The 3 Social Media Networks That Are Best for B2B Marketing

As a B2B marketer, are you overwhelmed by all the available social media networks? Don’t be. Focus on these three to get the most bang for your buck.

To reign supreme, your social media marketing should be just one cog in a larger, well-oiled lead generation, sales and marketing machine.

With the right fundamentals and strategy, B2B marketers can use social media to attract and convert leads, close sales and delight customers.

B2B companies who think their product is too boring for social media are missing something. It's not the product that's boring. It could be the social media.

With a social media engagement strategy, inbound marketers can make sure they not only pick the right social media networks, but also use the right tone and message in order to connect with their prospects, customers and advocates.

B2B companies looking to use social media to increase awareness, preference and qualified leads can learn a lot from one of the foremost social media marketers outside the business world: the U.S. Army.

B2B companies who adopt social media marketing are able to reach current and prospective customers more efficiently, and track the effectiveness of their marketing dollars.

With the new LinkedIn company page, B2B marketers can increase awareness of their company and products, improve search engine rankings and generate more leads.   LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional social network. Every second, two people join the network of over 160 million users in over 200 countries and territories. The users of LinkedIn tend to be affluent and influential, and can easily discover people employed by a certain company, or various types of business someone has worked for.

When properly implemented, social media can help B2B companies develop early-stage prospect relationships, nurture leads, speed up the sales cycle and deepen customer relationships. Social media is here to stay. And not just for business to consumer sales -- social media is playing a larger role in the B2B decision-making process for high-cost, long sales cycle purchases that involve many stakeholders.

B2B companies that take the right steps in adopting social media can thrive and profit from the new realities of business in the era of customer connectedness and empowerment. Social media is not just a technology that can be bolted on to the traditional way of doing things: it's an entirely new way of relating and doing business. Many B2B companies have begun to realize that adopting social media requires organizational changes. But, change is hard. It is not easy to adapt to the power that is shifting to the customer as a result of social media. And if your company is experiencing difficulty in making the transition to social media, you're not alone.

B2B marketers who are able to demystify social media can get invaluable customer feedback, build stronger relationships, increase awareness and develop new business opportunities.