There is a real dearth of social media case studies when it comes to business to business. The scarcity is even more profound when you are looking for examples from UK companies. Yet, surveys tell us that almost half of UK companies are active in social media.

We have delved online and found a few good examples of businesses tapping into the social opportunity. We popped them into a presentation so we can share. We have left our B2B social media clients out of this slideshare for the moment, as we hope to publish more detailed reviews to share later this year.

From this small sample there is quite a diverse range of approaches. However, they all follow the same philosophy covered in our report on B2B social media – they place employees at the heart of the engagement.

What is clear is that B2B social benefits from a very focused and tailored approach. These activities are working because the ideas are unique to the specific audiences targeted. And they are all in context and relevant.

When it comes to platforms being used Twitter dominates, followed by Facebook.  Psion and RICS are spreading their wings and managing five social estates. Almost half of the companies have created communities, either on the social platforms or in their own bespoke site. The engagement levels are deeper. The response to comments and involvement in discussions is more intense than B2C.

Of the sites we found, only one – HP – clearly uses its profiles for customer service. The rest focus on brand building, customer relationship building, loyalty and lead generation.

We are keen to create and share a comprehensive portfolio of UK businesses implementing B2B social media, so if we have missed anyone please add to the comments with notes and a link and we will update the deck and publish it soon.

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In recent weeks The Wall Street Journal reported that the results of a new clinical trial into the effects of lithium on Lou Gehrig’s disease demonstrate the potential for social networks to be used in the recruitment and collation of patient data.

A total of 596 patients took part in the observational study by health social network, PatientsLikeMe, which concluded that lithium does not slow down the progression of Lou Gehrig’s disease.

PatientsLikeMe used a questionnaire and bespoke tool to collect the data and during the study, patients were able to visit the website and see how other participants were getting on in real time.

Through the use of a social network, the process of enrolling patients was sped up and the cost of drugs and recruiting patients was avoided, given that participants approached their own doctors for prescriptions.

It sounds marvellously promising, but Harvard Medical School ALS researcher, Merit Cudkowicz, has queried the danger in placing 100% trust in a social network clinical trial, highlighting that it wouldn’t pick up minor benefits lithium may have and it would be wrong to completely disregard the drug on the social study’s basis alone.

According to The Globe and Mail, a recent report published by Canadian researchers in science journal, Nature, also shows the power social media can have over the spread of a medical theory before it’s even been proven. Italian doctor, Paulo Zamboni’s unproven theory that MS is actually caused by malformed neck veins and can subsequently be treated has been heavily pedalled on social networks by MS patients. Health institutes may now be forced to change their health research spending as a result of patients having read word-of-mouth evidence via social networking sites.

There is clearly a place for social media as an aid to – but not a complete replacement for – medical research. But, it won’t work without medical experts and thought-leaders joining in the conversations to balance emotions with science; and without informative, reliable and optimised content filling the search engines.

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Brands on Facebook are a lot like teenagers in high school; both crave popularity.

Conventional wisdom teaches us that to be popular you need to be seen fraternising with the cool kids.

Clueless (1995)

A recent study by The Daily Beast, however, reveals the quickest way to become popular on Facebook is to do the opposite.

The Daily Beast outlines a one-month experiment into Facebook’s news feed algorithm aimed at decoding why one member’s news is more prominent than another’s.

The experiment centres around a newly set-up page, which is befriended by a select group of people, monitoring to see how much the page features in their feeds.

The Daily Beast found the Facebook algorithm favoured established members over newcomers, with absolutely none of the page’s news appearing in feeds initially.

It was only when the friends began interacting – clicking on the page, browsing through pictures, leaving comments etc. that news started to appear in their feeds; page interaction and news feed visibility was directly correlated.

The Daily Beast also found that a status update carried a much greater chance of appearing in a news feed if it included a link to an external web page. 

Throughout the experiment the ‘popular’ friends never received any of the page’s news, which meant they never clicked-through, browsed pictures, left comments or clicked on links – all of the things that fuel the Facebook algorithm.

