A November 2012 study by Eloqua “How Do B2B Companies Use Social Media For Marketing? [INFOGRAPHIC],” polled 548 B2B marketers about their approach to social media within their organizations. The survey finds that 36 percent of marketers say their organization doesn’t use social media whatsoever. And of those organizations that do use social media (the other 64 percent) there is some confusion as to exactly who is in charge of the tweeting. Twenty-six percent of those polled say that the PR and communications department owns social media, 11 percent pass the ownership to their website team and 23 percent share the responsibility between multiple departments.

According to BtoB Magazine‘s 2013 Outlook: Marketing Priorities And Plans survey, more than half of U.S. business to business (B2B) marketers plan to increase spending on their social media budget in 2013. The survey reveals that their marketing spend on channels such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook will rise in 2013.

With this increase in spend and continued emphases on social media, many B2B marketers still take the traditional method to integrate social media. Like most marketers, they take the route of just adding on another line of business and typically assign a team resource whose time will be spent posting and responding within social media platforms in isolation. This means that their time is spent building out the company Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ pages all with the goal of curating content and posting witty questions in the hopes of driving likes, shares, comments and +1s. But this methodology tends to dry up because it is all done in isolation.

Traditional Social Media Integration

Most social media companies also reinforce this traditional thinking as their sales reps focus their efforts on just selling advertising programs and lead generation campaigns. A typical sales spiel focuses on how many visitors the program can bring and how much engagement it may create, but again this is all still done in isolation.  This strategy lacks long-term vision and long term success, especially as budgets are placed under scrutiny and marketers are forced to measure a return on investment. Because social media in isolation requires budget and very minimal quantifiable return at the bottom of the funnel, it is usually given credit as a feeder to the top of the funnel but that is usually quick to the chopping block when things get tight.

Granted, social media is a viable way to feed the funnel and drive more traffic but social media is much more than feeding the funnel. Social media is the enabler that drives engagement through the funnel by offering social interest and social influence during the buying cycle. So the best way to create value through social media programs is to understand its integrated value.

Social media alone using organic content creation and engagement holds value but definitely only in the short term. Without an integrated approach, social media programs will fail. If you integrate social media with your other marketing programs, then the long-term success will show a value that is more than just feeding the funnel but it will show social media as the catalyst that enriches and drives prospects through the funnel.

Here is an example of how social media can be integrated with each existing marketing program:

• Search – Based on the latest SEO techniques, social signals hold a large impact on a website’s search engine rankings. Working with your search team on aggregating the influence from each of your social platforms will prove great success
• Display – Referencing and mentioning recommendations and engagement from your social platforms in your display messaging can be key to increase click-through rates on social. And directing your display to your company’s social media sites can help reinforce the message in the display ad
• Content – Creating socially-centric content can help drive both the engagement and virality of your content. Also using authors with high authority can boost the reach of your content
• Email – Using social media links as secondary or tertiary calls to action or social media references can offer a higher click-through or engagement rate on your emails as it supports the primary call to action and messaging
• Website – socializing your website is a heavy undertaking but can be the key driver to increase visitor engagement and conversion on your website. More than just sharing and liking, but using a social sign-in, references and recommendations can positively drive conversion on your website
• Campaigns – Building campaigns that are outbound focused and targeted at a generic mass market are destined for failure. But using social media as your syndication method and focusing engagement around a specific social personas allows your campaign to best appeal to your audience and drive the engagement beyond just an impression and click-through

Advanced Social Media Integration

Imagine if your social media sales rep approached a product pitch by first understanding your internal marketing programs and integrated marketing strategies and then took the time to explain how their social media programs complimented and fit in to each existing program. This level of integration would quickly and clearly be adopted by your marketing leadership, have a higher and more notable impact on revenue and exist within a long-term strategy.

With so many factors affecting the long-term success of your social media programs, it is best to always use a strategy that identifies social media as the key success factor and driver for every other marketing program. So, take the time to learn from other teams in your marketing org and determine how social media can best integrate in your other marketing programs.

If you think about the purpose of social media, most will say that it’s about reaching a social circle and developing a meaningful conversation.  The key is to engage; engagement with the purpose or goal of sharing or creating a response or reaction. Well, if this is true, then does your “all purpose content” reach that goal or does it need a social voice around it to make it truly social centric?

