When the IDM asked me to chair a debate at their annual B2B conference, essentially asking whether social media could be bigger than PPC in B2B, I was initially a bit sceptical. These are two very different marketing techniques and disciplines, each operating in different ways – and more significantly whilst one is a current reality, the other is definitely only in its infancy. Frankly I wondered whether the debate was even valid – they just seemed too different.

How wrong I was, and this was mostly down to the panel (Fabio Torlini, Rob Pierre, Richard Bush and Chris Warwick) who were excellent, made very compelling points and debated with each other in a determined if light-hearted fashion. And praise where it’s due, it’s also down to the IDM, whose event team timed the debate excellently to provide a bit of light-relief before lunch, and dreamed up the ‘Can’t cook, won’t cook’ style voting system, which got everyone going.

But most importantly, the success of the debate was down to the audience, who were clearly thoroughly engaged by the debate and participated wholeheartedly. To my mind, this demonstrated that social media has genuinely captured the imagination of the B2B marketer. Like most things in marketing, it has its origins on the B2C side of the fence, and the best-known examples of social media exploitation are still in this arena. But sites like LinkedIn and Ecademy demonstrate that it can work in B2B, whilst brands like Quark and the FT are experimenting with their niche flavours of social media.
 
On the day, the audience overwhelmingly came out in favour of social media usurping PPC, which was a surprise to me at least in the strength of feeling. But what does this mean? I don’t think we should get carried away into thinking that social media is the right tool for all B2B brands right here right now, and that brands in all sectors and all sizes will be racing to develop their own platforms. Leveraging the full potential of social media or Web 2.0 is simply out of reach of the vast majority of brands, due to the costs and time commitments involved. If you thought blogging was a bit of a hiding to nothing, social media’s on a whole different level.

What it does demonstrate is that B2B marketers are awake to the possibilities of social media, and will watch how experiments by the pioneers with the big budgets develop and how successful they are. If it’s as powerful as we all think it is, in time opportunities will emerge for brands at all levels, probably on a tactical level first, potentially using other media channels to market.
 
I think one of the best things about marketing is its ability to get excited about the next big thing, and social media, it seems, is most certainly it.