The takeout for brands on Facebook? Start small. Friends with low-level followings are the crucial first rung up the algorithm, only once a presence has been established does it make sense to go after Facebook popularity domination.

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As brands adopt and implement more social media marketing in house, so the demand for enhancing social skills and capabilities is growing.

But building social capabilities takes more than a one day training course.  Perfecting your social media skills means doing it. Social media is a vocational discipline – it is best learnt with action. Simply because social is, well, social. It is about people and the nuances in behaviours, conversations and etiquette that can only be picked up by living and breathing the communication.

A chat the other day with our insights analyst, Melissa, is a case in point. We were talking about unearthing conversation trends for a client.  “It’s about instinct”, she said. And went on to explain how she reads the chatter to get a ‘feel’ for the direction of conversations, as much as she analyses the data.

Adopting a social approach to communication requires ongoing immersion. It needs a proper internal programme of mentoring, support and leadership. It needs knowledge drivers and they fall into three core areas:

Social People are Mr (or Mrs) Motivators

It suffices to say that social media is all about people. And never more so than internally where you need champions to help make the change. In any organisation you need at least two types of motivators to ensure social media uptake. The  evangelist, or better still the change catalyst (thank you @andismit), that drives momentum and inspires change. And the leaders. The senior executives who want the business to change and are prepared to lead by example.

Process at the heart of social

The social media leader also plays a significant role in ensuring business and marketing processes are evolved to meet social communication. It is the  changes in practices that create the biggest differences. People want to learn how to do things better, and processes can facilitate and liberate exploration and innovation.

Social Media Enablers

Social media needs technology enablers. Even in its most basic form, companies wanting to develop social skills need to have monitoring tools. Whether they are paid or free, someone needs to choose and someone needs to understand how to maximise them. Then there is social CRM, workflow and productivity tools and simply new and emerging platforms.

We have been delivering social media training for a few years now on the certificate and diploma for the Institute of Direct Marketing; with the Chartered Institute of Marketing; and in our work with many brands. It is clear that those students that get support – so they can go and practice and play with social media – go on to execute successful social media initiatives.

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There’s a bit of a quirk emerging in the retail research report detail that, as a social media agency, we’re interested in exploring. It involves fashion. And women. And how we can’t get enough of talking about our clothing – yet we seem to have quite a clear idea of what we want to buy.

As we’re all excited by the recent explosion of social and fashion, we’ve been trying to reconcile our findings and would be interested in seeing what other people think.

This is the story so far.

1. On the hunt

As regular readers will be aware, we’ve been exploring social shopping behaviours and how people are purchasing online. Building on previous research in this area, we’ve been looking at three online shopping behaviours: ‘hunter’ (“I look for the best price”); ‘gatherer’ (“I research for detailed information”) and ‘collaborator’ (“I search for the advice and ideas of other consumers”); and exploring any correlation between these characteristics and the categories or consumers that they are aligned with.

In fashion, hunting tops the bill. Dramatically.

Theoretically, then, online retailers should be competing on price; however –

2. There’s lots of conversation going on as well

Our research is also beginning to suggest that women might be a little bit shy on line. That they are a little more reluctant to share than men and, possibly, a bit more cautious about whom they trust. Given that women are more active on social platforms, this presents another interesting paradox for us to explore; however, it also highlights the things that women do want to talk about. Like shoes and clothes.

Mentions of fashion online and on social media

When it comes to fashion, women are more than happy to join in. In fact, aside from blog mentions (where men dominate in all product categories), women, quite uncharacteristically, take the lead in online reviews, sharing on both forums and social networks.

They are also, perhaps unsurprisingly, more likely to be interested in connecting with a brand.

3. What women want…

As part of our survey, we asked about the services that would encourage future purchases. When it comes to fashion, women’s responses significantly increase. This demand for engagement with brand points to the interesting tension in our findings: fashion shoppers know exactly what they want – but perhaps there’s a bit of an opportunity for them to be swayed.

Fashion retailers’ use of social media has been much talked about in recent months. With m-commerce, f-commerce and geo technology merging the online and offline shopping spaces and a clear demographic overlap between fashion consumers and social media users, this is an exciting and rapidly moving area of online retail.

