17 Sep B2B & B2C Social Media are like Chalk & Chalk
Before the advent of the internet, broadcast media, newspapers and the printing press, business was done person to person.
If I wanted to sell my latest hand-crafted spinning wheel or my daily baked bread, I’d do so face to face with the person who was buying it. It was pretty simple, really.
Now fast forward a few centuries and mass advertising and editorial have led to the firm belief that business is done with companies. Faceless entities with flashy logos and clever taglines and overly-sincere values and brand promises. And no matter how often the ‘people do business with people’ mantra is repeated, we think in terms of business-to-business and business-to-consumer.
Cobblers.
As social media has become more and more prevalent over the last five years, people have started to want to do business with human beings again. They demand transparency and personality. They crave the contact that’s gone increasingly AWOL over the last couple of hundred years.
And yet the belief that B2C and B2B social media are somehow distinctly different disciplines with varying skill sets is still pervasive.
Let’s clear this up once and for all: they’re not.
If you’re a social media pro (or a marketer or a PR pro) and you know how to talk to an individual, then you are perfectly capable of carrying out both B2B and B2C campaigns.
Yes, the channels may differ. Although they may not. And yes, your tone may be different. Although, again, it may not. And yes, your goals will probably be different. Although…well, you get the picture.
The point is, social media works person to person.
The old walled division between B2B and B2C is crumbling fast; arguably, it’s already reduced to a pile of rubble. So if you’re still thinking that way, stop it. Let it go. OK?
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Posted by Paul Sutton
