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External shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic can fundamentally change the working conditions of salespeople and their customer interactions. This paper examines whether and how a change in social media usage by B2B salespeople following the first wave of lockdowns in response to COVID-19 in 2020 affected their sales performance. The results of a survey of 568 B2B salespeople show that an increase in social media usage following this external shock can lead to an increase in salespeople's performance under certain conditions: This effect is contingent on the salespeople's level of training in social media and their customer focus in social media usage. If these conditions are not met, an increase in social media usage following this external shock may even decrease salespeople's performance. These findings provide insights into how firms can better understand what helps to be prepared for a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic and successfully further embed social media in the functioning of their sales organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the internet and the emergence of social media create completely new opportunities for enterprises, both traditional and those operating in the e-commerce industry. The widespread use of social media channels by the majority of consumers make them naturally want their favourite brands to be present there as well. However, an absence will not stop the discussion, so it is im- portant for brands to realise that their presence on social media will allow them to become a part of it. This is an important aspect of managing organisations in various types of business model, B2C, B2B, C2B and C2C, although the specificity of using these channels differs. In this article, the authors identify and analyse how brands in selected business models use social media to achieve their strategic, communica- tion and business goals, and which elements are the most interesting for its users and why. The authors used a literature review and a survey questionnaire in order to ask the respondents (n = 85 for individual respondents and n = 18 for brands) which posts they follow on selected brand social media. The authors found that brands mainly use Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to post information about events, expert discussions or informational content. The article contributes to a deeper analysis of social media in the management of brands and how to be more competitive in the market through their use.

Purpose: Supply chains are under increased scrutiny as consumers have become aware of the dark side of downstream production practices. Many articles and exposés have led consumers to be more conscious of purchasing products from companies who source materials in a socially responsible and ethical manner. As a result, business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumers (B2C) companies are under increased pressure to source raw materials in a transparent and ethical way. Because of the associated costs, companies then look to benefit from increased brand equity by promoting to consumers how ethical their products are. The purpose of this study is to look at the case of the food industry to analyze sustainability messaging on Twitter in both B2B and B2C companies to determine which of the dimensions of sustainability (people, profit, planet) are being emphasized. Design/methodology/approach: In this study, two published dictionaries were combined to capture the three dimensions of "sustainability," and these scales were then used to analyze Twitter posts. This study created a unique software package to classify, mine, collect and analyze Twitter data. This study used these tools to analyze 246,386 Twitter posts within a sample of 39 leading B2C and B2B food companies over a 10-year period (2012–2021) to explore brand messaging and engagement rate. Findings: This research revealed several interesting results. These include how B2B companies have emphasized the employee (people) dimensions of sustainability, while B2C companies have had a more balanced approach that overall has prioritized the economic dimension (profit) of sustainability. The data on audience engagement revealed a mismatch between the types of sustainability messaging B2B companies and B2C companies in the food industry are posting and what engages audiences. Originality/value: This study fills several gaps, including analyzing how B2B and B2C companies use sustainability language in their social media brand management, as well as looking at which dimensions of sustainability they emphasize and which ones engage audiences the most. This research is also novel in combining multiple existing scales under one project to analyze the triple bottom line in the analysis of qualitative texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A platform is a business model that allows business-to-business (B2B) participants to connect, interacts, create and exchange value. B2B exploits social media for brand building and branding is vulnerable to attacks, which leads to a brand crisis. B2B should characterise such crisis and respond proportionally to avert damage to social listening (SL). To diminish damages, the solution is to measure customer experience (CX), especially in a crisis situation. The study proposes an analytics-enabled customer experience (AeCX) platform for emotion detection in social media and measures CX after recovering from such crisis, by exploring recovery time objective (RTO), recovery point objective (RPO), techno-business features (TBF), SL and perceived risk (PR). A quantitative research methodology is used on primary data collected from 302 B2B participants. The study reveals improvement in CX and the results provide evidence that social media channels and the TBF of AeCX have become