According to a recent report by emarketer, business-to-business (B2B) spending on social media is set to increase dramatically over the next few years.

Outsell, a company who provides business intelligence for publishers and information providers, estimates that B2B marketing on social networks will grow by 43.3% in 2010.

Perhaps even more interesting is Forrester Research’s prediction that B2B firms will spend $4.8 billion on social media marketing by 2014 – an increase of $2.3 billion in comparison to 2009 spend.

Emarketer’s Evelyn Jung, author of  a new report called “B2B Social Media Marketing Heats Up“, believes that B2B marketers will realise they can use social media to generate quality leads and to position themselves as thought leaders in their industries.

Currently B2B marketers tend to spend their money on customer communities, podcasts and blogs. Paid advertising on social networks—banners, text ads and search advertising, as well as the more targeted advertising on Facebook and MySpace— accounts for just a small proportion of B2B marketers’ social spending.

The expectation is that when companies budget for social media marketing in 2010 and beyond, a substantial portion of their money will go on social initiatives like creating and maintaining a branded profile page or online community, managing promotions or public relations outreach and using social media monitoring to check the impact of social media on a brand or business as a whole.

By Matt Rhodes and Jo Stratmann, FreshNetworks social media agency.

Why are some brands still not investing in social media? Well, there is no one only reason.

First of all, they may be scared of putting themselves “out there” and “make a fool of themselves”, i.e. exposing the brand to negative commentary.

Secondly, it’s mainly because agencies are not providing them with a convincing measurement model that demonstrates the value of social media. A lot of jargon but nothing makes much sense. Then, there are reports with different numbers, but what do they actually mean? How do they know this can be categorised as success?

Print has been around for so long that is hard to believe how under scrutiny by advertisers is right now, too. But they have their metrics worked out. They have a formula, even if sometimes the numbers don’t add up.

TV is the master of advertising for the masses, having had the trust of all advertisers as being the mainstream medium of excellence. They have their metrics too, despite being based on sample audiences. TV advertising experts are, however, being asked tricky questions by their clients at the moment. Advertisers want to spend their money wisely. They don’t want to throw millions at the box anymore.

The problem with social media is that their metrics are nothing like print or TV and many agencies are struggling to create and re-invent measurement models.

So what are actually the metrics by which to measure your social media activity? First of all, before even thinking about figures, look at your audience’s behaviour and what objectives you aim to achieve.

What do you want to get out of social media?

Is it brand awareness? Are you launching a new product or trying to reach a new market? Then you need to measure:
• your share of voice in social media against your competitors
• the volume of conversation around the brand before and after the campaign (i.e. number of mentions, content pieces etc)

Are you re-launching the brand? Do you want to change consumer’s perception? Then you need to measure:
• Sentiment towards the brand before and after the campaign (e.g. % increase in positive sentiment, what is the brand associated to in conversations etc)

Are you trying to increase brand loyalty? Then you need to measure:
• Engagement: are users engaging with the brand’s programmes and content? Are they sharing it with friends?
• Advocacy: Are users becoming fans of the brand? Are key influencers recommending the brand to their followers/audiences? Are users/key influencers creating content for the brand?

So I say, if you can measure a cat, you can measure social media.

Guest post by Pilar Barrio

We’ve all heard the hype around Social Media Tools for use in B2B, B2C marketing but what are recruiters doing with Social Media? How does Social Media enable your job search? How do you get your profile in front of the right people?

The presentation attached below takes us through a number of tools and tips to go through when conducting your next job search. It gives us the hints, tips and facts we need to know about Social Media and developing your personal brand which will ultimately help you in job hunting.

Thanks to Shannon Boudjema for contributing the presentation.

