Coming from an email background, I have to admit I didn’t quickly jump on board with the new social media trends. I’ve created Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn accounts for multiple clients to establish them as experts in their field by aggregating and housing market-specific content. However, I quickly asked the question – “Who’s looking at this content, and who cares?” The content is being distributed, but how do you build the audience? There are plenty of resources that help build your Twitter followers, LinkedIn group memberships and Facebook fans, but as we know, quality is better than quantity.

In my opinion, email is much easier to develop and analyze. B2B marketers are able to purchase publisher or trade show lists and cultivate customer, sales, or employee lists. Then, they clearly define a message and send to that audience. The communication can be as long or short as appropriate (not confined by a character limit) and is directed to the subscribers’ business email inboxes. We are then able to easily access data defining open and clicks and determine the ROI based on revenue or response generated from those that viewed or followed the call-to-action links. It’s straightforward and has a clear beginning and end. For more information on email best-practices please view my last blog post that defined improved email reputation and deliverability tactics.

On the other hand, just because it may be easier to define email statistics doesn’t mean social media should be discounted. Social media is increasingly being utilized in the B2B realm. More than nine out of ten B2B marketers (93%) say they conduct social media marketing to some extent. We just need to spend more time developing their strategies. What analytics are you able to obtain? Are you using tagged links and researching retweets? Are the calls-to-action clearly understood?

Below are a few specific thoughts to keep in mind applicable to both social media and email communications:

• Social media accounts are often highlighted in email newsletter footers. However, don’t just add social media links and expect a great deal of followers. A clear definition of “why?” and “who cares?” needs to be established for the reader. Is the email subscriber going to receive exclusive news or offers via social media outlets? Obviously this shouldn’t be a lengthy or constant definition, but perhaps an email campaign that outlines each of the social media objectives and incentives are in order.
• Don’t oversaturate your social media audience; only post information that is of value to the reader. Perhaps more than one social media account is needed. Just as email lists are segregated per audience so should social media campaigns. Not all accounts need to be long-lived. Perhaps an account could be created and managed for a specific purpose, for example, surrounding a new product or website launch.
• Among surveyed B2B marketers who conduct social marketing, 26% cite LinkedIn as their single most important social tool, 20% cite Facebook, 19% cite blogging, and 14% cite a customer community as their top tool. Have a clear understanding of your goals for social media outlets. Are these outlets viable for public relations news, alerts and trade show information? Are they appropriate for external or internal sales communication? Are there any restrictions on what should be available externally? Obviously confidential material should be kept to email distribution.

In this demand generation, both email and social media provide value in the B2B market. There cannot be one “winner” in the marketplace. Social media and email mutually have merit for different purposes, but need to be developed and understood individually. We, as B2B marketers, need to continue to expand our horizons by introducing new methods of communication to our audience and use each in the method that best suits our recommended outcome.