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Facebook has long been known as the top choice for business-to-consumer (B2C) social media marketing. But which social networking sites and social media sites are effective marketing channels for business-to-business (B2B)? How can B2B leverage social media to strengthen customer service, engage with customers and prospects, and differentiate themselves in a competitive marketplace? Starting this week, and over the next few weeks, I’ll share some of the top 6 social networking tools for B2B success in the social sphere compiled by Neal Schaffer of Windmills Marketing.

Social media, when included in an overall business development plan, is very effective in generating targeted leads. The key is to work your network across multiple channels. Use Twitter as a lead developer vehicle for identifying and engaging with prospects. Invite your new follower to become a fan of your Facebook Fan page. Once engaged, provide an incentive to your new fan to opt-in to your marketing lists. Give your email campaigns and other marketing efforts more reach by cross promoting in your social network. Use Google Analytics (free), and other measurement tools to measure social media, web and blog traffic. Trackur is a social media monitoring tool that tracks nearly every element of online media, from blogs, RSS feeds and Tweets, to images and video. It start at $18/mo subscription but also offers a free version.