Social content is not just repurposed content used in social media, but it should be content that:

• Speaks in the first person
• Speaks to a specific persona/job title/demographic
• Is meant to be helpful
• Shares ideas
• Shares expertise
• Shares experience
• Builds a common ground
• Contains social references
• Contains social links
• Is actionable (what do you want the reader to do next?)
• Avoids those long nouns that make you sound smart (we offer server configuration and management) – and uses verbs instead (we set up and manage servers)

The best example of social content is the conversation that happens on videos posted on social media. This video example is from Rackspace Cloud Zen Master Joseph Palumbo. In this video, he gives a smooth and easy talking conversation about a very technical topic. He does this in a way that makes it easy to digest, but entices the viewer to comment or respond. So imagine taking that exact tone, voice and direct conversation and putting that into your content.

Here are some tips for creating social content:

• Write in a conversational tone
• Imagine that you are talking to someone directly
• Within the paper, ask them for their opinion or feedback just as you would in a conversation
• Give relevant and timely references
• Use a story reference or personal reference to build commonalities
• Be bold, honest and unapologetic about what you are writing about
• Always be truthful, accurate and transparent about who you are (as an author) and who you represent (if you are speaking on behalf of Rackspace)

Remember that great social content is not about having a unique catch or being so creative that it goes viral. The goal of great social content is writing something that engages your audience and sparks a reaction or response. If there was only one piece of advice to follow, find a way to relate to your reader through the content, just as if you were sitting with them and discussing the topic.

SharePoint Tuesday events are virtual open forums hosted on the first and third Tuesday of every month. These hour-long virtual Q & A sessions give you access to SharePoint911 thought leaders who are now part of the Rackspace team. If you’ve joined us in the past for our educational series, then you know SharePoint Tuesday isn’t a typical webinar series. There are no set topics of discussion. Instead, each week we give you the opportunity to jump on the chat and ask your specific questions to a team of experts.

To make it a little more interesting, we want you to put our experts to the test. Participants are encouraged to bring hard questions — we mean it! If you Stump the MVP, Rackspace will donate $100 on behalf of you or your company to charity:water. We’ve already awarded a handful of attendees with this honor and this week we congratulate Julie Olivieri, a Senior Technology Auditor — congratulations Julie!

In Episode No. 6 (July 17) Microsoft MVP Laura Rogers answered questions from participants on a variety of SharePoint subjects including:

• Connecting a SharePoint form library to a non Web access database
• For info path using external content types, adding dropdown boxes from other SQL sources when multiple data sources are not allowed
• Different no code options available to extract the contents of a list in an external SQL database

Download the SharePoint Tuesday episode No. 5 mp3 or watch the flash video from July 17, 2012, and we hope you can join us for the next SharePoint Tuesday session on August 7th from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. CST.

Check out other previously aired SharePoint Tuesday episodes.

When looking at the connections you currently have and the connections you want to build, ask yourself who are the people that can help create value for your brand. This brand value is driven by referrals, relationships and recommendations; also known as the three Rs. Consider these to be the people whose opinion you most trust.

Here’s an analogy that demonstrates the “who.”  These are the people with whom you will engage through social networks to make decisions using the three Rs. Remember the last time you made a big purchase like buying a car? You probably went through the same situation as most of us. You went online to research different brands of cars. You saw advertisements online, on TV and in your area that encouraged you to purchase the car. But all of that was not enough for you to consider buying yet.

[Referrals] When you start reading blogs and articles from known experts, the experts will say that this car is great, reliable, reasonably priced and so on as compared to others just like it. Because of the value of their referral, you will begin to feel that this car is the one for you. This referral (indirect or direct) pushes you to think more actively of your choices.

This is similar to seeing a social post from a friend or colleague. You are more likely to pay attention to it rather than a third party post. When you create content, make sure that it is something that your social network or target audience will value and want to share with others.

[Recommendations.] When some you trust tells you that this car is one that you should consider and one that they can vouch for. They tell you that they had a Toyota Camry in high school and college and after 200k miles; they went to buy another Camry with no hesitation because that is the car they trust. This again motivates you to consider the car without a doubt.

