Does social media cut it for B2B sales & marketing?

The current hot stories about B2B marketing and sales emanating from the US are about Facebook and its use in the mix. This may well be valid but I guess these messages are also being propagated by people with a vested tech/social media interest.

Andy Maslen on his blog reports that his successes are primarily all techniques and approaches that could have been executed in the 18th century. In ranking order of business success, Andy reports this list:

• Referrals/word-of-mouth
• Attending conferences
• Running workshops
• Having coffee/lunch with a prospect
• Speculative meetings
• Writing books
• Writing article
• Giving speeches
• Telephoning client
• E-newsletter
• Sending emails
• Direct mail
• Search
• Blog
• Twitter
• Facebook

So if you read this blog and visit talk to Andy Maslen, do let him know a blog got you there 🙂

But in all seriousness, if your business is B2B and you want to develop sustainable relationships I would wholeheartedly recommend referrals/word-of-mouth, attending conferences, running workshops, having coffee/lunch with the prospect and speculative meetings to get those conversations started.

PS 25 September 2024: The link to Andy Maslen;’s Sunfish blog site has been removed as the site is dead.

Kevin Harrington Partner

Kevin Harrington is a Partner at Exit Factor UK, helping SME owners increase business value & build a rewarding, well-planned exit. Former CMO at BBC Worldwide.

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