Uncovering B2B Social Media: Value, Innovation and Engagement

Overview

Business social media is on the rise, but many questions still remain around how to use it to engage customers in conversation and what the business benefits really are.

We are in the midst of a major change in the way that businesses and customers interact with one another, whether they are consumers or businesses, internal or external customers. It's a change that is being enabled by technology, but is not fundamentally about technology - it's about having conversations. These conversations are partially or wholly public, requiring a new culture of transparency.

Social media is changing the way people work, shop, receive service and relate to one another. Businesses also need to change the way they engage with customers, whose trust is increasingly invested in their peers, rather than in the brands with which they interact. Recognising the importance of this trend, CEOs around the world expect that social media and mobile devices will prompt a 'significant change' to their strategy, as consumers turn to these media to voice their preferences (PwC's 14th annual global CEO survey).

While B2B social media is in still in its infancy, there are a number of factors that are increasingly driving businesses to adopt social media strategies to engage their customers, which are examined in this report.

This publication also explores the drivers shaping B2B social media, examines levels of social media maturity and the opportunities, and shares guidance on how much to invest, how to measure returns and how to effectively manage risks.