An Investigation Into The Effectiveness of Social Media in B2B Environments

Surname
BRUNEL BUSINESS SCHOOL

COVERSHEET FOR ONLINE COURSEWORK SUBMISSIONS
Module Code
MG3123
Module Title
Issues and Controversies in Marketing Project
Module leader
Geraldine Cohen
Student ID number
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Christopher Hulatt 0900954
An Investigation into the Effectiveness

of Social Media in B2B Environments
BSc Business Management (with
Marketing)
Brunel Business School
Tutor: Geraldine Cohen

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Date Submitted: 6th March 2013

Word Count: 8,727
Abstract
Social media has been suggested throughout literature as an appropriate channel for b2b
businesses to use to achieve marketing aims and objectives. However, the research
found conflicting arguments suggesting that social media has not been effective at
achieving desired aims. This research aimed to address this issue by further
understanding how businesses can use social media effectively to achieve aims and
objectives identified from literature.
Following a literature review, a research methodology was developed involving
marketers from different b2b businesses completing an online survey to measure the
importance and success of achieving the identified aims and objectives. The
questionnaire also established how businesses currently implement their social media
plan. Responses were collected from 46 valid businesses.
The questionnaire found increasing brand awareness the most successful aim for
businesses to achieve through social media. Engaging in indirect conversations related
to the industry/product offering was established as the most successful objective to
achieve; its success effectively contributing to the success of achieving other aims.
Finally, LinkedIn was established as the most successful platform for b2b businesses to
use to complete objectives.
Following the analysis of data, a framework for social medias use in a b2b environment
was presented. This combined with literature helped to illustrate that businesses must
spend more time focusing on objectives associated with monitoring. Additionally it was
recommended that businesses should ensure they are meeting the needs of their
customers through social medias use. This information will help b2b businesses
develop successful social media plans, providing insight into where they should focus
their efforts.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank all the marketers and businesses who took part in this research;
their honest evaluations and contributions were invaluable to the success of this project.
I would also like to thank Nandish Patel and Geraldine Cohen for the valuable guidance
they have given me throughout the project.
Furthermore my friends who have helped me, always being happy to listen and talk
about different elements of the project.
Finally, I would like to thank all my family for the support they have given me
throughout my project and keeping me motivated to continue.
Contents
Abstract..............................................................................................................................2
Acknowledgements...........................................................................................................3
List of Figures....................................................................................................................7
List of Tables.....................................................................................................................7
1.
2.
3.
Introduction................................................................................................................8
1.1.
Web 2.0...............................................................................................................8
1.2.
Defining Social Media........................................................................................8
1.3.
Defining B2B......................................................................................................9
1.4.
Rationale.............................................................................................................9
1.5.
Aim & Objectives.............................................................................................10
1.6.
Chapter Synopsis..............................................................................................11
Literature Review.....................................................................................................12
2.1.
Current Social Media Use in Business.............................................................12
2.2.
Social Media in Marketing...............................................................................13
2.3.
Word of Mouth Communication.......................................................................14
2.4.
Customer Expectations of Social Media...........................................................14
2.5.
Business Social Media Aims.............................................................................15
2.5.1.
Increase band awareness............................................................................16
2.5.2.
Increase sales.............................................................................................16
2.5.3.
Increase customer loyalty..........................................................................17
2.5.4.
Increased business knowledge of industry/competitors............................18
2.6.
Social Media Objectives...................................................................................18
2.7.
Social Media Tools...........................................................................................19
2.7.1.
Social Networks.........................................................................................19
2.7.2.
Blogs..........................................................................................................19
2.7.3.
Content Communities................................................................................20
2.8.
Measuring the Efficacy of Social Media..........................................................20
2.9.
Research Question............................................................................................21
Research Methods....................................................................................................22
4.
5.
3.1.
Research Philosophy.........................................................................................22
3.2.
Research Approach...........................................................................................22
3.3.
Research Strategy.............................................................................................23
3.4.
Secondary Research..........................................................................................24
3.5.
Primary Research Design..................................................................................24
3.6.
Sampling Method..............................................................................................25
3.7.
Piloting of Questionnaire..................................................................................26
3.8.
Data Analysis....................................................................................................26
3.9.
Alternative Research Methods..........................................................................26
3.10.
Research Limitations.....................................................................................27
3.11.
Ethical Issues.................................................................................................27
3.12.
Impact of Research........................................................................................28
Findings....................................................................................................................28
4.1.
Response Rate...................................................................................................28
4.2.
Demographics...................................................................................................28
4.3.
Social Media Aims............................................................................................29
4.4.
Success of Social Media Aims..........................................................................31
4.5.
Social Media Objectives...................................................................................33
4.6.
Success of Social Media Objectives.................................................................35
4.7.
Success of Social Media Platforms...................................................................37
Discussion................................................................................................................40
5.1. Objective 1: To Establish What Companies Aim to Achieve Through Using
Social Media in a B2B Environment...........................................................................40
5.2. Objective 2: To Investigate the Efficacy of Using Social Media to Achieve
Marketing Aims...........................................................................................................41
5.3. To Identify What Marketing Objectives can be Successfully Achieved through
Social Medias Use.......................................................................................................42
5.4. To Determine Which Social Media is More Effective in Achieving Marketing
Objectives....................................................................................................................43
5.5.
6.
Social Media Framework..................................................................................44
Conclusions..............................................................................................................46
6.1. To Establish What Companies Aim to Achieve Through Using Social Media in
a B2B Environment.....................................................................................................46
6.2.
To Investigate the Efficacy of Using Social Media to Achieve Marketing Aims.

..........................................................................................................................46
6.3. To Identify What Marketing Objectives can be Successfully Achieved through

Social Medias Use......................................................................................................47
6.4. To Determine Which Social Media is More Effective in Achieving Marketing
Objectives....................................................................................................................47
6.5.
Recommendations to Industry..........................................................................48
6.6.
Further Research...............................................................................................48
7.
References................................................................................................................49
8.
Appendix..................................................................................................................56
8.1.
Appendix 1 Participant Information Sheet & Questionnaire with Coding....56
8.2.
Appendix 2 Demographic Data.....................................................................63
8.3.
Appendix 3 Importance of Achieving Aims..................................................64
8.4.
Appendix 4 Success of Achieving Aims........................................................67
8.5.
Appendix 5 Social Media Objectives............................................................70
8.6.
Appendix 6 Success of Social Media Objectives..........................................73
8.7.
Appendix 7 Social Media Adoption...............................................................76
8.8.
Appendix 8 Success of Social Media Platforms at Achieving Objectives....78
8.9. Appendix 9 Success of Objectives Cross Tabulated Against Paying to

Promote........................................................................................................................80
8.10.
Appendix 10 - Success of Objectives Cross Tabulated against Extent of
Monitoring/Updating...................................................................................................81
8.11.
Appendix 11 - Success of Objectives Cross Tabulated against Length of
Time Been Using Each Platform.................................................................................83
8.12.
Appendix 12 Ethical Approval Form.........................................................85
List of Figures
Figure 1 Chapter synopsis......
11
Figure 2 Effects of new media on marketing.
13
Figure 3 The research onion...
22
Figure 4 Core offering of respondents 29

Figure 5 Geographic spread of respondents customers.
29
Figure 6 Size of company 29

