One of the hot topics of conversation at the High Rankings Seminar last week was how to apply social media marketing in a B2B environment. While word of mouth and consumer generated content often play an important role in B2B purchasing decisions, most businesses are confused about how best to reach their corporate audiences. That's why I was glad to stumble across a post I'd missed on Todd Malicoat's blog that offers up 8 Simple Rule for Social Media Marketing in the B2B world.

Todd's best advice comes under rule number five:

There's No Magic Bullet

Social media applies to everyone. Yes, even b2b folks. The question is how? The answer is - in speaking to your customers/clients/vendors/partners/friends on a one-to-many basis. The magic bullet is in figuring out how to do that. There is no process. There is no direct correlation to productivity or efficiency. There is no solution that will raise revenue in a quantitive fashion for next quarter. What there *IS* - is the opportunity to speak to other humans like humans, and have them appreciate you doing so.

The full list is well worth reading, but two overwhelming points that should be missed are that committee's kill creativity and lack of creativity kills social media potential.

So yes, you CAN use social media marketing in the B2B realm, but only if you aren't afraid to take some chances.