As a B2B Marketing Agency we encourage our clients to work on their website content before diving in too aggressively in social media. In most cases it makes sense for our clients to be blogging, providing white papers, case studies, video and other content that will be helpful to their customers and prospects.

We advise them to approach social media first as a good listener with a plan to build their network according to a strategy. We recommend a "Linkedin Bootcamp" for staff (especially management level) that are interested in contributing to the company's successful inbound marketing efforts. Next, and only after they have created content worth sharing on their website (and landing pages), we encourage them to engage on Twitter and Facebook. There is no shortage of social media options available but we recommend starting with these three.

Your social media efforts should be part of an inbound marketing strategy that has won support from your top management. And invest in the tools and resources needed for creating remarkable content, dynamic landing pages, calls-to-action that help convert visitors to leads, marketing automation and CRM (customer relationship management).

Finding your customers online is the key. Start with social media as a research tool to identify where your customers and prospects are engaging in groups or around certain topics. Answer questions and participate in discussions. Follow key influencers in your industry. By now most of the trade publications for your industry are most likely active on social media and sharing content via blogs and special reports. Be a curator for these thought leaders and add your own commentary. Follow great bloggers and take time to comment and share links to their content.

Consider having your customer service staff include social media as part of their dashboard. Many companies have found this to be a great way to turn problems into opportunities.

And remember that social media marketing is a never-quit-learning work in progress.

Britta Meyer

CMO, Magnet Systems, Inc.

Posted on Jan. 17, 2012

As always, it depends on the goal. For targeted opinion polls, say on a design or offering concept, I have had good success with LinkedIn, for less targeted ones better success with Twitter.

B2B Facebook communities are still not that common, but if you do have one it can yield tremendous results, simply because it's a tighter relationship than a Twitter follower, or even a LinkedIn group. I have seen great response rates to specific offers, as well as sharing of offers on Facebook, because the connections still tend to be closer, more genuine, and more personal, at least for B2B.

Generally, the more the community is targeted and relevant, either from an audience or interest perspective, it still beats volume.

Janet Fouts

Social Media Coach, Tatu Digital Media

Posted on Jan. 17, 2012

It depends on what goal I want to be successful for.
I've had jobs come in from referrals for social media coaching, Adwords management, SEO and Wordpress work through Twitter, and it's the network that drives the most traffic to my website.

On Linkedin I've gotten direct contacts from corporate clients for social media training for teams or entire corporations based on my resume and group participation.

Facebook has done very little for my business except for the pages we build for our clients there.

Google+ is quickly overtaking Twitter in driving traffic to my website, but I have yet to have anyone hire me because of a discussion there. It's still early though!

My blog, while not a social network, is still a big diver and I find that people will see me on a network, then read my blog to get more information and then call me to talk about doing business.

And of course Focus.com has generated traffic through these questions and answers and I plan to continue to share my expertise as much as I can here. I think it's an incredibly valuable resource for BtoB, and good helpful answers give people a great idea of what it's like to work with me.