Figure 7 Adoption of social media platforms....
37
Figure 8 How businesses are managing their social media presence...
37
Figure 9 The mean success of each platform at achieving social media

objectives. 39
Figure 10 Framework outlining the effective use of social media in a
b2b environment. 45
List of Tables
Table 1 Advantages and disadvantages of probability and
non-probability sampling.. 25
Table 2 Importance of social media aims..
30
Table 3 Success of achieving aims through social media.
31
Table 4 Difference between importance and success of social media in

achieving aims.. 32
Table 5 Overall usefulness of social media to businesses..
32
Table 6 The success of achieving aims, and the overall usefulness of social
media correlation... 33
Table 7 The importance of social media objectives 34
Table 8 How often companies use social media to achieve objectives.
34
Table 9 The success in achieving social media objectives. ... 35
Table 10 Success of achieving objectives vs. the success of achieving

aims correlation.... 36
Table 11 The least and most effective platforms to achieve social
media objectives.........
38
1. Introduction
Over recent years, social media has integrated its way into the everyday lives of internet
users. The speed of social medias adoption can be seen within Twitter; by March 2010,
more than 10 billion tweets had been sent since its launch in 2006; this doubled to 20
billion by July 2010 (Baird and Parasnis, 2011). Additionally Mintel (2012) established
that 76% of internet users in UK had accessed social media within the preceding three
months. With such a vast audience of users regularly interacting, marketers are utilizing
this technology to achieve business aims and objectives (Castronovo and Huang, 2012).
1.1.
Web 2.0
The web technology, Web 2.0 was developed during 2004 allowing the next generation
of web services to become available (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012).
These
developments enabled users to interact through the creation of their own content,
referred to as user generated content (Akar and Topcu, 2011). Web 2.0 facilitated the
development of social media sites encouraging users to interact and participate in online
conversations.
1.2.
Defining Social Media
Social media marketing is defined as monitoring and facilitating customer interaction
and participation throughout the web to encourage positive engagement with a company
and its brands (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012, p.535). Kaplan and Haenlein (2010)
suggest social media can be split into six categories:
Blogs Websites displaying date-stamped entries on a specific subject
Social Networks Users create a network of friends and share content (e.g.
Facebook)
Virtual Social Worlds Users create a virtual life in the form of an avatar and
interact with other users (e.g. Second Life)
Collaborative Projects Collection of users creating content on certain subjects

(e.g. Wikipedia)
Content Communities Allows rich media content to be shared (e.g. YouTube)
Virtual Game Worlds Users sharing the same gaming experience (e.g. World of
Warcraft)
For this research, the term social media will be limited to that of which a company can
freely own and manage, including social networks, blogs and content communities;
these types of social media are extremely popular and therefore have a wide audience
for b2b companies to appeal to (Hosford, 2012).
1.3.
Defining B2B
Business to business marketing (b2b) is the term associated with the marketing of
products/services to other organizations; consumed by the business rather than the buyer
(Baines, Fill, and Page, 2008) and very different from business to consumer (b2c)
marketing. As a result, marketing must be targeted towards the business needs rather
than the buyers. With purchasing decisions tending to involve people from many
departments, decision making can take a long time and must be supported by the seller
throughout (Baines, Fill, and Page, 2008).
1.4.
Rationale
With the b2b environment focused on meeting the needs of businesses rather than
individual buyers, social media (a technology allowing individual users to collaborate)
might seem the wrong marketing tool to use (Fournier and Avery, 2011). This was
observed in Hosfords (2012) research, which concluded that only 32% of marketers
within a b2b environment were fully engaged in using social media as a marketing
tool. However there is much literature suggesting social media is a valuable business
tool and should be used by businesses (Andzulis, Panagopoulos, and Rapp, 2012;
Castronovo and Huang, 2012; Divol, Edelman and Sarrazin, 2012). At a time when
social media adoption is increasing, this study hopes to gain an insight into how b2b
businesses are currently utilizing social media to effectively market products/services to
other organizations. This will help adoption of social media within the b2b environment
by highlighting how it can be used effectively.
This was supported by a 12 month work placement at Standard and Poors, where social
media was used in a business environment.
1.5.
Aim & Objectives
The aim of this research is:
To identify how social media is effectively used within a b2b environment.
The objectives of this study are:
1. To establish what companies aim to achieve through using social media in a b2b
environment.
2. To investigate the efficacy of using social media to achieve marketing aims.
3. To identify what marketing objectives can be successfully achieved through
social medias use.
4. To determine which social media is more effective in achieving marketing
objectives.
10

11
This chapter summarises the key findings from the

project . Recomendations are made to b2b
businesses regarding social medias use and how it
could be used more effectively, along with
recomendations for further research.
This chapter presents the results of the

questionnaire , which have been analysed to
establish the key findings from the project. Here the
importance and success of the identified aims and
objectives are examined along with correlation
analysis looking at the relationships between aims
and objectives.
5. Discussion
The methodology detailed the approach chosen to

undertake the primary research required for this
project. An online questionnaire was used to
effectivly answer the research question identified in
the literature review. Decisions in this chapter were
made based on literature and the needs of the
project.
4. Findings
The literature review provides further insight in to

b2b social media usage. Here current research from
different sources are critically reviewed to develop
a research question. This chapter provides a
foundation of knowledge which is developed
throughout the project.
3. Methodology
Recomendations
Christopher
Hulatt &
0900954
6. Conclusion
2. Literature Review
Here the findings from the questionnaire are

discussed in relation to literature from the literature
review. This chapter is structured around the four
research objectives highlighted in the introduction.
Additionally a framework for social media use in a
b2b environment is presented in this chapter.
This chapter introduces social media in a b2b

environement, whilst also defining key terms and
establishing a rationnale for the project. This
allowed aims and objectives to be developed.
1.6.
Chapter Synopsis
1. Introduction
Figure 1 Chapter synopsis
2. Literature Review
Following the identification of research aims and objectives, a literature review will
establish what information is already available. This will identify gaps in knowledge,
allowing a research question to be defined.
2.1.
Current Social Media Use in Business
Current research on use of social media within the b2b environment is limited, with
researchers tending to study b2c environments. However Michaelidou, Siamagka and
Christodoulides (2011) established that 27% of b2b businesses surveyed used social
networks, with Facebook the most popular medium. Of these users, 91% hoped to
attract new customers. Reasons for not using social networks included it being
inappropriate for the industry, and staff being unfamiliar with the technology. These are
consistent with the technology adoption model developed by Davis (1989) who
identified that perceived usefulness and ease of use influence users adoption of new
technology.
Michaelidou, Siamagka and Christodoulides (2011) identify what businesses aim to
achieve, but with no insight into how effective they are at achieving these. Furthermore,
Michaelidou, Siamagka and Christodoulidess (2011) research only studied social
networks; this study hopes to expand this by including blogs and content communities.
Additionally, Maddox (2007) compared the marketing differences between online b2b
and b2c businesses, establishing that 21.2% of online b2b marketers had used blogs and
12
6.8% used social networks for one to three years. The study concluded that b2b
marketers primarily aim to create demand for their products/services.
A limitation of Maddoxs study is that it was completed in 2007 when social media was
relatively new. Moreover, the study identified the motives of different businesses but not
the effectiveness in achieving these motives. This report will enhance this by
establishing updated information regarding social medias adoption whilst also
identifying whether business aims have changed over time.
2.2.
Social Media in Marketing
Figure 2 describes how social media currently fits into a business environment. HennigThurau et al (2010) uses a literature review to create this framework, showing how
social media (described as new media) does not exist alone, and must be coordinated
with traditional media to build customer relationships.
13
With the introduction of new media, communication has become multi-directional