We all know that LinkedIn rules the earth.  Well, it is certainly trying to do so.  Business folk circumvent this networking platform at their peril, for avoidance renders them conspicuous by their absence.
But just like any other product, LinkedIn is only beneficial if you know how to use it.  Virtuous it may be but just how much can it improve your personal development opportunities and, anyway, how do you use it to network?
First, let’s look at what you could do:
Courses of action
Suppose you are a jobseeker looking for <a href=”http://www.onlymarketingjobs.com”>marketing jobs</a>.  What would be your usual course of action?
1. Register your details with a couple of selected recruitment agencies.    2. Type “marketing jobs” into Google and see what comes up.  You may also wish to determine a specific location.    3. From this you’ll get a selection of advertised vacancies from job boards and recruitment agencies.  Or aggregators pointing to the same.   4. You may be an executive, in which case you’ll probably grab the Guardian on a Monday or, perhaps, you’ve already subscribed to a trade journal or two.
Whilst on the face of it these proactive job hunting methods are admirable, they are nothing new.  All your competitors are doing this; and right now there are many of those.So here’s what you can do with LinkedIn:
Before you start, make sure your public profile is complete and up-to-date.  And this includes your photo.  There is little point engaging in the social media space and hiding under the sofa.  Show people who you actually are, not what you want them to believe.  Where’s the transparency in that?
Next there’s your recommendations.  Who can endorse you?  Of course, these need to be business references, not something your ‘professional friend’ cobbled together.  Ideally you’ll have a collection of suppliers, clients, peers and managers.
Are you a blogger?  Do you have your own blog page?  If so, set it to RSS into your LinkedIn profile – provided, of course, it complements (rather than contradicts) the image you’re tying to portray.
What we’re trying to get at here is that your profile is your sales platform.  You have no idea who views your page each day and if you get it wrong you could be missing out on some great opportunities.  Because unlike the four channels mentioned above networking is a two-way process.  You need to visible to people looking to find you as much as you need to be proactively punting yourself.  By getting it right, you really can maximise your exposure on LinkedIn.
Once ‘social you’ has been established you can confidently commence your networking, which means putting yourself in front of as many relevant people as possible.  And if you are jobseeker you’ll be tracking down premier recruiters and, of course, direct employers.
Join a LinkedIn Group
One of the most constructive ways to network via LinkedIn (and any other digital space for that matter) is to join relevant groups.  This is where your peers, recruiters and potential employers hang out.  There are 1000’s of groups on LinkedIn so choosing the right ones can be a bit trial and error.  If you are a marketer, for example, you would join a marketing group.  Common sense.  Many groups are densely populated by friends across the pond, and whilst the US tends the lead the way technologically, they don’t half mind nattering about themselves.
Contribute to the Group
Once you’re in the groups, take part.  Social media encourages an altruistic culture so you should be giving more than you receive.  Start discussion and join in others, offering advice and passing on your knowledge.  People soon realise who the good guys are and you will be surprised who starts connecting with you.  If you have an interesting news piece, share it.  Benevolence this may be, but this is part of the networking.  Play the game right and you will be rewarded by the bucket-load.
LinkedIn offers you the chance to send messages directly to the people with whom you wish to engage.  You already share common ground so with some clever content you can easily break the ice.  You can request people to join your network and they will oblige if they see some relevance.  By offering the opportunity to connect with your contacts you will initiate a two-way beneficiary.  Again, it’s about being authentic and transparent.
LinkedIn search functions
There are various search functions you can implement to find the people you want.  The same process will help you uncover companies in your [skills] area that would be worth researching.  Before/after you apply for a job (via LinkedIn or not) why not seek some advice from people who are either working there now or who have in the past.  This will help you prepare your application and, where necessary, tailor your cover letter.  It will also provide useful knowledge at interview stage.
Make an impact
Don’t forget that the fundamental rule of networking is impact; leaving your contact wanting more.  You need to be as proactive as you are reactive, ensuring your online presentation is as good as it is during the offline meetings LinkedIn will undoubtedly afford you.
For more information about using LinkedIn view this LinkedIn user guide.
<a href=”http://www.linkedin.com/in/simonlewis1″>Simon Lewis</a> | Only Marketing Jobs