Is your B2B social media strategy MIA?

We’re halfway through 2010. And every day the power of social media becomes more apparent—from fan-building online campaigns to the transparency of corporate blogs. Yet a recent survey found that a whopping 60% of B2Bs have little or no strategy for online social engagement.

Why not? According to the study, B2Bs cite a laundry list of excuses, from low executive interest to lack of experienced personnel.  But it’s time to stop making excuses and start boosting B2B profits with these social engagement strategies.

• Choose the right channels – Selling paper products to the office set? Then youth-oriented MySpace probably isn’t the place to invest social media strategy resources, says Small Business Trends’ Anita Campbell in a Mashable article. Instead, focus on sites that attract business and industry, like Ryze or OfficeArrow.

• Pick the right message – From blogs and analysis to customer showcases and employee interviews, there’s no end to the type of content B2Bs can share with customers. Quality content gives you value-added appeal by building the credibility every client wants from a vendor. As a bonus, it gives you a starting point to create conversations.

• Engage the clients – Gone are the days of broadcasting messages to anyone who’ll listen. Why? Because people—including business customers—are blasted with so many messages that the recipients eventually tune out, according to Forrester marketing analyst Laura Ramos.

B2B social engagement strategies should instead focus on customer interactions that build credibility, nurture trust, and engage conversation. For example, post relevant comments on the blogs of current and prospective customers. You might also ask the company’s blog or Twitter followers for feedback on anything from industry news to new product features. The goal is to generate positive conversation that creates top of mind awareness.

Remember to also include social media monitoring as part of your B2B social engagement strategy. After all, you can’t be part of the conversation unless you know where it’s happening and what it’s saying about your brand.

Make like your B2C counterparts and starting leveraging social media muscle for your brand. Contact Social Strategy1 to learn how a comprehensive online listening and social engagement strategy will build the brand—and profits.