between consumers, customers and businesses (Hennig-Thurau et al, 2010). This
interaction has made communication difficult for a company to predict and manage
(Akar and Topcu, 2011).
In 2011, Auldi used a TV advert (traditional media) to reach customers during the Super
Bowl (Steinberg, 2011). Viewers were encouraged to discuss the advert using the twitter
link #progressis (new media) (Steinberg, 2011). US viewers then engaged in an online
conversation reaching out to additional global consumers, prolonging the adverts life
throughout social media (Steinberg, 2011). This demonstrates the validity of HennigThurau et als (2010) model in a b2c environment, but does not establish if it can it be
replicated in a b2b environment?
Hennig-Thurau et al (2010) and Steinbergs (2011) research failed to explain the
conditions required to effectively utilize new media to develop consumers/customers
opinions about a company. This is possibly caused by the lack of primary research
carried out within Hennig-Thurau et als (2010) study. This research hopes to build on
this by establishing the effectiveness of new media within a b2b environment.
2.3.
Word of Mouth Communication
Word of mouth communication occurs when opinions and decisions of one person are
communicated to influence other people (Fill, 2009). Social media allows users to
generate and share information about companies, products and services (Akar and
Topcu, 2011). Customers consider other users information as independent and reliable,
significantly effecting buying behaviour (Akar and Topcu, 2011). However, Akar and
Topcus (2011) research only studied students from the consumer standpoint in a b2c
environment. Consequently this requires further understanding regarding how
businesses can effectively utilise word of mouth communication in a b2b environment.
Smith et al, (2007) argue that word of mouth influence is something we do naturally.
They find consumers are most influenced by opinions from people who are closer in
friendship, needs and purchasing decisions. Chang, Chen and Tan (2012) established
this is effective for hedonic products that entail a multisensory experience (e.g. clothes,
14
food). Both Smith et al (2007) and Chang, Chen and Tan (2012) assumed all
respondents were influenced by word of mouth communications. However their
research suggests that businesses are more influenced by reviews from other businesses
which have similar needs/decisions to make. This research could be expanded, asking;
is inter-business communication/participation needed for a business social media to be
effective at increasing communication?
2.4.
Customer Expectations of Social Media
Understanding customers needs is the first stage in the development of a social media
strategy (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012); involving assessing a companys ability to
reach its target audience and understanding how to add value to relationships through
social media (Sashi, 2012). Heinonen (2011) finds three reasons for people engaging in
social media; information processing, entertainment and social connection. Heinonen
(2011) observed that information processing is the main area of focus for businesses,
with customers looking for:
Product information or content
Factual information
Reviews
News
Knowledge to fix problems
This provides insight into the ways businesses may be meeting the needs of their
customers. However Heinonens (2011) research was conducted through diarys kept by
students, resulting in interactions with businesses only monitored within a small
demographic of users. Consequently, expanding this knowledge by examining whether
social media is used in this way by businesses would be beneficial.
Furthermore, Andzulis, Panagopoulos and Rapp (2012) argue that consumers also want
a social connection with a business, in the form of:
A forum to discuss concerns
15
Recognition and reward for their loyalty
However, Andzulis, Panagopoulos and Rapps (2012) research did not specifically focus
on b2b or b2c businesses. This could be developed further by identifying whether
businesses use social media (as described by Andzulis, Panagopoulos and Rapp, 2012)
to communicate with other businesses.
2.5.
Business Social Media Aims
With customers seeking information and interaction (identified in 2.4), businesses need
to develop a social media strategy. Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick (2012); Marketo (2010)
and Kumar and Mirchandani (2012) suggest aims for social medias use should be
established, with objectives built around achieving the aims.
Castronovo and Huang (2012) and Andzulis, Panagopoulos and Rapp (2012) suggest
four broad social media aims for businesses to focus on:
2.5.1. Increase band awareness

To increase brand awareness Castronovo and Huang (2012) and Steyn et al (2010) argue
that companies must expand customers knowledge using social media to post
informational content (e.g. news articles) about their products/services.
Steyn et al (2010) found press releases published via blogs were effective at increasing
brand awareness. However this was not heavily adopted within the b2b environment,
resulting in existing users questioning the usefulness of blogs (Steyn et al, 2010).
Though, this research only focused on press releases sent via blogs during 2010; it
would be beneficial to establish whether other types of social media are effective in
increasing brand awareness in the current environment.
Castronovo and Huang (2012) and Steyn et al (2010) assume businesses have sole
control over their social media; conflicting with Hennig-Thurau et al (2010) who
suggest social media allows both company and consumers to collaborate. Consequently,
Helm and Jones (2010) suggest businesses should monitor social media to prevent
16
consumers negatively impacting the company/brand. Although examples were not

given, Helm and Jones (2010) suggest negative communications can result in
consumers taking ownership of the brand. This implies businesses should not only
input into social media, but also monitor and respond to negative comments to increase
brand awareness.
2.5.2. Increase sales

Michaelidou, Siamagka and Christodoulides (2011) and Maddox (2007) suggest
increasing sales is an important aim for social media in b2b environments. Castronovo
and Huang (2012) and Agnihotri et al (2012) advocate businesses should use social
media to increase sales, targeting individual audiences with relevant product
information. Andzulis, Panagopoulos and Rapp (2012) expand this, suggesting social
media can be used throughout the sales process as follows:
1. Understanding consumers Monitoring conversations and articles to identify new
leads.
2. Approaching consumers Actively linking with consumers or passive involvement in
conversations.
3. Needs discovery Asking questions to understand and answer consumers needs.
4. Presentation Sharing sales presentations through social media and answering
questions/ monitoring responses.
5. Close Publishing customer testimonials through social media could aid decision
making.
6. Follow-up Provide support and encourage success stories to be shared.
Little (2012) also suggests a business social media footprint has a significant effect on
the business sales process. The research established that 90% of businesses buying
decisions involve internet research, with recommendations from LinkedIn significantly
influencing decision making (Little, 2012). This implies social media is an effective
sales tool if it portrays a positive image throughout. However this research only focuses
on the efficacy of social media from the buy side of the sales process.
17
2.5.3. Increase customer loyalty

Increasing loyalty is possible by managing the customer inputs into social media
(Castronovo and Huang, 2012). Laroche, Habibi, and Richard, (2013) establish positive
engagement with a business through social media can build trust with consumers, which
significantly influences customer loyalty. However, this research only examined a b2c
environment from the consumers view. This could be expanded by looking at the
efficacy of increasing customer loyalty through social media within a b2b environment.
Sashi (2012) identify different relationship/loyalty stages a consumer goes through
when using social media:
1. Connection To a business through social media.
2. Interaction With the business through social media.
3. Satisfaction Arises from successful communication.
4. Retention Building trust through seeing interaction with different parties.
5. Commitment Trusting a business to the extent where it is the only business able to
meet a certain need.
6. Advocacy Sharing success stories through social media.
7. Engagement Providing feedback and helping other customers to build loyalty.
Sashi (2012) highlights that regular interaction with customers through social media
builds customer loyalty, but assumes social media is the only communication channel
and does not consider the impact of other channels. Furthermore, the research fails to
explain whether social media has been successful in progressing consumers through
these loyalty stages in a business environment.
2.5.4. Increased business knowledge of industry/competitors

Andzulis, Panagopoulos and Rapp (2012), and Smith (2009) suggest social media can
be used as a research tool. Smith (2009) established this can be achieved by monitoring
customer feedback, competitors, and the industry in which the business operates.
Reviewing communications throughout social media provides easily accessible
information from a global segment; allowing businesses to develop products, customer
relations, and tailor marketing communications to address gaps in industry knowledge
18
(Smith, 2009). However, this does not explain the extent to which businesses are
effectively achieving this using social media.
Dell successfully achieved this aim by launching Ideastorm.com, a blog allowing users
to provide suggestions for new products and features (Goodrich, 2007). Suggestions
could be reviewed and voted for by other users, providing Dell with a successful social
media tool enabling them to adjust their products to suit industry needs (Goodrich,
2007).
2.6.
Social Media Objectives
Castronovo and Huang (2012) established it is not possible to focus solely on one aim
throughout social medias use. Divol, Edelman and Sarrazin, (2012) agree and suggest
this is caused by the multi-directional nature of social media. They feel that social
media forces business to continually:
Monitor what people are saying
Respond to customer comments
Amplify news to spur on customer engagement and sharing
Lead people to become customers
Castronovo and Huang (2012) and Divol, Edelman and Sarrazins (2012) arguments
suggest businesses may focus on one aim, but sub-consciously be contributing to all the
aims identified above. However Divol, Edelman and Sarrazins (2012) findings did not
establish the extent to which this was true. This results in the question; do businesses
need to continually monitor, respond, amplify and lead consumers to effectively achieve
aims through social media?
2.7.
Social Media Tools
To implement a social media strategy, businesses must select an appropriate medium to
use (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012; Kumar and Mirchandani, 2012). Popular
mediums are detailed below (Mintel, 2012):
19
2.7.1. Social Networks

Facebook allows businesses to create their own profile, share information and hold twoway conversations with their network. Targeted advertising is possible through banner
adverts or featured profiles (Castronovo and Huang, 2012). Facebooks global nature
means users can translate the site and content into their native language (Schmidt and
Ralph, 2011). However, does this mean Facebook is preferred by international
businesses?
LinkedIn primarily attracts a professional audience (Mintel, 2012). Companies and
employees can create business profiles, post information and engage in two-way
discussions with other companies/professionals within their network (Castronovo and
Huang, 2012). Targeted advertising is also possible through LinkedIn.
2.7.2. Blogs
Twitter is considered a micro-blogging site (Mintel, 2012), allowing companies to share
tweets (posts of up to 140 characters) with followers. A tweet has the potential to reach
a wider audience than an individual companys network of followers due to re-tweeting
or keyword searches (Schmidt and Ralph, 2011). Bowen (2012) suggested this made
Twitter un-attractive, as businesses should focus on smaller, targeted audiences;
however this study only focused on financial advisors.
Additionally companies can use blogs hosted by themselves or by other people,
allowing regular interaction with customers through content written and published by
the business. They can be used to offer advice, publish promotions, answer questions
and promote success stories (Castronovo and Huang, 2012).
2.7.3. Content Communities

