Is It Time For Your Business to Embrace Social Media?
Tue, Jul 7, 2009 by Steve McAbee
Social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn allow businesses to attract customers, recruit talent, develop leads and share information in real-time from anywhere in the world. Although many B2C companies have enjoyed great success with social media, the adoption of social tactics has been uneven in B2B circles. On a global scale, social networking is more popular than email, so why do B2B companies hesitate?
Businesses that are not already engaging their target audiences via social media usually fall into at least one of these categories:
- Those that believe social media is a fad and will soon blow over
- Those that don’t see any strategic value in being “social”
- Those that think their customers don’t use social networks
If your business fits one of these categories, here are three things to consider:
1. The Future of Search
The results of a recently published survey conducted by Forbes in association with Google (PDF, registration required) show that C-level executives (your customers) rank the Internet as the most valuable information resource available.
The same survey says most C-suite professionals first turn to traditional search engines (Yahoo, Google, etc.) when seeking work-related information. Yet, statistics show social media use growing, while traditional search loses ground. And, because traditional search engines can’t see all the information on every social network, some experts feel that social networks could represent the future of online search.
2. C-Suite Trends
A very small percentage of executives age 50 or older use any kind of social media, while more than half of executives under 40, and roughly a third of those ages 40-49, use social media several times a week.
Considering the rapid growth of social media, the average age of a CEO (55) and their average tenure (7 years), the number of CEOs using social media will increase drastically over the next five years.
3. Your Customers ARE Using Social Media
On average, B2B buyers are more engaged in social media than their peers. According to a report from Forrester Research, 91 percent of B2B decision-makers are taking part in social media; 69 percent do so for business purposes. Fifty-five percent have at least one social networking profile, and 43 percent are active in creating social media content.
The evidence is mounting up. Social media does not appear to be going anywhere. In fact, it seems poised to change the way we conduct business online. If your company has not embraced social media, does it plan to do so? Why or why not?
Tags: Facebook, LinkedIn, Public Relations, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter
Nice layout of the case here. The Forrester Research seems to be leaned on heavily by us B2B marketers, but nice to have the Forbes Insight/Google research added to the mix. Another is from MarketingSherpa, which finds that B2B marketers are ahead of B2C in many , wcategories of social media. (I found via http://www.impressionsthroughmedia.com/?p=2104, which links to a free excerpt from the $400+ report).
Thanks for contributing, Sean. We appreciate the heads up on the additional research in this area.
I think is a nice summary of the situation, I have forwarded to some of my B2B marketing friends.
I guess you meant something different here: Social media does not appear to be going anywhere.” Like: Social media does not appear to be going away?
The key point is that social media is very much effecting the way buyers make buying decisions, and they are making those decisions in spaces and places in the social media. If you are not participating in those same spaces and places as your customers, your potential customers, and your competitors, then AHA! you are no longer part of their buying decision process.
Walter Adamson @g2m
http://www.socialmedia-academy.com.au
Hello, Walter. Thanks for stopping by, and passing the post along to a few others. You are correct about my conclusion that social media is here to stay.
I wholeheartedly agree that customers are being influenced by online discussions in spaces and places where B2B sellers may not currently be engaged. The voice of cautious B2B companies demands demonstrated ROI on their spend in social media. And I don’t blame them, given the expense for organizations to engage in a comprehensive program.
But these companies can take a phased approach to their efforts and engage with their customers with dramatic results. We’ve helped our B2B clients dip a toe in the social media pool, and then wade into deeper waters over time. It’s given us great insight and data that we are turning into a whitepaper to help other companies do the same. The Practitioner readers can look for that later this month.
Cheers,
Steve
Actually, the Forrester research clarifies “Note that buyers use social technology but don’t rate it highly in terms of its influence on their buying decisions.”
http://blogs.forrester.com/groundswell/2009/02/new-research-b2.html
My problem is the terms in the Forrester report are too broad and easy to misunderstand or misrepresent. What is “social media”? Blogs? Youtube videos? Facebook? Twitter? When a survey resondent says “yes, I’m using social media for business purposes” which social media are they referring to? They aren’t one and the same.
I’m also unsure what Forrester means by “business purposes”. It isn’t to make buying decisions. So what are people doing? Researching competitors? Advancing their own professional development? Marketing their expertise?
Overall, there’s a lot of hype around social media and its appropriateness for business use. This study by Forrester adds to the hype, but not the clarity.
Thanks for the input, Bruce. I think the research data can and should be questioned. As should all research. And that’s kind of the point, in my opinion. Doing so opens the door (and mind) to the need for additional information.
As for my position, I can only speak from my firm’s experience helping companies to influence buyers using social media as part of an integrated, comprehensive communications program. Surveys of their customers strongly indicates that they rely on information gleaned from these activities to help build the case for purchases from those companies.
But its important to note that social media is not one-size-fits-all. What works for my clients may not work for another B2B company. But what is consistent is that a company must have something compelling to offer the market for any buyer to want to purchase — regardless of what online strategies they use.
Steve