Making Social Media Pay - Rethinking Social Media’s Potential to Bolster B2B Interactions, Customer Loyalty, Revenues and Brand Reputation

Business-to-business (B2B) companies have, to a large degree, lagged behind their business-to-consumer (B2C) peers in harnessing the power of social media to help drive high performance.

While many business-to-consumer (B2C) companies have successfully embraced social media as a channel for marketing, sales and service, evidence of social media’s usage has been much less visible among business-to-business (B2B) companies. New Accenture research examines B2B companies’ perceptions of social media, reveals possible reasons for their lack of action, and suggests how forward-thinking companies can drive greater value from their social media investments.

Accenture research and experience has confirmed that companies can take advantage of social media’s relative low cost, ease of use and scalability to engage with customers and stakeholders in exciting new ways. To date, however, the use of social media has been generally limited to B2C companies. Few B2B companies, it turns out, have effectively incorporated social media into their customer strategies. Why have they been so reluctant to join the social media conversation?

To gauge attitudes and actions and to better understand social media’s current and future role in the B2B environment, Accenture recently surveyed executives at more than 200 North American B2B companies with annual revenues of $1 billion or more.

• Nearly two-thirds of survey respondents considered social media “extremely” or “very” important as a channel for customer interaction.

• Despite respondents’ perception of social media’s importance, only 8 percent of B2B companies are heavily leveraging social media today.

• Some industry differences emerged. For example, Financial Services executives were more likely to rate social media “extremely important,” and Communications and High Tech executives reported higher-than-average rates of adoption.

• While respondents were generally pleased with their organizations’ use of social media in marketing, they indicated their intention to boost social media actions in sales, service, offering innovation and partner collaboration.

• Only 5 percent of respondents reported having a strong and formal link between their social media efforts and other strategic customer initiatives.

• Only 11 percent of respondents reported having the systems and analytics capabilities needed to measure and track the return on social media investments.

• Companies that grew revenues often exhibited different attitudes and practices toward social media than companies that reported revenue declines.

• Nearly 20 percent of executives had little confidence in their companies’ ability to make the right social media investment decisions.

An analysis of executives’ responses revealed that B2B companies generally agree that social media is an important mechanism for interacting with customers, business partners and other key stakeholders. Few of them, however, are using social media to its fullest potential in key areas such as sales, service and innovation.

The reasons for this gap include:

• The belief that they are not investing adequately in skills development, measurement capabilities and internal collaboration.

• The perceived need for new tools and technologies.

• A lack of confidence in their social media investments to-date.

This last finding confirms what Accenture has seen in its work with B2B companies around the world. Executives understand the critical role that social media can play in organizational success. And, to a certain degree, they have even identified the goals they would like their social media programs to address. Yet, many simply don’t know how to proceed and, as a result, miss the opportunity to claim the potential value that social media can deliver.

These suggested actions, which are outlined in Accenture’s recently published Social Media Management Handbook, can help B2B companies effectively leverage social media:

• Make social media one of the cornerstones of your customer strategy. The most important factor in creating a successful and effective social media program involves developing a robust strategy for social media that aligns to and supports larger business objectives.

• Move from social media to “social CRM.” Companies should pursue “social CRM,” a paradigm in which social media applications complement other customer strategies and objectives.

• Measure social media’s effectiveness. It is hard to measure the effectiveness of social media, but companies should define metrics for the initiatives that social media is intended to improve.

• Adopt a highly flexible and iterative approach to social media implementation. Few social media programs generate their desired results immediately. Companies that are most successful with social media have learned that they must continually innovate, revisit existing programs to align them with business priorities, and seek new opportunities to use social media.

• Invest in the right technologies. Without an effective and integrated approach to technology, a company’s interactions with customers will be disjointed, which ultimately will erode the firm’s reputation and jeopardize stakeholder relationships.

• Achieve organizational buy-in. The success of any B2B social media program involves getting the organization, and especially senior executives, on board. It is critical to have a compelling business case, ideally developed collaboratively with others in the organization whose functions will be most affected by the implementation of social media programs.

This research confirms there is ample opportunity for B2B companies to seize “first-mover” advantage in the social media space. An appreciation already exists for the importance of social media to business success. Now, it is time for forward-thinking companies to take the necessary steps to capitalize on the promises—and overcome the challenges—of this powerful medium to help enable high performance.