The Real Barrier for B2B on Facebook

Is Facebook strictly a consumer marketing platform or could it be leveraged to connect B2B brands with customer communities? Of course some B2B brands are already using Facebook to communicate directly via groups and brand/fan/connections pages (Facebook just changed "fan" to "connections"). But not many. And when you ask Facebook leadership about examples of B2B success there is an uncomfortable silence.

There is the real barrier. It's not the perception that Facebook is only suitable for a B2C relationship, nor the old POV that brands don't belong there (consumer have proven they do belong). Utlimately only brands that have an ambition to reach a mass (yet targeted) consumer audience will buy appreciable amounts of Facebook advertising. Facebook leadership is oddly laser-focused on big consumer brands. I say oddly not because that doesn't make sense. It does. But after a few years where many agencies and brands alike struggled to get facetime with Facebook, there was a sense that the relatively small team there couldn't focus. Not true. They know exactly where they want to spend their limited energy - big consumer brands.

There are 2 ways to leverage Facebook advertising - the DIY approach that many small organizations use and is not unlike Google's approach to DIY search marketing; and then the big-buy approach with budgets in the six, seven and now even eight figures. Many B2B marcom efforts won't benefit from those big budgets no matter how targeted they are. They can benefit from the DIY use of Facebook advertising just as they have benefited from Google search marketing.

Facebook Success:DIY
B2B sucess will come from brands big or small demonstrating on their own that they can engage customers and drive a business result. They won't be featured in the Facebook ad sales team's case study deck. Because of this, they won't get significant Facebook brainpower helping them think through ways to use the platform. It's even possible that facebook might design itself away from the needs of B2B not out of a truly strategic choice but simply because all their energy is focused on making the B2C marketing platform sing.

A Possible Exception
Brands that sell B2B but whose products are destined for consumers could jump in deep inside Facebook (i.e. spend significant ad dollars along with a conversation calendar-approach to everyday engagement). Think about brands that sell through showrooms like much of the home design and improvement world. Sales come through a rather complex recommender chain. If I am going to put in a new bathroom, I will engage a designer, maybe an architect and a contractor etc.. My trip to the showroom is pretty significant. But in such an episodic need ( I am not redesigning bathrooms all of the time) can a direct relationship with a brand via facebook be truly valuable to me? If we think 'yes, it's possible' then our brand will still have to find a way to value the increased brand preference and intent to recommend they get from a facebook strategy to justify the ad-spend side of the commitment.

Some Facebook B2B Resources

1. Jeffrey Cohen posted a deck with 10 examples of B2B Facebook pages that is very helpful yet seems to reinforce the modest potential vs. big potential. Good deck, good examples.
2. Michael Leander posted a deck on a somewhat prototypical B2B campaign for his own event that still shows some good thoughts on lead generation and cost for conversion
3. The suppliesguys.com have a 3 part series on B2B and Facebook that inventories some good usage from SAP, Sun and others
4. And by all means, check out Clara Shin's post on Facebook B2B (I use her book in my grad class)

Comments

[Joan Damico]

Intriguing post, John. I’m wondering if B2B brands on Facebook are being ignored by Facebook members… even those who “fan” the brands pages. Most of the B2B marketers I network with are trying to separate their personal from professional personas in the social sphere. And Facebook, of all the social media, blurs the delineation between business and personal. It leads me to believe that perhaps the people we B2B marketers are trying to reach may feel the same way about Facebook. They may prefer to keep it personal. Think of it this way, how would LinkedIn members feel if their connections started posting pictures of their three-year-old’s birthday party on their LinkedIn status updates. Imagine the push back if these types of status updates appeared in your LinkedIn home page stream. I’m seeing more successes reported by integrating Twitter into the B2B marcom mix than Facebook. I’m hoping other B2B marketers can enlighten me. I think the jury is still out on this one.

[Ken Miner]

A couple points that you didn't address but are barriers to B2B organizations on Facebook:

Corporate Firewalls
Many companies still block social media sites. FB is the most popular and top of mind. If connecting with their direct client is their goal, it's likely that the B2B company won't be able to reach their target.

Specious ROI
I agree that product based B2B may be able to reach consumers but this is more a value add vs. a direct ROI approach. The challenge for the B2B is to ensure that their social media approach (Facebook) is aligned with their direct clients' messages.

Services are Rebilled
B2B's that provide a service are often rebilled (with an upcharge) to the end user. The direct customer will be extremely sensitive to an end user connecting directly with their supplier.

[Mark Britton - Small Business Marketing Consultant]

A practical issue for B2B brands on Facebook is how do you target someone with a certain job role in a certain industry? This you can do on LinkedIn.