Posted Jan 06,2012 by 
We have seen a lot of companies focused on selling to consumers (B2C) jumping on the social media bandwagon, adding their chirpy (squeaky, in some cases) voice to the existing social noise. But where are the businesses that are selling to businesses (aka B2B) on social media? Is it because of the common theory that businesses don’t use social media as opposed to consumers in the B2B vs. B2C equation? I heard so once!
Let’s slice this.
Businesses are run by individuals. The decision maker could be a CEO, Manager Procurement, CMO. These are all human beings, most likely to be found wasting away their precious time on one or two of these social mediums. Some will be found playing social games and some stalking friends.
A simple example should explain this concept further. Consider that you are running a huge grocery store and your targeted clients are restaurants, hotels, guest houses; rather than the home consumers. You believe that your target customer is the guy who picks tons of grocery and pays the bill on behalf of a restaurant. Well not really. It is the restaurant owner, hotel’s procurement manager, and even the owner’s son. He or she might not ever visit your shop but will approve the vendor (since purchasing is the most looked after department by the top management). If you manage to involve the top management or decision makers through your social media campaign, in next vendor assessment or board meeting your companies’ name will surface. Maybe the very next day, you will find the procurement personnel of your much eyed client on your company’s door steps.
If you are running a B2B company and your client is on social media ready to engage, why aren’t you?
Social Media makes it so easy for the once very formal, hard to please traditional B2B client relations. By adapting to social media you get to talk and maintain to the much revered clients in a casual environment. Now you can swim with all the big sharks, you probably dreamt about doing business with. And why not?
If you are caught in a similar situation, where you don’t see how your B2B company can benefit from social media just type in the name of Procurement Manager or CEO of the company in search box of Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin. You are bound to find them.
Don’t forget that all it takes to concur the hearts and minds of people through social media marketing campaign designed around the needs and wants of your customer.
In next part- I will be discussing some of the common techniques that can help you conquer the hearts of your clients.
