Every day, B2B marketers struggle with the question of how to add social media on top of everything else they’re already doing.

We think that’s the wrong question to be asking.

Instead, marketers should be asking themselves how they can transform the practice of B2B marketing so that social media become effective channels within a larger, integrated marketing strategy that is focused on relationships.

Marketers can’t afford to let social media channels become silos within their organizations. ITSMA research shows that social media are not as effective when used in isolation. B2B marketers have the most success when using social media to support and enhance more traditional relationship-based marketing tactics. ITSMA research shows, for example, that buyers still prefer face-to-face meetings and that their most trusted source of information is each other. Social media offer effective ways to extend and enhance those conversations beyond the meeting.

But making all these different tactics work together in harmony requires a different way of thinking about, organizing, and practicing marketing. In this ITSMA report, which is based on in-depth interviews with services marketers at ITSMA member companies as well as on ITSMA-conducted quantitative surveys on social media use and services buying behavior, we will outline the steps B2B services marketers need to take to successfully integrate social media into their larger marketing strategies. The report includes the latest data from and about your peers who are working to make social media fit within an integrated marketing strategy.

• Develop the business case for social media
• Create cultural permission and engagement
• Develop a social media participation plan
• Create a content engine to fuel social media conversations
• Set up formal governance