I have really enjoyed the Winter Olympics this year. Perhaps it is because of the especially cold and snowy winter we have endured – or perhaps it is that I am truly in awe of the athletes who can spin, jump and fly on skis. And it is easier than in years past to indulge in Olympic fever, with a multitude of media channels providing in-depth exposure. Television and online dominate the coverage, and corporate sponsors have embraced both. Visa or other sponsors go beyond logo inclusion and running tv spots, many have very extensive integrated campaigns – including social media.

Social media has played a big part of these games. Even companies who are not officially sponsors have tried to get in on the action
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Social media has become a basic requirement for marketing communications programs. While B2B marketers may feel pressured to immediately be a part of popular communities and outlets, slapping Linked In and Facebook features on a web site and getting a few enthusiastic employees to tweet, isn’t a strategic way to begin participating. Many B2B marketers have jumped into social media with me-too tactics without thinking about strategic objectives and goals.

Although the hype is impossible to ignore, many B2B marketers are still trying to determine how to use social media to aid other established B2B communication channels. Researching and monitoring is an essential first step and can yield ongoing valuable information, (Download the Social Media & the Art of Listening White Paper PDF) but it’s not something that drives business and sales.
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There is a running joke around the office about my "love" of twitter. So, it was not surprising when my colleagues asked if I will run out and buy a Ford after the news that twitter will be incorporated into future Ford Motor Co. vehicles. (And, the answer is no, by the way.)

But, in all sincerity, as a public relations professional who loves to connect with people and needs to stay tuned into the latest industry news, twitter has been very helpful. Here are a few simple examples of how you can use it:

• Follow publications that are relevant to your space to stay up-to-date on what’s happening in the industry. On my personal twitter account (@ABBYBUTT), I recently started a B2B publication list… check it out – and if you are an editor or a publication and I missed you on the list,
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If you have already read J.Leigh Brown’s post about adapting your thinking regarding social media, but are still not convinced that you should include a social media strategy as part of your 2010 marketing initiatives, please consider the following:

Ten Reasons to develop a social media strategy in 2010

1. Real time search results – Google and other major search engines have incorporated Twitter into the results. You could potentially be bumped in the rankings by an outside party tweeting about your company or products.

2. Reduced marketing spend in 2009 – If budget cuts forced you to go dark in 2009, a social media strategy can help you reconnect with your customers and prospects.
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In the late 90s, The Cluetrain Manifesto, one of the more incendiary books on the new media, made the statement, “markets are conversations.” The truth of that observation has become apparent in the rise of social media in this decade.

Perhaps more importantly for B2B marketing strategy, B2B social media (yes, it was necessary to repeat “B2B”) are quickly becoming the medium where thought leadership is established.

There’s one important reason why social communities are displacing brochures, PR articles, and white papers as the medium of choice for B2B thought leadership messaging: as lawyers put it, you can’t cross-examine a piece of paper.

Social media give readers a chance to talk back, ask questions and start a conversation. And it is in those conversations where B2B thought leadership is now being established.

So how can a B2B marketer use B2B social media to establish thought leadership? We recommend
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In my last two installments on Creating and Maintaining a B2B Blog, I offered suggestions on who should write your company blog, how often you should post and how to develop a content strategy for your blog.

In this third installment of my blogging series, I’d like to make some suggestions on how to promote your blog.

If you are going to invest the time, resources and discipline to create a blog you’ll want to be sure it’s getting read. It is not as simple as, “Build it and they will come.” You’ll need to promote your blog, let people know it exists. Consider all the tactics you can use to announce and then promote your blog including email, your website, search and other blogs. You’ll need to be proactive. Think about active and passive forms of promotion. Here are a few suggestions.

1. Start with your company website. Make sure there is a link to your blog somewhere on your site, or multiple pages if relevant.
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Considering how much technology has advanced over the past 15 years, not having everything available at your finger tips is a distant memory. But just because it's available at any given moment, does that make it ok to give into temptation?

For example, your iPhone goes everywhere with you. You take notes during presentations, cite helpful source information during meetings and can suggest local sushi spots at the flick of a wrist. Those seem like acceptable uses, but what happens when actions aren't so genuine?

We all know the type -- the guy who's sitting next to you checking his Fantasy Football stats and updating his Facebook status during the weekly staff meeting. Clearly he can't be giving his undivided attention and therefore isn't fully engaged in the conversation. On the surface such actions are rude. However is it becoming the norm? Is such access giving us more of a reason to be rude?

Is it really necessary to always have your iPhone or
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Almost a year ago, I posted about how B2B marketers can use social media. Since then, 2009 social media growth has been exponential. Case studies of leading companies effectively using corporate social media, and the high adoption rates of business professionals using social media in the workplace, have helped squelch questions of whether B2B marketers should participate in social media. The challenge now is defining what their company’s social media strategy should be.
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I didn't mean to be anti-social. Really, I didn't. 

I shut down my Twitter and Facebook accounts recently because I was failing to maintain these on-line representations of me, a B2B marketing and PR professional, in a way that was adding value. In fact I was hardly maintaining them at all. And that's not the way to be social these days, much less helpful. So, I've temporarily unplugged. (Oh, not entirely. I kept my LinkedIn page up and even updated my profile a bit, but that's beside the point).

The point, as my 20-something reverse mentor tells me, is to get and stay engaged. "Commit to 10 to 20 minutes a day," she said. I know she's right. And I know it's a bit early for a New Year's resolution, but I think I have one already. It's a matter of see and be seen, listen and contribute, or risk irrelevancy.

In an impressive study released today, Business.com reports about
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Is it just my imagination or is the Social Media landscape expanding faster than global warming on the Arctic’s polar ice cap?

On the publishing side of Social Media, we’ve got key players such as Wikipedia and Digg. On the sharing front, it’s Web sites like YouTube and Flickr. In the social networking arena, the heavy hitters are Facebook and LinkedIn. And don’t forget Twitter, which has taken blogging – in this case, microblogging – to a whole new level.

At this stage of the game, B2B marketers probably feel like they need a scorecard to keep track of all the Social Media players, their positions, strengths and weaknesses. The question is, which player is paying its dues right now in the minor leagues, poised to make a dramatic leap to the big leagues?

I don’t have that answer, but I do know one thing: Social Media is here to stay. And here’s
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