It’s also crammed with competition and the challenge will be in making sure that shoppers are reached.

One way of doing this is to engage with potential consumers before they’ve got their hunting hat on; another, to build the kind of relationship that keeps consumers coming back – and by making sure that they bring their friends.

Our research suggests how this might be done – but it will be interesting to see how fashion retailers understand and interact with this scenario; and whether fashion will continue to buck the trends in online shopping behaviours.

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Today we are launching our report on social shopping and its impact on consumer behaviour.

Online retail has traditionally been characterised by price-driven sales and purchase-driven consumers. The focus, for retailers, has been on engaging the latter and maximising the former.

And as a social media agency, we are seeing how social connections are changing this behaviour.

Social relationships on the web have transformed how shoppers are behaving online and dramatically changed the online customer journey. It’s an exciting time for retailers and The Social Shopping Explosion report highlights some of the new opportunities that social retail affords.

Research shows new social behavioural trends

With the rapid growth of social networks and the socialising of the internet, the question of where social media and e-commerce meet  – and how  –  is of huge relevance for retailers today. Particularly in the UK, where internet users continue to lead the way in purchasing online.

In August 2010, social media agency immediate future conducted an independent survey of 2,000 UK internet users to understand how consumers are behaving online.

The results are surprising; the implications for retailers, huge.

Changing the path to purchase

The social web has opened up the purchase cycle. It’s made it easier for consumers to talk online and easier for consumers to share opinions, information and advice. This means that purchase decisions are based on different criteria: the social shopper is increasingly buying on review, recommendation and the advice of other consumers.

Our research found that 46% of consumers are no longer searching purely on price.

This means that retailers can now engage with consumers before they’ve decided what they’re going to buy.

The empowered social shopper

The social shopper is empowered, vocal and increasingly collaborative. They are savvy, knowledgeable, demanding and the rules of engagement are different.

Broadcasting no longer works: brands and customers are talking; and, in the online space, it’s what other consumers say that really counts.

Our research found that 37% of respondents had reviewed or talked about a product online after purchase, fast catching up with those who had discussed it face to face (38.4%). Word of mouth is nothing new. What’s different is where it’s taking place.

Social spaces have created wider networks and, as such, have created a much bigger opportunity for retailers. Our research has found that consumers trust other consumers, even if they are people that they don’t know. This means that every consumer can now drive traffic and purchases via social.

The Social Shopping landscape is in growth

Recent reports from the IMRG/BPS Internet Access and Online Shopping in Britain report shows that online shopping continues to increase. It also finds that the number of internet users visiting social networking and blogging sites for the second quarter in 2010 has increased fourfold when compared to the same period in 2008.

Understanding this changing landscape is key to retailers; and understanding the social shopper is at the heart of their future success.

Exploring the types of shopping behaviour online and investigating how social touchpoints are affecting the customer journey, The Social Shopping Explosion provides up to the minute insights for brands operating in this new social marketplace.

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Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to attend a great event, hosted by the London Press Club and Women in Journalism, with Carole Stone, the Queen of Networking herself, as a guest speaker. Having heard so much about Carole Stone, her weekly networking salons and her legendary Christmas parties (what I wouldn’t do for an invite…), I jumped at the chance to attend this event!

Carole was an extremely entertaining, dynamic and engaging speaker, and, as you would expect from a woman who has over 40,000 contacts in her database, she had some invaluable tips for anyone making their first forays into the world of networking. I have listed below the key outtakes from the event, and as an added extra, for each of Carole’s tips I have written my own social media version (with some help from my colleague James), highlighted in italics….

