to all social media contacts, which would represent a significant investment. Plus, the lifetime value of an individual Kroger customer is relatively low…even a loyal customer. This doesn’t discount the importance of trying to address the needs of one’s best customers, but it does require being selective, at best, about the number of people with whom you can afford to carry on a long-term, personal dialog.

On the other hand, B2B companies have many fewer customers than B2C companies. While it may not be possible to cost-justify the number of staff needed to respond to every social media inquiry, B2B companies are in a better position to interact on a personal basis with a portion of their customers. In addition, the lifetime value of a happy customer of lighting components makes the investment in developing personal relationships more attractive.

In similar fashion, the relative level of influence of a rabid B2B fan is potentially much greater than the level of influence of a strong B2C fan. Why? There are fewer sources of credible information about tractors than there are about nutrition. A positive post on a leading B2B blog or website can have a disproportionately large impact compared to a similar communication in the B2C space. Also, B2B customers are making decisions that affect their livelihood, so one can reasonably argue that B2B social media participants have a bigger stake in the outcome of their research.

The Proof Is In The Case Studies

There is a growing list of examples of B2B companies that are using social media to great advantage. A good place to sample these successes is the article 25 Business-tastic Social Media Case Studies.