important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study focuses on the problem of firms communicating via social networks in the B2B environment and also examines how companies behave on social networks. The goal of the study is to discuss the ways used by selected B2B businesses to make their customers use social networks. The inquiry is based on a case study of a B2B business active in the Czech Republic. To fulfil the goal, the authors researched personal characteristics of B2B customers, their psychological aspects and the corporate culture. This was made with help from the determination of five hypotheses. The study processed data from a survey focused on the company's customers sent to top managers in an electronic way. The data was assessed with help of non-parametric and correlation tests. The research showed that there was still big space for the improvement of the perception of social networks as a useful tool in B2B business. The majority of factors influencing the use of social networks in B2B were showing a low dependence due to a weak correlation. A strong dependence was shown only by the relation between the use of social networks in private and in a company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to examine the international context of the digital transformation sweeping through advanced economies worldwide. The authors focus on both the business-to-business (B2B) and consumer-to-business (C2B) aspects of this process. The B2B perspective is linked with the idea of a fourth industrial revolution, a notion that is also referred to as Industry 4.0, while the C2B perspective involves the growing role and popularity of social media. The paper sets out to identify the interdependencies between these two dimensions of the digital transformation. The authors apply a narrative approach to lay out the main issues related to the process in the international context. The study is a balanced analysis of key issues related to the B2B and B2C streams of the digital transformation. It also outlines the major advantages and threats as well as expected implications of Industry 4.0 and social media. The research encountered a number of challenges that chiefly stemmed from the relative novelty of the discussed problems. These included a lack of first-hand data, a dearth of adequate literature references, and data confidentiality, compounded by firms’ unwillingness to share information. Nevertheless, the authors managed to identify some internationally embedded peculiarities of Industry 4.0 (B2B perspective) and demonstrated the usefulness of social media in new production and communication processes (C2B perspective).

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand and compare how business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) companies evaluate the return on investment (ROI) on their social media marketing (SMM) programmes and how the investment is handled in these type of marketing programmes. Design/methodology/approach: A mixed-methods approach involving multiple cases and a survey was used. Data were collected from personal interviews with eight professionals responsible for SMM management, from four B2B and four B2C companies, complemented with responses to a web-based survey by the other 28 companies' marketing managers. Findings: The results show that there are some differences between B2B and B2C companies regarding SMM evaluation and investment but in general marketing managers for both types of firms use simple metrics to evaluate their SMM programmes. The main measures used relate to awareness, engagement and reach and most of the metrics identified are interaction-related. Research limitations/implications: Given the complex and sensitive nature of the subject, more research is needed focussed on providing additional evidence from a larger sample of B2B and B2C organizations to allow the extension of the finding to the population as the non-probabilistic nature and size of the current sample impose that the findings should be interpreted carefully. Future research should focus on understanding what the firm's characteristics predict the importance and level of effort placed in SMM and the barriers to ROI measurement in SMM programmes, especially in B2B firms. Practical implications: The current findings confirm that the topic of SMM ROI evaluation is not a priority for B2C or B2B companies. There is a need for an update of their online marketing strategy, namely, on budget definition and allocation. Furthermore, companies should increase the autonomy of SM managers, as they are dependent from marketing managers and hire specialized professionals devoted to SMM in both B2C and B2B companies. Originality/value: The findings of this study contribute to improve the understanding of the evaluation of SMM and to extend the literature on the subject. It also provides a relevant advance into the assessment and understanding on the measures used to evaluate the effectiveness of SMM programmes by offering a comparison on how B2B and B2C use metrics and allocate resources to the SMM management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents an empirical test of an integrative framework based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, capturing what drives salesperson social media use in business-to-business relationships and under which circumstances social media use affects customer loyalty. The authors test the framework by drawing on a unique hierarchical dataset with data from three sources (over 30 sales managers, over 150 salespeople, and almost 400 customers). The most important finding is that the social media's effect on customer loyalty depends strongly on the context. Salesperson social media use increases customer loyalty only for high-status customers and customers with small buying centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using 285 