1. Wear something with pockets – It is important to always have business cards at hand so you don’t have to awkwardly rifle through your bag to find them! (Maybe more of an issue for females!) From a social media viewpoint, ensure that you have a LinkedIn profile, and it’s fully up to date, before you attend an event. You never know who will look you up!
2. Always follow-up with an email the day after you’ve met someone. And/or send them an email through LinkedIn, adding them to your online network at the same time.
3. When handing out business cards don’t scatter them like lawyers and accountants (Carole’s words…), make sure you actually spend time chatting to the people you’re giving them to. The same applies online really, just because LinkedIn is there doesn’t mean you should ask everybody you have ever heard of to join your network. As a general rule, only add people you have had a proper conversation with or who you would feel comfortable emailing.
4. It’s not all about quantity, it’s about quality. Pick out a few people in the room who you really want to meet. Don’t fret if you haven’t met the ‘big players’ at an event, chances are they’ll have so many people thrusting business cards in their direction that they won’t remember you anyway. Old school networking tips live on, this is definitely still relevant online. Engage the up-and-coming bloggers or influencers who will want to, and have time to, share knowledge with you.
5. Always remember details. Note down one or two key details about the person you’ve just met to remind yourself who they are/where you met. Taking this a step further, you could use tools like Evernote, Digg etc to log relevant posts, articles or web pages that will help you re-engage your new contact in a later conversation online.
6. If someone is acting rude, or haughty, be honest and ask them “did you mean to sound rude when you said that?” (Maybe a tip to be used with personal discretion…). This is particularly relevant in the world of social media as sometimes irony or humour does not come across quite as well in an email or a 140 character Tweet! If you have engaged with this contact through Twitter, send them a simple @reply asking whether their last comment was supposed to sound rude… This is a win-win technique, the contact will either laugh it off or they’ll (hopefully) realise that their comment was out of line and clarify what they meant/apologise. Easy.
7. Stand up at networking events so you can get away easier. Conversely, online it’s easy to leave a conversation so get as involved as possible, comment on walls, reply to tweets and use those hashtags!
8. Carry an empty glass so you have an excuse to leave a boring conversation (“I’m just going to get another drink…). As previously mentioned, online you can leave a conversation whenever you like, but always check back and make sure you are not missing an opportunity to engage with new connections.
9. OR carry 2 glasses of wine, pretending one is for a friend, allowing you to leave a conversation to look for said friend if necessary… See above… but there is nothing to stop you having two glasses of wine anyway!
10. . Don’t worry about failure! Absolutely true in social networking online as in the real world, be bold and don’t be afraid to get involved in conversations, it’s the best way to broaden your knowledge and understanding of a subject.
11. Never toss a card aside! You never know when that contact may come in useful… Hopefully LinkedIn won’t go down.

Et voila… the top tips from the Queen of Networking… and yes, most of them are pure common sense, however it was nice to hear these things from a lady whose reputation and business success are built on networking!

Hopefully these tips will prove useful and show you that, when it comes to taking your first tentative steps into networking, both online and offline, everyone has been in exactly the same situation as you and everyone is nervous about not having someone to talk to or saying the wrong thing. Confidence is key!

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A few weeks ago Google‘s chief executive, Eric Schmidt, suggested people may be forced to change their names in order to escape youthful misdemeanours immortalised online on social media sites, like Facebook. As a university student looking for a placement for my third year, I found myself doing some housekeeping, but there was nothing I deemed bad enough on my profile to warrant a name change.

Schmidt’s comment provoked a vast debate on the volume of information we freely publicise, which is next to impossible to eradicate. He told the Wall Street Journal:

“I don’t believe society understands what happens when everything is available, knowable and recorded by everyone all the time.”

As someone who has grown up using social media, I certainly understand where Eric Schmidt’s suggestion comes from. My generation spends a vast majority of their day logged on to social platforms, such as Facebook, where they document every aspect of their lives, without supervision or thought as to who their information is available to.

An Independent article including the story of a trainee teacher, unable to complete her qualification following a comical picture online of her captioned, “Drunk Pirate”, is a stark warning. Therefore, Schmidt has a good point.

But is this suggestion relevant to companies?

Brands might be attracted by the idea of a new identity, but is this possible to achieve when an online reputation can last forever? If the internet behaves as a public archive, is it possible to turn public opinion around? And is damage to brand reputation ever enough to warrant giving up brand awareness?

