When speaking with companies about marketing, the topic of “should I integrate social media into my marketing plan this year” comes up. My advice is always the same: watch, listen and learn. Take small steps. Understand the accepted behaviors in this culture of social media. Then engage. By learning what is accepted before you dive in, you can avoid offending someone or embarrassing yourself in the process. 

In Matt Dickman’s Five Keys to Successful Blogger Outreach, he and the folks commenting provide valuable insight into how to engage bloggers to provide exposure to your products and services. I might add that taking it slow in building the relationship is my philosophy. Before you jump in and comment, send “news” out or do something that could land you on a blogger’s blacklist, understand what the writer is interested in and add value.

Keep following the thread from Matt’s post to Valeria Maltoni’s Revealing Yourself to Others as she highlights what works well and what does not when she is the target of the PR pitch. These rules apply to all forms of marketing using social media in my view.

The following interview of Matt Dickman and David Armano by Andy Sernovitz  offers good advice on getting started with social media for B2B marketing.

Armano’s advice: LinkedIn is a good place to get acquainted with social media.

Dickman’s advice: Listen to what your customers are saying about you in the various social media communities. Learn from it then take the next step.

Like any social setting, watch and listen to those around you for guidance on how to behave. When you feel ready, then dive in.

But what if you are a B2B company? How does all this new media marketing fit into your marketing plan? Or does it right now?

In a Search Engine Land blog post by Jon Miller, What’s Wrong with Social Media for B2B Marketing?, he discusses the challenges the B2B marketer faces in getting visibility over those writing about trendy B2C marketing and the use of social media. He states that “But to B2B marketers, social media is just one tactic in a portfolio of techniques that best practice companies use to generate awareness, drive leads, and nurture relationships.”

If you are a B2B marketing professional, you do need to become familiar with the use of new media in your arsenal of marketing tools, but don’t lose site over those tried and true methods of building awareness and generating demand. PPC advertising and other Internet techniques, lead nurturing, customer case studies, and public relations still matter more than social media techniques.

So add these new media techniques to your marketing plan but not at the expense of traditional programs.

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