Social Marketing for B2B

In a Forrester report titled “How B2B Marketers Use Social Now” Zachary Reiss-Davis discusses the channels that are on their way up and on their way out in the B2B digital marketing world.  Not surprisingly, some of the popular B2C digital marketing tactics are not so favorable in B2B.  There are also some stand outs that perhaps B2C marketers are missing out on.

Reiss-Davis shows that social marketing is just as important in B2B marketing and gives some insight to where advertising dollars may be best spent.  Specifically for lead nurturing, Facebook, Pinterest, and Google Plus have been losers while Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, and videos have proven themselves.  One of the interesting standouts was virtual events.  According to Reiss-Davis, business decision-makers find them more influential than public social networks, including Facebook and LinkedIn.

His advice: “Use more-expensive social channels for their ability to break through the noise.”  While videos and virtual events require a bigger investment, they should be included as part of a holistic marketing plan.

“How B2B Marketers Use Social Now” by Zachary Reiss-Davis can be found here: http://www.forrester.com/How+B2B+Marketers+Use+Social+Now/fulltext/-/E-RES94263