Transparency, awareness and engagement. In social marketing, these words take on additional meaning as B2B marketers examine the value of social media and how it supports interactions with prospects and revenue generation across the customer lifecycle. These were also recurring themes throughout a FOCUS roundtable that I recently participated on: “Social Media and Social Marketing Across the Funnel.”
I joined respected industry influencers Carlos Hidalgo from The Annuitas Group (@cahidalgo) and Kathleen Schaub of TrellisOne (@kathleenschaub) in an engaging, informative session moderated by Neolane’s Kristin Hambelton (@KMHambelton).
Each panelist share perspectives on questions such as: What is the difference between social media and social marketing? Why is social media and social marketing so critical for B2B organizations? And, What’s working today for B2B organizations using social?
In terms of setting the groundwork for the discussion, my perspective is that social media can be defined as one of the most transparent and engaging forms of communication available today. It’s also a technology, and a platform, to share opinions and experiences. Now, with the tremendous amount of data being generated by social media interactions, marketers are being forced to shift from one way, brand-driven conversations, to two way consumer-driven dialogues.
How critical is social media to B2B organizations? Well, according to a recent study by BtoB Magazine, 93 percent of all B2B marketers are engaged in some form of social media marketing. I see this high adoption rate as an indicator that social marketing is being viewed as an increasingly important driver for revenue AND for increasing customer engagement.
Social marketing is also beginning to have a very real impact across the sales funnel, especially in the early stages where it has the ability to increase awareness, which can lead to increased interest in your company’s products and services. It’s important to remember that social marketing-generated leads should be nurtured, scored and passed along to sales just like any other lead so it can be tracked and attributed back to marketing, as appropriate.
Overall, this roundtable was a tremendous opportunity to share and learn from various perspectives on the role of social media and social marking in B2B organizations, and understand the potential impact on customer engagement and recurring revenues. I’d encourage you to listen when you have the time!
What about you, how is your B2B organization using social media to drive customer engagement and revenues?
