Last month I shared insight from a recent research study by the Aberdeen Group, a company that examines the social marketing strategies of top-performing B2B companies. The study revealed that “Best-in-Class” B2B companies generate, on average, 17% of their leads from social media—roughly 230% more marketing-generated leads than other companies in the survey.

That’s nice to know, you say. You’d like to generate more leads for your company too. And if social media could be the ticket, that’s great. But how in the world does a company even get started with an effective, lead-generating social media program?

Start by grabbing a copy of The B2B Social Media Book (Becoming a Marketing Superstar by Generating Leads with Blogging, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Email and More) co-authored by Kipp Bodnar, Hubspot Inbound Marketing Strategist and Jeffrey L. Cohen, Radian6 Social Strategist.  These well-seasoned social media experts have done a great job of providing a comprehensive, easy to follow, 200-page read on how to make a social media strategy work for your company.

Their key premise is this: Revenue is the only metric you need to become a superstar of your company and get buy-in from the C-Suite. Social media can help get your there.
The book covers:

• How to build a custom social media-lead generation strategy using a simple five-step methodology
• Why B2B companies are better suited for social media than B2C companies
• Content development strategies for all social media channels
• How to integrate social media with offline lead generation channels like trade shows to power up lead generation results
• Identification of potential barriers that can sidetrack and dilute your B2B social media strategies

Interesting corporate case studies from Intel, General Electric, Corning, et al., are sprinkled throughout the book and demonstrate effective use of and challenges with social media.

For example, one case study is from Rick Short, director of marketing communications for Indium Corporation, a four-time Frost & Sullivan award-winning supplier of electronics assembly materials.  When Indium shifted from an “outbound” philosophy to an “inbound” attitude, they emphasized the “long-tails” of their technologies. The result was a clear shift to opt-in, self-qualified, highly qualified and urgent sales leads. One of Rick’s sales leaders said that when the new class of social media leads came to his attention, he moved them to the top of his list, saying, “These are the best leads I’ve ever received.” As Indium continued to tweak their inbound style of social media marketing they saw their opt-in, self-qualified leads increase by over 600% from one quarter to the next. And the quality of the leads increased as well.

Business is good for Indium…

So, don’t wait any longer. Spring $15 bucks for a copy of The B2B Social Media Book. Then share your strategy with the C-Suite and become a lead generating, social media marketing superstar!