YouTube allows videos to be uploaded and shared with other users. Businesses can
upload videos about their products/services, or advertise to potential customers
watching similar content. Users can respond through comments, and the videos can be
embedded into other websites (Castronovo and Huang, 2012).
20
While literature explains how social media platforms can be used, it fails to identify
which platform is best at achieving aims and objectives (identified above) within a b2b
environment. This will be studied in this research.
2.8.
Measuring the Efficacy of Social Media
Hoffman and Fodor (2010), and Murdough (2009) argue that engagement can be
measured through statistics. Examples of available statistics include the number of
followers, comments, and re-posts of information. Tools like Google analytics and built
in analytics within sites like LinkedIn provide means to measure this (Kryder, 2011;
Murdough, 2009).
Kryder (2011) argues that although statistics measure engagement, the purpose of social
media is to develop relationships. As a result, businesses should establish the extent to
which social media has enabled relationships and opportunities to develop as a
measurement of efficacy (Kryder, 2011). Farb (2011) suggests marketers who focus on
engagement statistics forget to add value to the existing customers. This knowledge
could be developed by establishing whether businesses use statistics to measure social
medias success, and if this affects its efficacy.
2.9.
Research Question
The literature review highlights a gap in current knowledge explaining the efficacy of
b2b social media. Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick (2012); Kumar and Mirchandani (2012)
and Kryder (2011) identify that for social media to be effective, it should achieve the
aims set out by a business. Common aims were identified through research carried out
by Castronovo and Huang (2012) and Andzulis, Panagopoulos and Rapp (2012). Further
to this Divol, Edelman and Sarrazin, (2012) establish businesses must monitor, respond,
amplify and lead consumers regularly through social media, to achieve aims.
This research will establish what businesses are currently aiming to achieve through
social media, as well as looking at the efficacy of social media in achieving common
aims and objectives. Additionally this study will expand current knowledge on
21
individual social media by establishing what can effectively be achieved through each
platform.
The literature review has resulted in the following research question being created:
How effective is social media as a tool for b2b companies in achieving marketing aims
and objectives?
3. Research Methods
To answer the research question, it will be necessary to complete primary research. This
chapter will outline the proposed method of data collection, and will be structured using
the Research Onion (Figure 3) developed by Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill (2012).
This will ensure the research method effectively answers the research question.
22
3.1.
Research Philosophy
This study will take the view of interpretivism, examining differences between humans
as social actors in a subjective way (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill, 2012). As there is
currently no way of measuring the efficacy of social media, this research will rely upon
the perceptions of users which may change over time. This view was identified as
appropriate, due to the complex nature of the business environment (Saunders, Lewis,
and Thornhill, 2012).
3.2.
Research Approach
The research will be inductive, allowing the researcher to expand existing knowledge of
social media by investigating the efficacy (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill, 2012).
Characteristics of inductive research include collecting data and identifying themes and
patterns, which then contribute to theory (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill, 2012). This
research will be exploratory, as it will provide an insight into the efficacy of social
media (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill, 2012).
A mono quantitative research design has been chosen for this study (Saunders, Lewis,
and Thornhill, 2012), allowing investigation and comparison of common variables
associated with social medias use in business environments. This method can be used
effectively to conduct inductive research (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill, 2012).
Although a qualitative design could be appropriate to this research, it would only
provide data from a small sample of respondents; this would prevent the research from
gaining an overall picture of the b2b social media environment (Wilson, 2006).
23
3.3.
Research Strategy
A survey method of data collection will be used, providing responses to structured
questions which will be compared to create an overall picture of the efficacy of b2b
social media. This is a successfully proven method of data collection regarding b2b
social media (Maddox, 2007; Michaelidou, Siamagka and Christodoulides, 2011).
Surveys are effective at collecting quantitative data (Wilson, 2006), making it easier for
respondents to answer and resulting in a higher sample, thus reducing any bias (Field,
2009).
Other methods considered included case studies; not chosen as access to several
companies to conduct in-depth research would be limited. This would also result in a
larger bias regarding the overall efficacy of social media due to a smaller sample.
Given the nature of the research question and time restrictions of the project, the survey
will collect cross-sectional data (data from a single point in time) on the current
effectiveness of social media (Wilson, 2006). A longitudinal study is inappropriate as
the research question does not look at how efficacy has changed over time.
3.4.
Secondary Research
Secondary research is information that has been previously gathered for some purpose
other than the current research project (Wilson, 2006, p54). This provides background
knowledge to the subject and illustrates current understanding of social media
(Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill, 2012).
Secondary research is used in this project to develop the research question. This
information is presented in the literature review. Academic and trade journals, books
and online sources were used to collect this information, providing access to
information quickly and economically (Wilson, 2006). This was analyzed and critically
reviewed to develop a research question. Using academic journals will have resulted in
a higher reliability of information (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill, 2012).
3.5.
Primary Research Design
A self-completed questionnaire will be used to collect data, allowing respondents to
answer the questionnaire in their own time, potentially increasing the response rate
24
(Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill, 2012). This has proved a successful method for data
collection (Steyn et al, 2010; Akar and Topcu, 2011; Hosford, 2012). Intervieweradministered questionnaires will not be used unless specifically requested, as they are
more intrusive on businesses time.
For ease of distribution and to provide the option of anonymity, the questionnaire will
be completed online using Survey Monkey. Online questionnaires provide a fast, cheap
and efficient way to reach respondents, whilst also providing this study with a way of
validating respondents use of the internet for business (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill,
2012).
To meet the requirements of the research objectives, the format of the questionnaire
includes:
1. Business demographics
2. Social media aims
3. Methods of measuring social medias success
4. Social media objectives
5. How individual social medias are used
6. Success of social media
The questionnaire will use 5 point Likert scales to measure opinions and behaviour
regarding the efficacy of a businesss social media implementation. Likert scales have
been proven by Steyn et al, (2010) and Jensen (2006) as an effective tool to measure the
success of social media in business environments. All items measured were based on, or
derived from literature. Social media aims identified by Castronovo and Huang (2012);
Andzulis, Panagopoulos and Rapp (2012); and Smith et al (2007) were used in the
questionnaire. Social media objectives were derived from Divol, Edelman and
Sarrazins (2012) research combined with common themes throughout the literature
review.
Respondents will be validated at the beginning of the questionnaire, asking if they use
social media within their business and if they operate in a b2b environment.
25
3.6.
Sampling Method
The questionnaire will be distributed by email to b2b marketers from different

businesses to complete using non-probability sampling techniques (convenience
sampling). Table 1 outlines the advantages and disadvantages of non-probability
sampling.
A sample size of 35 complete responses is desired. Farb (2011) used a similar sample
size to successfully conduct research determining what makes a successful social media
branding campaign. This is further described by Field (2009) as an appropriate sampling
size for examining statistical relationships. Non-probability convenience sampling
involves the researcher distributing the survey to known family and placement contacts
who work in marketing within a b2b organization using social media. This method will
provide this research with the desired number of responses in the required time
(Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill, 2012).
Quota sampling is another method which could be used. However with limited contacts
and budget, a sampling frame is not available; therefore this sampling method cannot be
used.
26
3.7.
Piloting of Questionnaire
To ensure the questionnaire was workable, it was piloted using two respondents from
marketing roles in different companies (Wilson, 2006). The respondents gave feedback
on the questionnaire design which was acted on as required. This included the creation
of question 3.1 and re-ordering of some responses. Additionally, to assess reliability the
respondents were asked to complete the questionnaire twice. This applied the test re-test
validation method (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill, 2012) and demonstrated the
questionnaire was reliable with 96% and 94% of responses being identical second time
round. Following testing the final questionnaire (Appendix 1) was distributed.
3.8.
Data Analysis
The questionnaire results will be analysed using SPSS. Tables and graphs will be used
to represent and compare the data. Descriptive statistics (mean and median) will be
calculated to analyse and describe results from Likert questions. Relationships between
variables will also be explored using correlation analysis techniques (Field, 2009).
3.9.
Alternative Research Methods
Should the online questionnaire fail, data could be collected through a qualitative
research approach; also appropriate for inductive research (Saunders, Lewis, and
Thornhill, 2012). Individual business case studies would be used to obtain in-depth
information regarding the efficacy of their social media, involving face-to-face
interviews with eight b2b businesses. This would be less effective than an online survey,
only reaching a small sample of businesses due to time and accessibility constrains,
resulting in a higher bias within the responses. However this would still provide a
limited insight into social medias effectiveness.
3.10.
Research Limitations
The availability of contacts within the required time is a limitation of this study. Should
it not prove possible to achieve 35 responses, the alternative research method will be
implemented, enabling the research objectives to be met.
27
Another limitation of a non-probability sampling method is the introduction of bias (as