When Aviva changed its name two years ago, from Norwich Union, members of the public polled by the Guardian, thought ‘Aviva’ was a bus company, not the UK’s biggest insurer. Brands need to consider social media as part of their campaign management strategy and a channel to manage any risk to reputation. Name changing may be an option for individuals, but the cost to businesses can be much higher.

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A progressive US cancer charity has become the first organisation – so says Mashable – to accept Facebook Credits in place of a donation.

The Stand Up 2 Cancer National Telethon, which was aired in the States on Friday night, gave viewers the chance to donate via virtual currency – aside from all the usual donation options.

When Facebook Credits were first introduced, they were a way for the social network to generate an income outside of ads and membership fees. When a member bought credits, Facebook took a cut; when the member spent them, the app in question got paid.

For the member, the currency opened up a world of social gaming possibilities; to-date there are more than 150 apps containing countless digital goods within Facebook.

On the one hand you have to take your hat off to Stand Up 2 Cancer. The charity is moving with the times, tapping into the zeitgeist and making charitable giving even more accessible.

Using Facebook as a platform enables users to share their donations on wall posts and extend the visibility of the campaign.

Stand Up 2 Cancer has turned dowdy old charity giving into a fun little game – just like FarmVille. Am I the only one that cringes just a little bit at that thought?

I think it’s the degrees of separation that gets me; we have to spend our actual money on virtual money to then submit via PayPal through a Facebook page. I’m not sure how close to the cause I’d feel if I did that.

And are we that cold-hearted that we need to assimilate donating money to a cancer charity with online gaming before we dip into our pockets?

The bottom line is that as a result of Stand Up 2 Cancer‘s actions, more money will be reaching a highly worthy cause. The 279 ‘Likes’ Mashable has already received for this story pay lip service to this.

Scoffing aside, my hat is raised – and my gut-reaction cringe will no doubt fade with time.

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• National Telethon Accepting Facebook Credits as Donations to Cancer Research (mashable.com)
• How can brands use Facebook Credits? (econsultancy.com)

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Yesterday Apple launched their first social network, Ping. Less than 24 hours later this new platform has received extremely mixed reviews and users are already highlighting issues with the system. With numerous social networking sites already established, and platforms such as Facebook and Twitter dominating the arena, where does Ping fit in?

Embedded in the latest version of iTunes, Ping, as you might imagine, revolves around music. Ping is designed to aid the discovery of new music and facilitate conversations between music lovers. When you login you can see the activity of your friends, including information about music they’ve purchased and are listening to. Apple are also plugging the fact that users can follow celebrities, much as they can with Twitter and Facebook, allowing celebs another opportunity to connect with their fans and endorse artists/albums. Fans can then purchase the music their idol loves by clicking the handy link taking them to the Apple store. Genius.

It is worth mentioning that privacy restrictions on this site allow users to choose whether their updates can be seen by all users or only by users they have allowed to follow them.

So what does this mean for social media? Well, with an already established fan base there is a strong likelihood that Apple’s Ping could push similar platforms, such as Last.fm and Spotify, off the radar. This also doesn’t bode well for MySpace, the site has already been dwarfed by Facebook and is now clinging to its status as a platform for new artists to showcase work. It could be that Ping becomes the new, more convenient, networking site for music related conversations…

However, so far reviews have not been great. Users have pointed out flaws such as the fact that Ping only displays music people have purchased in the iTunes Store, not their entire collection, resulting in a skewed view of a user’s music tastes. Further, users are limited to listing only three genres of music that they are interested in, and the music suggestions that Ping generates based on these three genres are extremely generic and mainstream, not the niche, up-and-coming bands that music fans may be looking for!

So, will it or won’t it take off? Right now it’s anybody’s guess. With mixed, predominantly negative, reviews, Ping hasn’t got off to a great start. But let’s not forget this is an Apple product, they have a huge, dedicated, fan base that has to have any product Apple releases.

All that’s left now is to sit back and watch how this unfolds… Ping has arrived. For now.

To be continued…

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• Ping: First Look at the iTunes Social Network (nytimes.com)

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