The aim of this paper is to analyse existing academic literature and researches and to discuss the role of social media in B2B field. The second, this paper proposes the evidence of social media importance for B2B companies. The third, it illustrates online tendencies in social media for B2B companies. The forth, this study explains why B2B companies are lagging B2C companies on social media activities.
At a glance
- Examines Cisco’s employee social media training and customer engagement tools
- Discusses bottom-up and top-down corporate blogging strategies
- 32 sources in the bibliography
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Social marketing for B2B: to use or not to use?
3. Potential for B2B companies
4. Challenges for B2B companies
5. Strategy and tactics
6. Conclusion
Objectives and Topics
This essay reviews academic literature and research on the role of social media in business-to-business communication. It asks how social media can support B2B marketing objectives, examines online practices and opportunities, and explores why B2B companies may lag behind their business-to-consumer counterparts.
- Social media adoption and barriers in B2B organisations
- Customer communication, relationships and brand awareness
- Differences between B2B and B2C marketing
- Platform selection, content and corporate blogging strategies
- Measuring social media effectiveness
Excerpt from the Book
Challenges for B2B companies
Business experts and academic literature agree that in general B2B marketers fail business-to-consumer (herein after refer to B2C) marketing specialists in theory and practice of social media usage (Adiele, 2011; Bruhn et al., 2014; Fiore and Schneider, 2016). One reason is that in general interest to social media has been constantly increasing since 2004, while the specific interest in social media of B2B only appeared in 2010 (Michaelidou et al., 2011). Another reason is that services and products that B2B companies suggest to the customers are often more complex and complicated than B2C services or goods. According to Chernov J., Vice President of Marketing at Kinvey, B2B companies have problems with social media because many of them do not understand that social media requires a combination of business and technology approaches” (Marx, 2013).
Additionally, Dibb and Simkin (1993) consider that B2C consumers are more indulgence-driven than B2B customers. This is the reason why in B2B communication the message and media reliability for interaction with consumers are more essential. What is more, B2B marketers face more difficulties than B2C because they should find the balance between casual and informal style of messages to be understandable for their target audience and at the same time not to create a frivolous impression (Habibi et al., 2015). Also B2B products and services are more knowledgeable than B2C. Greater product sophistication means that B2B buyers tend to depend on more information about the product due to the higher level of risk included in high-value purchases. As a result customers prefer to research the information about the product more carefully and detailed, using different channels (Jerman and Završnik, 2012; Jussila et al., 2014). What is more, social media allow consumers to get greater knowledge by searching various online communities, blogs and forums.
One of the challenges that B2B companies and marketing managers face is too many social media platforms and types of contents. In addition, all social media activities should be coordinated with the sales funnel stage giving the permission to decision-makers to access various types of information regarding to their buyer readiness stage and receptivity to information types (Habibi, 2015).
Chapter Summaries
Introduction: Introduces the growth of social media in B2B marketing and sets out the essay’s aims and research context.
Social marketing for B2B: to use or not to use?: Defines social media and discusses organisational barriers to adopting it, including limited resources and uncertainty about effectiveness.
Potential for B2B companies: Reviews potential uses of social media for attracting customers, building relationships and supporting brands. It also considers platforms, investment and content marketing practices.
Challenges for B2B companies: Explores differences between B2B and B2C communication, the complexity of purchase decisions and the demands of managing platforms and customer-generated content.
Strategy and tactics: Discusses platform choices, corporate blogging, employee participation and approaches to evaluating social media effectiveness. It also presents Cisco as an example of employee training and customer engagement.
Conclusion: Brings together the discussion of B2B social media adoption, platform use and the need to update digital strategies and skills.
Keywords
business-to-business communication, social media marketing, B2B marketing, digital strategy, customer engagement, brand awareness, corporate blogging, content marketing, social media platforms, adoption barriers, marketing effectiveness, B2B relationships
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the essay about?
It examines the role of social media in business-to-business communication and marketing.
What are its central themes?
The essay considers adoption barriers, marketing opportunities, differences between B2B and B2C communication, and social media strategies and tactics.
What is the primary aim of the essay?
Its main aim is to analyse existing academic literature and research on the role of social media in the B2B field.
What research method does the author use?
The author reviews and discusses existing academic literature and research rather than presenting a new survey or interview study.
What does the main discussion cover?
It covers whether B2B companies should use social media, its potential, the challenges of adoption and communication, and practical strategies and tactics.
Which keywords characterise the essay?
Key terms include B2B communication, social media marketing, content marketing, corporate blogging, customer engagement and adoption barriers.
How does the essay discuss corporate blogging?
It considers approaches to controlling blog content and contrasts bottom-up participation across management levels with top-down involvement of selected experts or executives.
Why is Cisco discussed?
Cisco illustrates how a company can encourage employee social media competence and use digital tools to engage customers.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Valeriya Zhukova (Autor:in), 2016, The role of Social Media in B2B communication, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/349995
