There has been an explosion in B2B social media of late. In fact, 83% of all B2B companies now use social media to connect with customers and prospects and to generate leads. The challenge: how do you make your social media investment pay off? Our white paper B2B Social Media Monetization gives you need-to-know advice for setting social media strategies, measuring the success of your campaigns, and driving revenue.

1. 2013
WHITEPAPER: B2B Social Media Monetization

2. www.thesocialpeople.net | @thesocialppl f/thesocialpeople
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There has been an explosion in B2B social media of late. In fact, 87%
of all B2B marketers use social media to generate leads and engage
prospects1
, and 56% increased social media spending in 20132
.
What’s driving this eager adoption? In large part, B2B buyers.
Increasingly, they want to use social media to research prospective
purchases and connect with vendors—33% do now and 75% plan to
in the future3
.
Savvy companies recognize the power of social media to transform their business and are using it to give their
customers a seat at the decision-making table. Whether you are just starting out or are looking to take your
efforts to the next level, the following 5 steps can help you make your social media marketing a success.
STEP 1: START WITH A STRATEGY
With the recent explosion in the use of social media, it’s easy to fall into the trap of just wanting to get out
there, start a Facebook page, tweet a little, and see what happens. But social media is like every other aspect
of your business: it will be more successful when the goals, objectives and strategies are clearly outlined.
The way B2B companies use social media tends to be similar to B2C companies. Some of the common uses
include:
 Increasing awareness
 Gathering and responding to customer feedback
 Customer service
 Crisis management
 Generating leads
 Market research
 Monitoring the competition
For most companies, it ultimately comes down to generating
revenue.
B2B buyers have a lot in common with consumers, but there
are some key differences as well. To make sure your social
media campaigns hit the mark and achieve your goals, it’s
important to keep these differences in mind.
The ultimate customer – B2B buyers are making purchases not
just for their company but with their own customers in mind,
and this shapes their decisions.
Big investment – B2B purchases tend to be pricey, so business
buyers are more cautious and hungry for information that can
help them make the right choices.
77% of B2B buyers are
more likely to purchase
from a company if the CEO
uses social media4
.
SOCIAL MEDIA RESULTS
B2B marketers have seen even greater success than
B2C marketers in achieving some kinds of social
media goals
5
.
GOAL B2B B2C
Acquired new business partnerships 56% 45%
Improved search ranking 60% 50%
Gathered marketplace insights 69% 60%

3. www.thesocialpeople.net | @thesocialppl f/thesocialpeople
Value of relationships – Typically there is a long sales cycle with B2B purchases, so buyers want to work with
a company they view as a trusted, responsive partner.
Peers matter – The B2B marketplace is very much peer-influenced with the opinions, recommendations and
referrals of fellow B2B buyers carrying a lot of weight.
STEP 2: PICK THE RIGHT PLATFORMS
The platforms you choose will obviously have a big impact on your success. You need to be where you can
engage with your customers and prospects. Social media monitoring is a great way to find this out.
Explic8, powered by Germinate, gives you a constantly updated look at how and where customers seek out
information and how they engage with your company—insight that can help you decide which platforms are
best for your effort.
Keep in mind that different social media platforms offer different benefits:
 Blogs – 77% of B2B social media companies use blogs to share content, which is great for
establishing credibility with buyers and becoming a go-to resource for insight on current issues6
 LinkedIn – The most popular platform with B2B marketers7
, it’s 4x better at generating leads than
Facebook or Twitter8
.
 Google+ – Second most users behind Facebook9
, it gives you the ability to target content using
circles.
 Twitter – Good for building and sustaining relationships, which is key to B2B selling.
 Facebook – largest network10
and it offers ad retargeting with Facebook Exchange.
The smart move is to develop a plan that uses multiple, complementary platforms, then measure
performance and adjust as needed.
TOP 5 B2B PLATFORMS (Percentage of all B2B companies who use each platform11
)

4. www.thesocialpeople.net | @thesocialppl f/thesocialpeople
STEP 3: CONNECT WITH CONTENT
More and more B2B companies are using social media to
distribute content. This makes perfect sense given the
nature of B2B buying, which involves a significant
investment and lots of research. B2B buyers are eager for
content that will help them understand industry trends and
make smart decisions.
Using content as the cornerstone of your B2B social media
effort accomplishes 3 very valuable things:
Helps prospects with research – B2B purchases are typically complex and involve many different variables.
With white papers, state-of-the-industry pieces and other informative content, you can help your prospects
find the insight they need, speed along the research phase of the buying decision, keep your company top of
mind, and frame issues in a way that will naturally lead to your products and services.
Establishes your company as a thought leader – B2B customers are buying your expertise as much as your
products and services. Driving content with social media gives you the perfect opportunity to show off how
well your company understands the most pressing issues facing your customers today.
Starts building a relationship – Since B2B purchases typically have big price tags and long sales cycles,
finding the right vendor relationship is crucial to business customers. Start making a connection by delivering
valuable content that demonstrates you understand customers’ goals and challenges.
STEP 4: GENERATE LEADS
If generating leads isn’t a key goal of your social media strategy, you’re missing out on an opportunity. There
are many ways you can use social media to generate leads, including:
Forging relationships – This is especially important when you consider that 57% of the buying process is
complete before a B2B buyer ever contacts a salesperson and can be as high as 70%12
. Business buyers are
increasingly looking to social media for the information they need. By connecting with them online, you start
building the relationship before they ever pick up the phone.
Offering gated content – Gated content is a great way to reach prospects. B2B buyers will happily give you
their contact information in exchange for a white paper they really want to read. It’s a three-birds-one stone
strategy: not only do you get a lead, but you also get the opportunity to show off your company’s expertise
and demonstrate that you are a good partner who delivers real value.
Consider visual platforms for your
social media effort – video,
demos, slide presentations and
product photos are all good
source of content.
65% of B2B companies are acquiring new customers from Linkedin13
.

