B2B Marketers and Social Media : The Catch 22 Situation

In the aftermath of panda updates many b2b portals have seen an unprecedented fluctuation in their rankings and have even observed a downward slide in their traffic.

Matt Cutts (Google's anti webspam head) was recently asked - what would he include in his SEO strategy list for 2011? He replied creation of great content (bait) spread via social media. This wouldn't just help in getting quality natural back links , which could result in better rankings, this would also help in acquiring new visitors and customers. Experts think, the reason why this strategy would succeed is this - in the world of social media, even now, the creators of original and quality content are less and those who link or spread it further are more.

As per one of the latest research report " 23 percent of social users are “creators” and almost one in 10 are “megaphones.” who generate web content, surrounding brand info found on social sites, and they're likely to link to valuable resources."

The three pillars of social media marketing are facebook, twitter and linked in. Social media pundits say that, three of them should be used in a different manner, with different content, however, with the same goal in mind which is acquiring new customers and spreading the message to the right kind of targeted audience.

Another big question which is being discussed at length is : Has article marketing finally lost its sheen? Experts believe, Yes if it not done in the right way. This essentially means if the article isn't well researched, just a mashed up piece of rephrased words of an already written text, it wouldn't help a site and could instead harm it as well.

B2b marketers should write well researched original articles (length of the article would also matter), then (preferably ) upload it on to their site and spread it via social media sites.

B2B companies have often struggled to succeed with social media sites and so far have had less than desired results.

According to another survey report " both B2B and B2C brands are seeing success with social marketing. Linked In was especially useful for B2B companies in terms of driving leads, with 61 percent of B2B firms gaining new customers "

Many b2b marketers often wonder what should they use social media for? Experts say that social media should be use for

* Acquiring New customers
* Attracting relevant search traffic
* Improving ranking
* Creating positive buzz about your brand and your product


So that brings us as to another important question i.e. what exactly are the requisites for a successful social media campaign?

* Grabbing your brands names on all the major social media sites
* Setting up of impressive profile page, with interesting information
* Creation of original, exclusive, interesting and fresh content, delivered within the right frequency i.e. either daily or every two days or weekly
* Keep fuelling social conversion around your content


What b2b companies can do is, use slide share or you tube to upload power point presentation or videos about their products and services. Then, share those links on FB + fuel conversation though exciting contests or interaction. They can use twitter for promoting occasional and exclusive promotional offers or attractive deals.

One of the main reason why b2b companies social marketing campaigns fail is because there isn't enough engaging fresh content. Industry analysts point out that compelling content is the most basic requirement for a successful SMO campaign. On an average half of the journalists turn to social media to find leads or see the pulse of the masses.

Sooner or later the line between social and search marketing will get blurred. The idea behind making early inroads into the social media segment is simple - to be on top of the game before the serious battle lines are drawn. In short, social media is getting bigger with each passing day and one can ignore it only at its peril.

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Article first published as B2B Marketers and Social Media - The Catch 22 Situation on Technorati.