responses obtained in a survey of high- and middle-level managers of firms located in Spain and by implementing clustering techniques, we identify differences in the conception and adoption of a digital strategy and the use of social media. A driver for these differences is represented by whether companies are adopting a B2C or a B2B business model. Specifically, B2B companies are slower to generate an overall digital strategy compared to B2C firms. Moreover, B2B firms adopting a digital strategy are prioritizing the use of more professionally oriented platforms (e.g., LinkedIn), while B2C firms are favoring the use of more socially oriented services (e.g., Facebook). Additionally, we find that those B2C companies without a clear digital strategy are nonetheless significantly using social media, particularly social networks, while B2B companies are delaying the use of social media until conceiving a clear digital strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media is of crucial importance in a firm's marketing strategies. The interest of scholars and practitioners in social media has been grown significantly. Yet, the B2B companies don't utilize these advancements to the fullest due to their lack of resources and capabilities. Moreover, the adoption of social media marketing tools is slower in B2B markets, with the exception of larger firms that are keen to exploit such digital measurement techniques. The present study attempted to address the gap that social media components would help to enhance the industrial utilization of social media in a social CRM setting. A structured questionnaire was designed, and 250 respondents from B2B small and medium enterprises were approached through convenience sampling by using structural equation modeling. Reputation and Utility attributes are a significant contributor to social CRM. Moreover, character and security have a direct impact on consumer engagement. Social CRM plays a vital role in enhancing consumer engagement if enterprises focus on utility attributes and the reputation of the firm. Thus, SMEs can use social media as a cost-effective tool to create stronger relationships with the customers and engage them with their products through content. Positive reviews that enhance the opportunities of competitive growth in the long run and marketing managers should focus on these attributes while marketing their products through the SNSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The radical growth of the internet is a factor affecting different sectors of the business environment, including changes in the marketing sector. The importance of social media communications in the marketing environment cannot go unnoticed. An important element of social media communication greatly influencing marketing is electronic word of mouth (eWOM) - involving consumer to consumer communication about products and brands- which influences consumer purchase decisions. Nevertheless, research on the importance of eWOM in the marketing of oil and gas is limited. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of social media in business to business (B2B) marketing through an investigation of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) in the oil and gas sector in Qatar. Possible solutions to the negative effects of eWOM will also be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the autumn of 2016,TE Connectivity (TE),a global engineering business to business (B2B) leader in connectivity and sensor solutions, launched its first social media influencer campaign to increase brand awareness, change perceptions and grow the contact database. The influencer campaign was launched in conjunction with its sponsorship of the Andretti Formula E team, and was paired with an incentive -- a sweepstake to win a trip to Andretti Autosport to see the engineering behind motorsports and an exclusive lunch with Michael Andretti, team owner and former champion race car driver. YouTuber Jason Fenske, creator of the channel Engineering Explained, flew to the United Kingdom to learn and film three videos about TE's involvement in Formula E, the first all-electric international street car race series, and its parallels to the increasing consumer electric vehicle trend. With over 100 TE products in a Formula E car and a major player in the automotive industry, the racetrack-to-the-road thematic videos were concepted and produced to attract engineers from diverse industries and across the business spectrum. The success of Engineering Explained led to influencer programmes with TE's sponsorship of rLoop, a crowdsourced team of engineers participating in Elon Musk's SpaceX Hyperloop Competition. Leading up to and during the first competition, TE produced a five-part documentary chronicling the formation of the team, the technology and the excitement of the challenge to create the fifth mode of transport, which was amplified to an engineering audience through a multi-influencer distribution strategy. During the second competition, a YouTube influencer, Linus Tech Tips, travelled to California to film a 20-minute Facebook Live segment the night before the competition to capture the tension, nerves and excitement as the rLoop team put the finishing touches on their prototype, and produced a post-competition YouTube video on the technology of the Hyperloop. This paper comprises a practitioner's insights into and lessons learned from activating B2B influencer programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks into the fundamental principles of Web 2.0, on which social media are based. In addition, an overview is provided of the results of selected studies of the opinions of B2B organisations on the use of social media. The article's main objective is to acquaint marketers on B2B markets with the logic and advantages of using social media as a modern-day tool for interaction with the target market.

