For far too long consumer led companies have held the social media throne. Social networks such as Facebook and micro blogging site Twitter have provided them with a direct channel to their target market whilst business to business companies were left somewhat in dust trying to figure out how exactly social media tools could be used for business.

The common misconception held about business to business social media management is that social media is only for young people and Facebook users therefore it won’t work for B2B. Despite still being a commonly held opinion it is entirely false; social media is highly versatile stretching way beyond Facebook, the average social network user age is 37 years old and research shows that 91% of B2B decision makers consume social media. Companies such as Scania, Oracle, and John Deere are all shining examples of how diverse social media is and how it can be used to engage with the market.

These individual cases show that social media provides B2B companies with the perfect suite of online tools to engage with their online market, and a recent article by eMarketer has revealed that B2B companies are now taking advantage of social media even more so than their B2C counterparts. The article confirmed that B2B businesses have overtaken B2C in terms of utilising the various opportunities available online.  Perhaps because, despite knowing of its multiple opportunities it was never as clear cut as B2C for B2B marketers to approach social media. Yes, there were boundaries and B2B’s had to work hard to overcome them but as a result B2B online marketing and its uptake has evolved at lightening speed.