Christopher S. Penn – Marketing AI Keynote Speaker

The State of B2B Social Media from MarketingProfs B2B Forum

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Christopher S Penn
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The State of B2B Social Media from MarketingProfs B2B Forum

I’ve been attending and speaking at the MarketingProfs B2B Forum for a couple of years now, ever since stepping in as a pinch-hitter at the 2008 conference. What a difference a couple of years can make!

Two years ago, people were asking what Twitter even was. Whether Facebook was more than just a place for kids to hang out and post drunk photos. People were marveling at the power of YouTube and MySpace – especially MySpace, wondering what their MySpace strategy should be.

I was thrilled to see this year that the audience had collectively advanced so much. People knew and accepted what Twitter was, what Facebook was, what social networking was. This year, the common thread among the discussions was more about strategy and integration.

toolboxAs I put it during several interviews, it’s like we went to the social media home improvement store. Two years ago, people were asking what a hammer was, how to use it, and why you’d even want a hammer. Today, we know what the hammer is.

The collective challenge now seems to be, at least for the B2B marketers I had a chance to interact with, how stuff works together. Continuing the home improvement analogy, people know what a hammer is and what a saw is. People can even use these tools competently.

We’re at a point now, however, where people don’t know how a hammer and saw can work together, what role each tool is supposed to play, and how various tools can complement each other.

Ultimately, we’re on track towards building the house of our dreams. Our next challenges lie in understanding how tools work together, how they complement and empower each other, and how to skillfully combine their use to build that house.

What’s your take on the state of B2B social media?

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Comments

10 responses to “The State of B2B Social Media from MarketingProfs B2B Forum”

  1. grahamlubie Avatar
    grahamlubie

    Very good post on the evolution of social media – the toolbox analogy is especially relevant. As social media becomes more accepted and the capabilities become better understood, social media tools can be incorporated into all marketing activities. Like technology or analytics, Social Media is another tool in the integrated marketing toolkit.

    Reply
  2. Jamesq Avatar
    Jamesq

    Great Post! I think it is clear we are in this position. People are aware of Social Networks and many are setting up in these spaces because they feel they should, or somebody told them they had to be there without building any sort of strategy first. I see plenty of Facebook pages that are little more than a news stream from the main website with no engagement and no 'real' fans.

    This next phase will be really interesting, when people really begin to build these networks into their toolbox. I'm sure there will be an increasing number of case studies to follow.

    Reply
  3. grahamlubie Avatar
    grahamlubie

    Very good post on the evolution of social media – the toolbox analogy is especially relevant. As social media becomes more accepted and the capabilities become better understood, social media tools can be incorporated into all marketing activities. Like technology or analytics, Social Media is another tool in the integrated marketing toolkit.

    Reply
  4. Jamesq Avatar
    Jamesq

    Great Post! I think it is clear we are in this position. People are aware of Social Networks and many are setting up in these spaces because they feel they should, or somebody told them they had to be there without building any sort of strategy first. I see plenty of Facebook pages that are little more than a news stream from the main website with no engagement and no 'real' fans.

    This next phase will be really interesting, when people really begin to build these networks into their toolbox. I'm sure there will be an increasing number of case studies to follow.

    Reply
  5. Batman Avatar
    Batman

    My take is thus, and I have one, which is mine…. 🙂

    As I do both B2B and B2C, I believe they've merged, especially for the social media aspects.

    And I'm still waiting for the day that the word social is dropped entirely, and people realize that it's all media….

    Reply
  6. Batman Avatar
    Batman

    My take is thus, and I have one, which is mine…. 🙂

    As I do both B2B and B2C, I believe they've merged, especially for the social media aspects.

    And I'm still waiting for the day that the word social is dropped entirely, and people realize that it's all media….

    Reply
  7. jlbraaten Avatar
    jlbraaten

    That seems to agree with the other folks' impressions of MarketingProfs' B2B forum. It's nice to know that we all know what Twitter is. I wonder if we could consider the time it took to grasp the general concepts of social media as slow or fast. To me, it seems like B2B social media has been sooooo slow to get jump started. More opportunity, I guess.

    Reply
  8. jlbraaten Avatar
    jlbraaten

    That seems to agree with the other folks' impressions of MarketingProfs' B2B forum. It's nice to know that we all know what Twitter is. I wonder if we could consider the time it took to grasp the general concepts of social media as slow or fast. To me, it seems like B2B social media has been sooooo slow to get jump started. More opportunity, I guess.

    Reply
  9. jlbraaten Avatar
    jlbraaten

    That seems to agree with the other folks' impressions of MarketingProfs' B2B forum. It's nice to know that we all know what Twitter is. I wonder if we could consider the time it took to grasp the general concepts of social media as slow or fast. To me, it seems like B2B social media has been sooooo slow to get jump started. More opportunity, I guess.

    Reply
  10. Audio Interview with Christopher S. Penn — Subjectively Speaking

    […] 0:44 – Chris responds to my question about the overarching theme of the therapy he’s been giving about e-mail and social media at the Marketing Profs B2B Forum (you can also see Chris’s take on it here). […]

    Reply

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