Does Facebook work for B2B marketers?

It doesn’t, judging by the Big Money Facebook 50, a ranking of the best Facebook users.

According to this roster, Coke makes the best use of Facebook, as determined by “fan numbers, page growth, frequency of updates, creativity as determined by a panel of judges, and fan engagement.”

There’s only one problem: That the Top 50 consists entirely of consumer marketers—like Gatorade, Target, Audi, MTV and Victoria’s Secret. There isn’t a single B2B company among them.

Kipp Bodnar argues that Facebook “is not the best engagement platform for all B2B companies.” http://socialmediab2b.com/2009/09/b2b-company-facebook-lead-generation/ But he goes on to offer some solid tips on how to make it work:
1. Generate leads through email subscriptions.
2. Provide a special offer or link to customer support.
3. Mix paid content with free content.

The takeaway? There are good reasons to give Facebook a try.

“First, B2B sales are all about relationships,” Clara Shih writes. “Higher price points and longer implementation cycles mean greater buying decision risk, so buyers often rely on trust rather than price. Trust hinges on relationships. Facebook is the ultimate relationship manager.

Second, when B2B decision-makers are on Facebook, they are logged in as individual consumers. We have an opportunity to personalize our messages and target these individuals equally for enterprise software as we do for diapers.”

She’s got it right.

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