contacts may be similar to each other) resulting in a homogeneous sample (Saunders,
Lewis, and Thornhill, 2012). However with a minimal budget, contact databases are
inaccessible to use for probability sampling; therefore data collected may not be a fair
representation of the entire b2b environment. To attempt to overcome this, 35 responses
are desired to establish a wider representation of the environment (Field, 2009).
3.11.
Ethical Issues
As this data collection method is online, respondents will have the option to opt-out and
remain anonymous. The research requires the collection of some business demographic
information, but will focus on the business and should pose no ethical issue.
Respondents will be made aware that the completion of the survey is voluntary through
a participant information sheet provided at the beginning of the questionnaire
(Appendix 1). Ethical approval was granted by Brunel University in December 2012
(Appendix 12).
Business names were collected as part of the questionnaire to ensure no duplicates. This
information has been omitted from this project for privacy.
3.12.
Impact of Research
This research will highlight whether social media is a viable tool, enabling b2b
companies to meet marketing aims and objectives. Using this information b2b
companies will be able to build a social media marketing plan, ensuring common and
successful b2b social media objectives are considered and areas where companies have
previously failed are addressed.
The methodology above outlines the planned approach for collecting data needed to
answer the research question. The data will be collected through a quantitative online
questionnaire (appendix 1) and build on current knowledge.
28
4. Findings
To answer the research question a questionnaire was used to gather data; the findings
are presented below.
4.1.
Response Rate
The questionnaire was distributed to 71 contacts over a two week period. This resulted
in 51 responses; 46 were complete and 5 ineligible. Of the ineligible, four respondents
did not use social media and one was b2c focused. The response rate was then
calculated (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2012):
46
=0.697
715
This shows the questionnaire had a high response rate (69.7%); possibly caused by the
sampling method allowing ineligible respondents to be filtered before sending
(Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2012).
4.2.
Demographics
Of the respondents, 65.22% were service orientated and 34.78% product orientated
(Figure 4). Furthermore, half the respondents operated internationally, with 28.26% and
21.74% representing a national and local customer spread respectively (Figure 5).
Finally the size of businesses was established through categorisation of the number of
employees. This found 43.48% of respondents to be micro sized, and 26.09% from
small businesses. Both medium and large businesses were represented by 7 respondents
(15.22%) each (Figure 6).
29
Figure 4 Core offering of

respondents (Appendix 2)
Figure 5 Geographic spread of

respondents customers (Appendix 2)
Figure 6 Size of company

(Appendix 2)
4.3.
Social Media Aims
To understand b2b priorities for social media, the importance of achieving aims was
examined; b2b businesses felt all the identified aims were important (Median =4) to
achieve through social medias use (Table 2). The skewness supports this, as indicated
by a negatively skewed response.
The most important aim was to increase brand awareness (mean =4.24, SD =1.015)
(Table 2). This was slightly more important for service orientated businesses (mean
=4.27, SD =.98) (Appendix 3). Increasing communication with external parties was also
important (mean =4.17, SD =.739), and with a lower standard deviation the mean is
more representative (Table 2).
Increasing business knowledge was the least important aim across all b2b respondents
(mean =3.76, SD =.97) (Table 2). This was slightly more important for service based
companies (mean =3.83, SD =.913), compared to product based companies (mean
=3.63, SD =1.088) (Appendix 3).
30
Table 2 Importance of social media aims (Appendix 3)

The questionnaire explored additional aims businesses might have (Appendix 3).
Recruitment proved to be a common aim, with comments including:
Advertising of roles and candidate attraction Company 30
Resourcing talent Company 16
Additionally retaining contact with former colleagues was another aim of social medias
use (Appendix 3). Comments included:
Keeping in touch with known contacts without having to contact them individually.
Company 49
..contact with former colleagues Company 51
These responses reinforce the idea that social media can be widely used to achieve b2b
social media aims.
4.4.
Success of Social Media Aims
The success of businesses achieving identified aims was investigated. Table 3 shows the
average response was somewhat successful (median =3). The skewness also
illustrated a more normal distribution amongst responses.
31
Increasing brand awareness was the most successfully achieved aim (mean =3.57, SD
=.884), followed by increasing communication (mean =3.39, SD =.954) (Table 3). The
least successfully achieved aim was increasing sales (mean =2.89, SD =.948) (Table 3).
However, service orientated businesses were more successful at increasing sales through
social media (mean =3.07), compared to product orientated businesses (mean =2.56)
(Appendix 4). Furthermore, b2b businesses which set marketing aims and objectives
regarding social medias use were more successful at achieving aims (Appendix 4).
Table 3 Success of achieving aims through social media (Appendix 4)

Almost one third of respondents (32.61%) did not monitor the success of their social
media (Appendix 4). Businesses using statistics collected by the social media platforms
(28.3%) were more successful at achieving aims, compared to businesses using other
methods (Appendix 4). Furthermore the majority of businesses looked at these statistics
on a monthly (37%) or less frequent (34.8%) basis (Appendix 3). Businesses monitoring
these statistics more regularly were more successful at achieving aims (Appendix 4).
In comparison, the mean importance is higher than the mean success in achieving
identified aims (Table 4). This is most apparent when looking at increased sales;
businesses felt it important to achieve increased sales through social media (mean
=4), although the mean success indicates it has only been somewhat successful (mean
=2.89).
32
Table 4 Difference between importance and success of social media in achieving aims
Overall, the questionnaire established social media was between somewhat useful and
useful for b2b businesses (mean =3.52) (Table 5). This was then compared to the
success of achieving each aim through correlation analysis. The strongest correlated aim
against the overall usefulness, was the success at increasing brand awareness (r=.762,
p<.001, =0.05) (Table 6), reinforcing the importance of this aim.
Table 5 Overall usefulness of social media to businesses (Appendix 4)

Furthermore, table 6 shows the success of achieving an aim is positively correlated to
the success of achieving another; businesses which solely focus on one aim will subconsciously be contributing to the success of another. The only exception was the
relationship between increasing sales and business knowledge which had an
insignificant weak correlation (r=.271, p=.069, =0.05) (Table 6).
33
Table 6 The success of achieving aims, and the overall usefulness of social media
correlation
4.5.
Social Media Objectives
Table 7 shows it was important (median =4) to achieve most objectives. However,
monitoring customers was only classed as somewhat important (median =3). This can
also be observed through the skewness figures which show a negative distribution.
Obtaining new business opportunities was the most important objective for businesses
to achieve (mean =4.17, SD =.709), whilst responding to direct customer comments
(mean =4.09, SD =1.050) was second (Table 7). However the larger standard deviation
indicates responses were more varied. Promoting products and services was the third
most important objective (mean =4.07, SD =.929) (Table 7).
34
Table 7 The importance of social media objectives (Appendix 5)

Businesses on average, use social media to achieve objectives on a weekly (median
=3) or monthly (median =2) basis (Table 8). However the standard deviation shows
the results varied from the mean. Furthermore the skewness shows a positive
distribution for most objectives, suggesting businesses use social media less often than
weekly. Responding to direct customer comments was the most regularly achieved
objective (mean =3.26) (Table 8).
Table 8 How often companies use social media to achieve objectives (Appendix 5)
4.6.
Success of Social Media Objectives
Table 9 presents the success of businesses in achieving the objectives; average
responses varied from somewhat successful (median =3) to successful (median =4).
However, the standard deviations show the responses were varied. The negative
skewness for most objectives suggests businesses were more than somewhat
successful in achieving these objectives.
The most successfully achieved objective was engaging in indirect conversations
relating to businesses industry/product offering (mean =3.61, SD =1.164) (Table 9).
35
Although this objective was only the fourth most important (mean =3.93, SD =.929)
(Table 7), it was the second most achieved, with businesses engaging in indirect
conversations on a weekly basis (mean =2.98, SD =1.273) (Table 8).
Obtaining new business opportunities was the most important objective to achieve
(mean =4.17, SD =.709) (Table 7) although only the fourth most successfully achieved
(mean =3.2, SD =.980) (Table 9). As with table 4, this reinforces the difference between
importance and success.
Table 9 The success in achieving social media objectives (Appendix 6)

