Boy Howdy, talk about bad timing…..
GM Pulls Ads Off Of Facebook:  http://read.bi/Kp7u5w

As you all may have heard, General Motors [GM] announced [to their chagrin] that they are pulling their $10M Facebook [FB] ad campaign.
Geez, could they have waited a couple of days until Facebook’s IPO “silent period” was over?
Ouch – talk about hitting someone in the kneecap when their mouth is wired shut!

Big lesson here Business Owners – no matter how big [GM!] or small [Joey's Pizza!] you are, don’t put your Social Media [SM] cart before the horse….

Had GM implemented a solid SM campaign, their “dozen-eggs-on-face” announcement of their flawed FB ad campaign failure may not have happened.

Example of a SM success: IBM increased their sales by $100M+ through a properly executed SM campaign.
Yes, you read that right:  Since 2008, $100 MILLION in sales have been generally attributed to their social media efforts that are driven by their own employees.
Remember, IBM doesn’t even sell retail anymore – the 114-year old tech giant has evolved into a B2B company with a special niche of prospects and buyers!  http://bit.ly/JXcTTb

B2B social media IS the future of marketing!
But it doesn’t stand alone – the most successful SM campaigns are integrated into a company’s total marketing efforts.  Behind the scenes is a whole lot of homework that the CEO and top employees must slug through to develop a unified brand to present to the world.

Be sure you hire someone that knows how to set your marketing groundwork and SM implementation properly. Don’t get bedazzled by shiny bells-and-whistles presentations, he/she should emphasize laying the groundwork before your SM is implemented.