Taking leads from consumer-focused industries, B2B companies are rapidly incorporating social media into their marketing and communications mix. Articles, white papers, videos, and other “thought leadership” content are regularly created, published on company websites and blogs, and shared on Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media channels.

But often, when a company is asked to articulate the objectives behind their social media programs, their rationale is based on the notion that the act of solely generating and disseminating content will make them thought leaders in their industry, automatically generating new business that will justify the time and resources that were spent on the social media program. The trap many fall into is viewing social media as a magic bullet, a quick fix that will allow them to transcend the challenges more traditional types of advertising or marketing face – namely, knowing your audience and delivering them relevant and actionable ideas, information, and insight.

Understand your objectives

Before starting a social media program, it is important to understand what social media can and can’t do for your business. Are you looking to build awareness of your brand, generate new business leads, or improve customer service? Social media can serve many purposes, but it’s not a magic bullet. If you build it, they won’t necessarily come.

When defining your social media program, it is important to define clear, measurable, and realistic goals that can be clearly mapped back to business objectives. For example, if you are looking to generate new business leads, what is it you need social media to do to deliver at each step?

Leveraging what you already have

Whether you know it or not, chances are your company already has a social media presence. From employees creating ad hoc postings for your company on LinkedIn and Twitter to clients talking about your brand online, the conversation has already started. This unmoderated conversation is a potential risk to your brand and may even be hurting other marketing/communications activities, but it also represents a powerful opportunity. Take control of your social media presence, identify ad hoc programs that are working, and roll them in to your social media program.

How to get started

1. Stop Talking and Listen

• What are the top 20 search engine results about your company? Are they positive/negative/neutral
• What are people saying about your brand on social media? Positive/negative?
• What’s happening in your industry? What are competing/complementary businesses saying/doing?
• What are your customers/clients talking about online? What’s keeping them awake at night? Where can you add the most value?

2. Identify the Gaps

Something we hear all the time from C-Suite executives is that they are absolutely drowning in thought leadership. Building a social media campaign around a business issue that is already well-known and frequently discussed will make little impact. Identify an under-serviced need in your market, large or small, and focus on owning that space.

3. Define a Goal, Test, and Repeat

Start small.

Successful social media campaigns require not only time and resources, but a significant level of behavioral and organizational change. Social media shouldn’t be run solely by the marketing team. Your subject matter experts can’t sit on the sidelines anymore — they need to roll up their sleeves and communicate more directly with your target audience. Your organization needs to change its DNA, to accept and embrace social media engagement at all levels of the business.

Of course this can’t happen overnight, so start small, test, and repeat. Rather than trying to launch your own version of the McKinsey Quarterly, for example, focus on small, measurable goals and build on them gradually. Doing so will allow your organization the time it needs to adapt.