If you ever needed any persuasion of the power of social media, there are countless success stories we could throw at you.

Starbucks, Dell, Best Buy, Skittles…the list could go on. But one thing all these brands have in common is they are all B2C.

It’s easy to assume that social media, as a marketing tool, is strictly for consumer-based businesses. But social media can be used to aid the B2B sales process too. And here’s how.

Blogging

Blogging – if executed correctly – is a powerful social media platform. But you do need to dedicate time and resources to your blog – posting content on an ad-hoc basis simply won’t work.

You can share industry insights, tips and tricks that will help your clients get more value-for-money and even invite guest-bloggers from within your client-base who can offer their own insights and gain a little exposure for themselves.

Don’t doubt the power of the corporate blog, but do understand you need to put the spade-work in to reap the rewards over the long-term. Make it useful and make it relevant – a simple mantra that’s worth remembering.

Facebook

Okay, Facebook has gained a reputation as being a platform for friends to communicate with friends or for consumer brands to engage with customers. But if you’re in the B2B game, you can actually tap into the 600m plus Facebook users to help grow your business too.

Even if one of your clients – or potential clients – doesn’t primarily use Facebook for business, there’s a good chance they have a Facebook account – the challenge for you is to make it worth their while engaging with you through this channel.

Information is a powerful thing. And if you can make industry knowledge and insights available through your corporate blogs, Twitter feeds and YouTube channels, this can all be easily aggregated on your company Facebook page.

Facebook can be used as a sophisticated customer service channel, helping to solve problems for clients. This ongoing support is all part of the broader selling process as client-retention is imperative.

And remember, the more business clients you direct to your Facebook page, the more likely other (non-client) businesses are to follow. Why? Because when your client clicks ‘like’ or places a comment or request for information, this will be flagged on their own connections’ pages, which could be thousands of people, many of whom may be key decision-makers within their respective companies.

Not everyone uses Twitter, so by using Facebook as a B2B tool you could be catering for a group who would otherwise miss out on your social media efforts.

You can’t beat a good example, can you? Digital marketing agency 360i uses the expertise of its in-house team to keep its Facebook page updated with industry tidbits and topics relevant to its marketing audience. As digital marketing experts, the company’s Facebook pages have become a valuable resource for their target audience

Twitter

Many businesses use Twitter as their main social media channel, so if you haven’t investigated Twitter as a B2B tool yet…you should.

Like all social media tools, Twitter is about engagement. Follow all your clients on Twitter (if they have an account), and follow other industry companies too. When you create a new blog post, link to it on Twitter, using key hashtags to reach as many relevant people as possible.

This is all about building your company’s online presence and all it takes is one business person to stumble upon your tweet, visit your website and place that first purchase to make your efforts worthwhile.

YouTube

How much does a video-camera and a decent microphone cost these days? Probably less than your smartphone.

Used in conjunction with your other social media platforms, YouTube is a priceless tool for generating interest in your company across the corporate world.

How you use it depends on your business. You can film presentations, interview key people across your organisation or even create intricate Flash animations that illustrate business processes.

Uploaded to your YouTube channel, this can then be embedded in your company blog and on your company Facebook page. Twitter is then mobilised to help spread the good word even further.

This is just one example of how YouTube can be used in B2B, but it really helps to illustrate how different social platforms can be used together to create an engaging, useful and, ultimately, social experience.

The long-haul

The one key point you should glean from all this is that B2B companies can generate sales through social media channels. But you have to dedicate time to your social media efforts and you have to commit to the long-haul. Dip your toe by all means, but once you realise that social media can definitely drive your company’s profile forwards, there really will be no looking back.