Businesses which set aims and objectives for social media were more successful in
achieving objectives; the only exception was obtaining new business opportunities,
where businesses that did not plan were slightly more successful than businesses which
did (Appendix 6).
To understand the relationship between objectives and aims, a correlation analysis was
conducted (Table 10). Most objectives had a significantly strong or moderate positive
correlation with increasing brand awareness (Table 10). However, promoting products
and services through social media only had a weak positive correlation with increasing
brand awareness (r=.292, p=.049, =0.05) (Table 10). This was also the case for
increasing customer loyalty (r=.299, p=.043, =0.05) (Table 10).
36
Increasing sales was an important social media aim (Table 2), but the least successfully
achieved (Table 3). Table 10 shows that to increase sales there was a moderate
relationship between monitoring customers (r=.492, p=.001, =0.05) and promoting
further communication through other channels (r=.390, p=.007, =0.05). These,
however were the two least updated (Table 7) and successful objectives (Table 8);
possibly needing more attention to increase sales.
Table 10 Success of achieving objectives vs. the success of achieving aims correlation
(Appendix 6)
4.7.
Success of Social Media Platforms
LinkedIn was the most popular platform with 84.8% of b2b respondents using it for
business purposes, followed by Twitter with 60.9% of respondents using it (Figure 7).
37
B2B Adoption of Social Media

100%
80%
60%
Adoption
7
29
33
Dont use
39
40%
20%
18
27
Do use
28
19
17
13
Blogs
Youtube
0%
Facebook Linked in
Twitter
Social Media
Figure 7 Adoption of social media platforms (Appendix 7)

Facebook and YouTube are most commonly managed through a company profile, with
individual employee pages only used in conjunction with a company profile (figure 8).
In contrast LinkedIn was rarely managed as a company profile alone, with businesses
also relying on employee pages.
38
Most Common Way of Managing Social Media Presence

100%
90% 26.3%
80%
46.2%
70% 0.0%
60%
50%
40% 73.7% 35.9%
Both
Profile
Valid Percentage
of Individual
Users Employee
30%
20%
10%
17.9%
0%
25.0%
17.6%
7.1%
23.5%
23.1%
0.0%
76.9%
67.9%
Company
Profile
58.8%
Social Media Platforms
Figure 8 How businesses are managing their social media presence (Appendix 7)
Figure 9 shows the efficacy of each social media platform at achieving objectives;
summarised in Table 11. YouTube appeared to be least effective at achieving objectives
in a b2b environment. For all objectives except promoting products and services, the
platform had median scores of <2 (Appendix 8) suggesting most users felt it was not
successful or worse. YouTube was however slightly more effective for product
orientated business (Appendix 8).
LinkedIn was the most effective platform for b2b businesses, proving most successful at
achieving four objectives. Furthermore, LinkedIn was somewhat successful (median
39
=3) or higher for all identified objectives (Appendix 8); possibly the reason for its high
b2b adoption. Facebook and Twitter were also somewhat successful at achieving all
objectives (median = 3) except monitoring customers (Appendix 8).
Overall success of engaging in conversations related to the industry/product offering is
seen to be higher than the success of any of the social media platforms; possibly caused
by a combination of platforms being used or businesses using another platform to
achieve this objective.
Table 11 The least and most effective platforms to achieve social media objectives
40
Figure 9 The mean success of each platform at achieving social media objectives
(Appendix 8)
Businesses which pay to promote themselves through social media were more
successful in achieving the identified objectives (Appendix 9). Furthermore, in most
cases the more regularly a company used a platform, the more successful they were
achieving the identified objectives (Appendix 10). The length of time a business had
been using a social media platform appeared not to affect the success of achieving
objectives (Appendix 11).
This chapter presents the key findings from the questionnaire. This includes important
and successful social media aims and objectives and the relationships between the two,
along with information regarding current b2b social media use.
5. Discussion
This chapter will discuss the findings from the questionnaire in relation to literature and
practical implications for b2b businesses.
5.1.
Objective 1: To Establish What Companies Aim to Achieve
Through Using Social Media in a B2B Environment
Increasing brand awareness was the most important social media aim for b2b
businesses. This conflicts with Michaelidou, Siamagka and Christodoulides (2011); and
Maddox (2007) who conclude that b2b businesses primarily aim to increase sales
through social medias use. This research found increasing sales was important, but not
41
as important as increasing brand awareness, and communication. The difference in

findings could be caused by the evolution of social media over time.
Increasing business knowledge was the least important aim for businesses to achieve.
This develops Smiths (2009) research, suggesting increasing business knowledge is not
a priority for b2b social media users.
5.2.
Objective 2: To Investigate the Efficacy of Using Social Media
to Achieve Marketing Aims
Social media was most effective at increasing brand awareness for b2b businesses. This
enhances Castronovo and Huangs (2012) research, establishing that social media can
effectively achieve this aim in a b2b environment. Furthermore, six of the seven
identified objectives had a significant, strong or moderate positive correlation with
increasing brand awareness. Such a wide range of objectives correlating with the
success of increasing brand awareness could explain why it is effective for businesses to
achieve this aim.
The second aim most successfully achieved was increasing communication with
external parties. This aim was strongly related to the overall usefulness of social media.
Therefore Smith et als (2007) work can be supported by establishing that inter-business
communication is needed for businesses to feel social media is useful. The success of
this aim was most strongly correlated to the objective, engaging in conversations related
to the industry/product offering. This supports Akar and Topcus (2007) research by
highlighting the most effective way to increase communication.
Social media was least effective at increasing sales for b2b businesses; thus developing
Andzulis, Panagopoulos and Rapps (2012) research. Kryder (2011) suggests this may
be due to the difficulty in measuring the extent to which social media has contributed to
a sale. Furthermore, this study argues that the findings suggested by Castronovo and
Huang (2012) and Agnihotri et al (2012) identifying how social media could be used to
increase sales were not true for b2b environments. This argument can be seen in the
42
correlation analysis, which suggests obtaining new business opportunities, monitoring

customers and promoting further communication through other mediums all contributed
to increasing sales.
The importance placed on achieving each aim was found to be higher than the perceived
level of success b2b businesses have had in achieving them; most apparent when
examining increasing sales. Furthermore this trend can be seen when looking at the
importance and success of achieving objectives. This difference could lead to b2b
businesses feeling social media is ineffective at achieving aims. However Baird and
Parasnis (2011) suggest this could be caused by business not meeting their customers
needs through social media; thus clients are not interacting as hoped. Therefore, to
improve efficacy businesses should ensure social media is benefiting customers.
The correlation analysis also highlighted the success of achieving one aim was
positively correlated to the success of another. This supports Castronovo and Huangs
(2012) research, proving it is not possible for businesses to focus solely on one aim;
further explained through the correlation between aims and objectives, which
highlighted the completion of each objective was positively linked to the success of one
or more aims. This also reinforces Divol, Edelman and Sarrazins (2012) argument that
b2b businesses need to continually monitor, respond, amplify and lead to successfully
achieve social media aims.
5.3.
To Identify What Marketing Objectives can be Successfully
Achieved through Social Medias Use
Engaging in indirect conversations and responding to direct customer comments were
the two most regularly and successfully achieved objectives. This progresses Divol,
Edelman and Sarrazins (2012) research, suggesting that in a b2b environment, social
media can most effectively be used to achieve objectives built around responding;
possibly caused by businesses wanting to respond quickly to customers. The least
effective objectives surrounded monitoring, including monitoring customers and
competitors/industry. Businesses also felt these objectives were least important to
achieve; possibly suggesting completion of these adds no value to the customer.
43
However these objectives correlate with the success of aims, and therefore businesses
should strive to achieve them.
Furthermore this research found that in general, planning social media aims and
objectives enabled b2b businesses to be more successful in achieving their goals.
Increasing brand awareness was established the most effectively achieved aim;
additionally, all identified objectives significantly correlated to the success of this. The
strongest correlated objective was engaging in indirect conversations related to the
industry/product offering. This is consistent with Castronovo and Huang (2012) and
Steyn et als (2010) research which identified to increase brand awareness, businesses
should use social media to post informational content to expand customers knowledge.
Monitoring competitors/industry and responding to direct customer comments also had
a strong correlation with the success of increasing brand awareness, agreeing with Helm
and Jones (2010) who established it was important for businesses to manage social
media to prevent negative word of mouth communications.
5.4.
To Determine Which Social Media is More Effective in
Achieving Marketing Objectives
LinkedIn was identified the most popular platform for b2b businesses to conduct their
social media activity. This conflicts with Michaelidou, Siamagka and Christodoulides
(2011), who established Facebook as the most heavily adopted platform with b2b
businesses. This change in adoption could result from the evolving nature of social
media. LinkedIn was also the most effective platform for monitoring customers and
clients/industry, engaging in indirect conversations and for obtaining new business
opportunities; mostly managed through individual employee profiles or through both
individual and company profiles. This advances Castronovo and Huangs (2012)
research by explaining the efficacy of the platform in achieving objectives.
Blogs were not a popular platform for b2b businesses. This is consistent with Steyn et
als (2010) findings. However, it suggests Maddoxs (2007) study is outdated, with
social networks (LinkedIn and Facebook) having a larger b2b adoption then blogs.
Blogs were identified as effective at promoting further communication through other
44
channels and promoting products/services; suggesting blogs were successfully