Just as in Google+ or LinkedIn, people will be able to see the +1s or recommendations for a product, service or company that really stands out and makes an impact on the buying decision.  Be sure to that you always share your content with your list of influencers so they can have the opportunity to have an opinion. As a best practice, consult your influencers before publically posting anything so you can be sure that they will recommend whatever you post.

[Relationship] When a close friend or family tells you that you should buy that car and that you will be making a great decision and a smart purchase. This final act is one that truly fulfills your buying decision and reinforces the referrals and recommendations that you received previously.

Similar to when you make a post on any of the social platforms, you are usually posting something with the hope that your network likes it or comments on it. This final reinforcement tends to help seal the deal and convince you that what you are doing is the popular choice.

Using your connections is the best way to driving engagement with your social media networks. For businesses, it’s important to identify and manage your connections and understand who are the ones referring you and recommending you and how can those relationships help to drive your social media engagement.

Don’t have time to watch the video? Here are the steps in text format as well:

[Tip] Before you start changing your profile and go back and forth to add some punctuation error or modify, you need to turn off your broadcast activity. You would hate to broadcast to everyone every time you decide to change one little detail.

1.  Go to LinkedIn and click on “settings” on the dropdown underneath your name. This is on the top right hand side of the screen.
2.  You may be prompted to enter your password again, but you will be directed to the settings page.
3.  On the bottom, you will see 4 tabs starting with “Profile”, look for “Turn on/off your activity broadcast”, click on it.
4.  A window will pop up asking you to check/uncheck the box.
5.  If you are looking to turn off a broadcast about each simple change to your profile, be sure to uncheck the box.

Best practices for your LinkedIn profile

1. Complete your profile 100%.

You can see your score on the right side when editing your profile. Here are the areas that will help you get to 100%.

• List your current job
• Include two previous positions
• Add your education
• Add a profile summary
• Upload a personal photo (no kids, no pets, no logo)
• Include your specialties
• Earn at least three recommendations

2. Edit your public profile URL.

I suggest you choose your name if it’s available. Add this URL to your business cards, your signature file and include it in other profiles.

3. Write a detailed summary.

Your summary is one of the most important parts of the profile because the search engines index it. It should be written in first person and should include your keywords, your skills, your experience and what differentiates you from others. You can use up to 2000 words. Suzanne Vara outlines How to  Pack A Powerful Punch With Your LinkedIn Summary.

4. Include links to your company websites on your profile.

Tip: Select the “other” option so you can add the name of your website. You can then add additional links to your blog, Facebook page and any other websites you have.

5. Add sections to profile.

It’s important to add dimensions to your profile. This is way to give you more depth than someone who went to school here and worked there. Here are some that I like:

• Skills. To add a skill you must first search for a skill you have. When the results appear you can add the skill to your profile. Hubspot has more info on how to add skills to your LinkedIn profile.
• Volunteer Experience & Causes. This detail can possibly be a deciding factor when employers are looking at your profile. They are thinking that you are more than just a work-a-holic, you are selfless and a team player.
• Organizations. Whether it’s an industry org, an internal committee within your company, or a church/youth group, highlight what is important to you and what you want people to maybe ask you about in conversation.
• Reading List by Amazon. I really like this one because it shows you as a thought leader but also gives you something to talk about when engaging in conversation for business.

6. Earn recommendations.

Recommendations add credibility to your profile. LinkedIn has made it simple to give and receive recommendations. Good sources of recommendations come from your clients and people who have worked with you. Tip: In order for your profile to be 100% complete you need 3 recommendations. I typically recommend at least one each from co-worker, manager and customer/partner.

7. Update your status several times a week.

But not just with “what you’re eating for dinner.” Rather, with links to your blog posts, news about projects you’re working on or links to your industry news.

You can schedule LinkedIn updates using a desk client like Hootsuite, Seesmic or Tweetdeck. You can also tag a tweet to post on LinkedIn by adding “#in” to the tweet.

I do not recommend sending all of your Twitter updates to LinkedIn, but selectively choosing which tweets go to LinkedIn with the #in tag. Your updates show up on the feed and are searchable using LinkedIn Signals, the new search feature on your home page below the status window.

These are just my recommendations. If you have further tips, please leave your comments below.