5. www.thesocialpeople.net | @thesocialppl f/thesocialpeople
Using social media advertising – This can be a very effective way to generate leads, especially in conjunction
with content marketing. Use social media ads to drive traffic to a landing page where prospects can
download a white paper or other useful information. Of course, you’ll want to test to find the best
performing messages and the best ways to reach your prospects.
STEP 5: LEARN AND THRIVE
As with other marketing tactics, you’re not going to put your
social media campaign out there and forget about it.
Measurement is key to achieving your goals and getting the
most out of your social media investment. Take advantage of
the analytics capabilities that a comprehensive social media
monitoring tool like Explic8 offers. Explic8 helps you
understand who is talking about your campaign, what they’re
saying, and how they’re responding.
To make sure you get the insight you need, it’s important to
choose the right metrics, ones that match up against your
goals. For instance, if you’re trying to raise awareness, then
tracking shares and re-tweets is an effective metric. If your
goal is to generate leads…not so much. With the right metrics
in place, you can accurately gauge your campaign’s performance and make adjustments as needed.
Social media itself is always changing and evolving—with new platforms, new strategies, and new
possibilities. Staying on top of these developments can open up new opportunities that will help you more
effectively reach customers and prospects, drive revenue, and gain an advantage over your competition.
BUZZGRAPH: “LOOKING FOR” AND (SERVICE OR
VENDOR)
The Buzz Graph shows a visual summary of buzz
around the searched query by listing words that
appear frequently along with the search query.
Association between different keywords is represented
by edges [lines] between them—which can be bold,
simple, or dashed—based on the strength of
association. Strongly related words, i.e., those which
frequently appear together, have darker edges
between them. The position of a word is not indicative
to its relevance or frequency of mention.
COMMON SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS
 Reach based on impressions
 Buzz
 Share of Voice
 Mention v/s Competition
 Number of fans, followers or friends
 Sharing / Retweeting
 Downloads
 Video views
 Comments
 Registrations for Webinars
 Traffic to website from social media sites

6. www.thesocialpeople.net | @thesocialppl f/thesocialpeople
SOCIAL MEDIA AS A STRONG PR CHANNEL
(Detailed research report in our next whitepaper release)

7. www.thesocialpeople.net | @thesocialppl f/thesocialpeople
TheSocialPeople is a hardcore Social Media Strategy firm that builds customized solutions for businesses to unleash the
power of Social Media across all their business verticals. Our clients can range from large corporations and national
news publications to local businesses and niche blogs. Honestly to us, Size is not nearly as important as the ambition
and the drive to succeed.
Some have called us a Social Media Public Relations firm. Others perceive our abilities to run a Marketing campaign on
the social networks. Fact is that we do much more than just marketing which is just one aspect of a business. Our
company identity has never been as important to us as results we can bring to your business and its dynamics. To be
simply put – We’re TheSocialPeople and we make your business into a Social Entity; we call it a Social Business.
1
Content Marketing Institute, B2B Content Marketing: 2013 Benchmarks, Budget, and Trends—North America
2
BtoB Magazine, “Outlook 2013: Marketing Priorities and Plans” study
3
Pick, Tom, “72 Fascinating Social Media Marketing Facts and Statistics for 2012”, Business2community.com
4
Pick, Tom, “72 Fascinating Social Media Marketing Facts and Statistics for 2012”, Business2community.com
5
Mershon, Phil, “How B2B Marketers Use Social Media: New Research,” socialmediaexaminer.com
6
Content Marketing Institute, B2B Content Marketing: 2013 Benchmarks, Budget, and Trends—North America
7
Content Marketing Institute, B2B Content Marketing: 2013 Benchmarks, Budget, and Trends—North America
8
Scott, David Meerman, “LinkedIn 4x Better for B2B Leads Than Facebook or Twitter,” socialmediatoday.com
9
Gow, Glenn, “4 Reasons Why Google+ is a Killer B2B Social Media Platform,” socialmediab2b.com
10
Gow, Glenn, “4 Reasons Why Google+ is a Killer B2B Social Media Platform,” socialmediab2b.com
11
Content Marketing Institute, B2B Content Marketing: 2013 Benchmarks, Budget, and Trends—North America
12
Marketing Leadership Council and Google, The Digital Evolution in B2B Marketing
13
Pick, Tom, “72 Fascinating Social Media Marketing Facts and Statistics for 2012”, Business2community.com
Looking Ahead
The potential for social media—whether it’s in the B2B or B2C world—is only just beginning to be tapped. The
most forward-looking companies are starting to use it to change how they do business: connecting more
deeply with customers and becoming truly collaborative, so they can deliver the products and services that
their customers really need and want. There’s no better formula for profitability than that.