Relations with the media represent a crucial part in the framework of marketing mix activities implemented by businesses as they help increase company brand awareness. Due to media going electronic and social media status, public relations are going through changes which influence the PR concept itself even though its main role remains unchanged - building up trust, enhancing brand awareness, generating positive messages towards the public, partners, customers or clients. One of the main drawbacks in relation to PR, however, is their inaccurate measurability of success or rather slow feedback on businesses' communication strategy (excluding negative messages). As a result, PR mainly refers to a longterm activity with indirect impact on target audience. It is recommended to focus on complexity and entirety of the whole marketing communication strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to clarify business-to-business (B2B) customers’ behavior regarding their social media use for B2B purposes and the antecedents of this behavior in the industrial marketing setting. It explores the influence of corporate culture, colleagues’ support and personal and psychological factors on customer behavior toward social media business use. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted an online questionnaire survey among key customer accounts of an information technology service company (N = 82). Partial least squares (PLS) path modeling was utilized to analyze the relationship between the dependent variable (social media business use) and the independent variables. Findings – Results show that private social media usage has the most significant relationship with the social media business use. Colleagues at work are also supporting B2B social media use and personal characteristics are also of importance. Surprisingly, perception of usability of social media for B2B use did not explain social media business use within our sample. Research limitations/implications – The chosen methodology, sampling frame and sample size may limit generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed hypothesis in other settings, particularly as the diffusion of B2B social media increases. Practical implications – The paper provides insights into how marketing managers can make an impact with their social media marketing. For example, when planning social media activities, companies need to consider which social media services could serve their marketing and communication targets and would reach the customers. Originality/value – Studies related to social media in B2B, especially from a customer’s perspective, are still limited, and the authors do not know how customer firms value industrial marketing activities in social media. This novel paper provides insights into managers’ reasons for using social media and gives guidelines for B2B marketers on how to conduct social media marketing in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this study was to contribute to the current discussion on digitization in companies' marketing from a customer relationship management (CRM) perspective by examining the role and objectives of CRM and the exploitation of social media to serve the objectives of CRM in contemporary business-to-business (B2B) companies. Design/methodology/approach -- The data are collected through semi-structured themed interviews with key marketing/sales managers from three B2B firms. Findings -- CRM seems to be moving closer to the company's core activity and becoming everybody's business to a greater extent than ever before, but its main goal, to enhance customer relationships, will not necessarily change. Understanding the customer is vital and requires different functions to cooperate closely to ensure the firm has the best possible understanding of its customers. Public social media tools played almost no part in CRM, but closed social media systems might have potential in the future. Research limitations/implications -- The chosen research approach limits the generalization of the results. Practical implications -- It seems likely that firms will benefit from a collaborative working style over the traditional silo approaches. For B2B firms, public social media does not seems to be the most suitable source to serve CRM but private social media channels might have potential in the future. Originality/value -- The lack of empirical examination of the change from company ecosystem to customer ecosystem from a CRM perspective, and the lack of research on social media for CRM in the B2B context, determines the purpose of this study. Furthermore, digitization is a rather new and unstructured phenomenon and many companies are still considering how to reconcile to it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of the paper is to investigate if, and to what degree, social media are used for the recruitment of global supply chain managers. Design/methodology/approach -- This is a conceptual paper that discusses how organizations should engage with social media platforms for effective recruitment of global supply chain managers. Findings -- Findings are that organizations seeking to employ global supply chain managers, particularly those engaged in B2B activities, lag other industry sectors in adopting new ways of recruiting talent. Building on the findings, we present models of how organizations should move to adopt web-based technologies and the steps needed to engage fully in using social media to recruit global supply chain managers. Research limitations/implications -- Global supply chains (including logistics) lag other industry sectors in adopting social media networks for recruitment, and risk missing out on talent if the issues are not addressed. Serious consideration needs to be given, particularly by B2B but also by B2C businesses, in order to attract suitable employees. Employees' and prospective employees' expectations will increasingly revolve around the use of social media. Originality/value -- The research is original in that it investigates an emerging, contemporaneous issue that is of considerable importance in recruiting global supply chain managers. The research provides value by highlighting that in recruiting global supply chain managers, organizations have been slow to adopt new technologies, and recommends actions to remedy this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]