achieving objectives based around leading (Divol, Edelman and Sarrazin, 2012).
Twitter, a micro-blogging site (Mintel, 2012), was the second most adopted social media
platform. Combined with Maddoxs (2007) study, this suggests a shift from traditional
blogs which were popular in 2007, to micro-blogging sites which were highly adopted
in this study. The platform was most effective at responding to direct customer
comments; the second most important and successful objective for businesses. This
study disagrees with Bowen (2012) who concluded Twitter was an inappropriate
platform for b2b businesses.
YouTube was least effective for achieving social media objectives; only useful for
promoting products and services. However, this objective had weak correlation with the
success of two of the aims, suggesting this objective was ineffective for b2b businesses
to focus on. YouTube was however slightly more effective for product orientated
businesses. These findings develop Castronovo and Huangs (2012) research, showing
this platform is least effective for b2b businesses.
5.5.
Social Media Framework
These research findings have enabled development of a framework (Figure 10) detailing
how social media can be used by b2b businesses to effectively meet aims through the
completion of objectives. Raw data used to create this framework can be found
throughout the findings chapter.
This chapter has discussed key findings relating to literature and practice, and
developed current knowledge regarding social medias use in b2b environments.
Furthermore a research framework is presented.
45
46
6. Conclusions
The aim of the project was to identify how social media is effectively used within a b2b
environment. To achieve this aim, a literature review and questionnaire were used to
answer the four research objectives.
6.1.
To Establish What Companies Aim to Achieve Through Using
Social Media in a B2B Environment
Having identified common aims throughout literature, the importance of each aim
within the b2b environment was measured, establishing increasing brand awareness to
be an important aim. This finding differed from previous literature and suggests b2b
businesses are looking to use social media as a promotional tool to get their name
known. The second most important aim for b2b businesses was to increase
communication with external parties.
The least important aim for businesses to achieve was increasing business knowledge of
industry/customers; possibly caused by the feeling this does not add value to customers.
6.2.
To Investigate the Efficacy of Using Social Media to Achieve
Marketing Aims
Social media was most effective at achieving increased brand awareness in a b2b
environment; this could be linked to the importance placed on achieving this aim.
Furthermore all the objectives highlighted in this report positively correlated with the
47
success of this aim, suggesting whatever objectives a business focused on would

contribute to increasing brand awareness. Engaging in conversations related to the
industry/product offering, monitoring competitors/industry and responding to direct
customer comments were all strongly correlated to the success of this aim.
Social media was identified as least effective at increasing sales in the b2b environment.
The success of this aim correlated with the success of obtaining new business
opportunities, promoting further communication through other mediums and monitoring
customers. However two of these objectives were the least successfully achieved,
possibly explaining the lack of success at increasing sales.
6.3.
To Identify What Marketing Objectives can be Successfully
Achieved through Social Medias Use
Engaging in conversations related to the industry/product offering was the most
successfully achieved objective by b2b businesses; the fourth most important objective
but the most frequently achieved. Responding to direct customer comments was the
second most successfully achieved objective; also the second most important and
frequently achieved objective within the b2b environment. This enabled research to
conclude that b2b objectives built around responding were most successful.
Monitoring customers and competitors/industry were the two least important and
frequently completed objectives for b2b businesses. Furthermore monitoring customers
was the least successfully achieved objective; monitoring competitors/industry was third
least successful. However with significant correlation between the success of these
objectives and several aims, businesses should try to improve the success of monitoring
objectives to further succeed with aims.
6.4.
To Determine Which Social Media is More Effective in
Achieving Marketing Objectives
LinkedIn was the most effective social media platform for b2b businesses to use; the
most successful at monitoring customers, monitoring competitors, engaging in
conversations related to the industry/product offering and obtaining new business
opportunities. LinkedIn was also established to be somewhat successful for the three
48
other objectives. However the platform was the least effective at promoting
products/services.
Facebook and Twitter were also effective at achieving identified marketing objectives;
Facebook was the most effective platform at promoting products/services to b2b
businesses, whilst Twitter was the most effective platform to respond to direct customer
comments. However, these platforms had a lower adoption compared to LinkedIn.
The least effective platform was YouTube, for all but one of the objectives. However,
YouTube was slightly more effective for product orientated businesses.
Overall the research aim has been met by identifying ways in which social media can
effectively be used in todays b2b environment. Additionally this research has been able
to suggest areas for further development of b2b social media marketing plans, allowing
for growth in the efficacy of b2b social media use.
6.5.
Recommendations to Industry
B2b businesses should focus social media efforts on increasing brand awareness. All the
identified objectives in this report contribute to the success of this aim along with other
aims. Businesses should also set aims and objectives for social medias use.
To improve b2b social media plans, more focus should be given to objectives associated
with monitoring customers, competitors and the industry they operate in. Furthermore,
businesses should focus on meeting the needs of customers through social media to
improve efficacy.
For b2b businesses, LinkedIn should primarily be used to achieve social media
objectives, with Twitter and Facebook secondary.
49
6.6.
Further Research
Further research is needed to understand the gap between importance and success in
achieving b2b social media aims and objectives. Baird and Parasnis (2011) suggest this
is caused by businesses not addressing the needs of customers through social media.
Therefore further studies establishing what b2b customers want from social media will
improve current knowledge.
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8. Appendix
8.1.
Appendix 1 Participant Information Sheet & Questionnaire
with Coding
Brunel Business School

Research Ethics
Participant Information Sheet
1. Title of Research: An Investigation into the Effectiveness of Social Media in B2B
Environments
2. Researcher: Student Christopher Hulatt on Bsc Business Management (with
Marketing), Brunel Business School, Brunel University
3. Contact Email: 0900954@my.brunel.ac.uk
4. Purpose of the research: To investigate how businesses within a b2b environment
successfully use social media to enhance marketing.
5. What is involved: Completing a short online survey no longer than 10-15 minutes in
length.
57
6. Voluntary nature of participation and confidentiality. Participation in the online

survey is completely voluntary and you may stop at any time. Data collected will be
kept securely. The data will only be used in the dissertation project in an aggregated
form with no reference to individual businesses.
As a business, do you use social media?(For example: Linked in, Facebook,

Twitter, Blogs, You tube, etc)
Yes (1)
No (2)
How would you best describe your commercial activity? (Please tick one)
Business to Business (1)
Business to Consumer (2)
What is the name of your company?
What is your core offering to customers comprised of? (Please tick one)
Products (1)
Services (2)
With regard to the geographic spread of your companys customers, how far
afield does your company operate? (Please tick one)
Locally (1)
Nationally (2)
Internationally (3)
How many people are employed in your company? (Please tick one)
Less than 10 employees (1)
10-50 employees (2)
51-250 employees (3)
Over 250 employees (4)
2.1. When you use social media, do you set marketing aims and objectives?
Yes (1)
No (2)
58
2.2. How important is it to achieve the following aims when using social media for
your business:
(Please rate each objective based on their level of importance)
Not at all
Importan
t (1)
Not
Importan
t (2)
Somewhat
Important
(3)
Importan
t (4)
Very
Importan
t (5)
2.2.1 Increased Brand Awareness

2.2.2 Increased Sales
2.2.3 Increased Customer Loyalty
2.2.4 Increased Communication
with External Parties
2.2.5 Increased Business
Knowledge of
Industry/Customers
2.3. Is there anything else your business aims to achieve through social medias use?
3.1 As a business, what is your primary method of monitoring the success of your
social media use?
Through statistics provided by the social medias
(e.g. LinkedIn number of page views) (1)
Through statistics collected through 3rd party services (e.g. google analytics) (2)
Feedback from customers/consumers (3)
We do not monitor our social media use (4)
Other (0)
3.2. As a business, to what extent do you monitor the success of your social media
through use of web statistics?

Yearly or less
(1)
Monthly (2)
Weekly (3)
2/3 times a
week (4)
On a daily basis
(5)
59
In the following section, we will look at specific social media marketing objectives.
Please keep this in mind when answering the questions.
4.1. As a business, how important is it to achieve the following, through social
medias use?
Not at all
Important
(1)
Not
Importan
t (2)
Somewha
t
Important
(3)
Importan
t (4)
Very
Importan
t (5)
4.1.1 Monitor customers

4.1.2 Monitor
competitors/industry
4.1.3 Respond to direct
customer comments
4.1.4 Engage in indirect
conversations related to
your industry/product
offering
4.1.5 Obtaining new
business opportunities
4.1.6 Promote
products/services
(including advertising)
4.1.7 Promote further
communication through
other mediums
4.2. As a business, how often do you use social media to..?

Yearly or
less (1)
Monthly
(2)
Weekly
(3)
2/3 times
a week
(4)
On a daily
basis (5)

4.2.2 Monitor
customer comments
conversations related to your
60
industry/product offering
4.2.5 Obtaining new business
opportunities
4.2.6 Promote
products/services (including
advertising)
communication through other
mediums
4.3. As a business, how successful has social media been in allowing you to
..?
(Please rate on the scale below)
Do Not
Use For
This
Purpose
(1)
Not
Successful
(2)
Somewhat
Successful
(3)
Successful
(4)
Very
Successful
(5)

4.3.2 Monitor
customer comments
offering
4.3.5 Obtaining new
4.3.6 Promote
products/services
other mediums
61
5.1. Do you use Facebook for business purposes?

Yes (1)
No (2)
If yes:
5.2. How long have you been using Facebook for business purposes?
Under 6
months (1)
6 12 months
(2)
Over 1 year (3)
Over 2 years
(4)
Over 3 years
(5)
5.3. Is your companys Facebook presence managed through a single company page
or individual employee pages? (Please tick one)
Company Page (1)
Individual Employee Pages (2)
Both (3)
5.4. Do you pay to promote your company on Facebook? (Including the promotion of
pages, banner adverts etc)
Yes (1)
No (2)
5.5. As a business, how regularly do you monitor/update Facebook?

Yearly or less
(1)
Monthly (2)
Weekly (3)
2/3 times a
week (4)
On a daily
basis (5)
5.6. Within your business, how successful is Facebook at allowing you to .

Do Not
Use For
This
Purpose
(1)
Not
Successfu
l (2)
Somewhat
Successfu
l (3)
Successfu
l (4)
Very
Successf
ul (5)

5.6.2 Monitor
62

customer comments
offering
5.6.5 Obtaining new
5.6.6 Promote
products/services
other mediums
Repeat the above 2 pages (Questions .1 - .6) for:
6. Linked in
Social
7. Twitter
8. Blogs
Blogs
9. YouTube
Content Communities
10.1. Overall, as a business how successful do you feel social media has been in

Do Not
Use For
This
Purpose
(1)
Not
Successful
(2)
Somewhat
Successful
(3)
Successful
(4)
Very
Successful
(5)
10.1.1 Increased Brand

Awareness
10.1.2 Increased Sales
63
10.1.3 Increased Customer

Loyalty
10.1.4 Increased
Communication with
External Parties
10.1.5 Increased Business
Knowledge of
Industry/Customers
10.2 Overall, how useful has social media been to your business?
Not Useful At
All (1)
Not Useful (2)
Somewhat
Useful (3)
Useful (4)
Very Useful (5)
Thank you for your time in completing this survey. If you have any further questions
please email: 0900954@my.brunel.ac.uk.
8.2.
Appendix 2 Demographic Data
64
8.3.
Appendix 3 Importance of Achieving Aims
65
Other Important Aims Question 2.3
Company
1
Company
4
Company
Quotes
In a nutshell all the main areas are covered here - but the
most important aims for us specifically are to increase
customer engagement in the brand, and to increase the
awareness of the products and services that we offer.
As we're aboard search agency we want to make sure we
are seen to be utilising the opportunities available in this
space. - Looking good in industry
Social media allows me to keep in contact with clients
Coding
Brand awareness
Company image
Communication &
66
and old colleagues. Linkedin keeps my database up to

date with contacts job titles and email addresses.
Contact With
Friends
Company
7
Due to compliance restrictions surrounding social media

for our business we use linkedIn only allowing previous
contacts to locate us.
Idea sharing with peers/colleagues and sharing of best
practice and technical changes with the same and
professional bodies.
Brand awareness and customer engagement. We really
like hearing from clients/contacts/followers on twitter to
see what they think. We put a lot of information out in the
public domain through social media and it's great to know
it's being read/commented on. It in turn raises the
awareness and often we receive enquiries after a message
has been sent out that is entirely unrelated to the message,
but they have seen we have said something which has been
enough for them to want to get in touch.
Resourcing talent
Locate
ability to respond to market sentiment
Research
Individual Product Promoton
Increasing sales
Awareness of the specific vacancies I have on offer at the

moment
increase the number of 3rd party companies, such as
press, that then re-distribute our data to other contacts
that we may otherwise not have reached.
Pro-active customer support. One of the biggest
developing areas of social media is in terms of customer
service/support.
knowledge and availability of worldwide resources and
skills.
Increasing the live data on our website, thus increasing the
number of times spiders within search engines review it
Advertising of roles and candidate attraction
Recruitment
Acquisition of content providers Trend research
Research
I am not clear why any positives for a business would be

less than important?
Engagement & Education
N/A
Company
8
Company
13
Company
16
Company
19
Company
20
Company
22
Company
23
Company
26
Company
27
Company
28
Company
30
Company
31
Company
35
Company
37
Sharing of ideas
Brand awareness &

Communication
Recruitment
PR
Customer support
Research
Search Engine
Optimisation
Recruitment
Increasing
communication and
67
knowledge
No Aims
Company
38
Not really, we kind of do it because we think we ought

to, also because occassionally things like LinkedIn have
been useful to us for very specific reasons, rather than
having any great plan or strategy on how to use these tools
at present.
Company
42
Company
43
Limit it as it can consume more time than it is worth.
No Aims
The use of social media - mainly Facebook and Twitter is

to extend brand awareness to new clients. But also to
show existing clients the new services that we offer.
Keeping in touch with known contacts without having to
contact them individually.
Brand awareness &

sales
Company
49
Company
51
8.4.
contact with former colleagues
Communication &
Contact With
Friends
Communication &
Contact With
Friends
Appendix 4 Success of Achieving Aims
68
69
70
8.5.
Appendix 5 Social Media Objectives
71
72
73
8.6.
Appendix 6 Success of Social Media Objectives
74
75
76
8.7.
Appendix 7 Social Media Adoption
77
78
8.8.
Appendix 8 Success of Social Media Platforms at Achieving
Objectives
79
80
8.9.
Appendix 9 Success of Objectives Cross Tabulated Against
Paying to Promote
81
8.10.
Appendix 10 - Success of Objectives Cross Tabulated against
Extent of Monitoring/Updating
82
83
8.11.
Appendix 11 - Success of Objectives Cross Tabulated against
Length of Time Been Using Each Platform
84
85
86

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BRUNEL BUSINESS SCHOOL

Issues and Controversies in Marketing Project

I understand that the School does not tolerate plagiarism. Plagiarism is

I confirm that I adhere to the Schools Policy on plagiarism.

Christopher Hulatt 0900954