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26 SEPTEMBER 2015 COATINGSPROMAG.COM Marketing Savvy Traditionalists will argue that brand awareness is a perfectly acceptable outcome. Marketing modernists will argue that unless something contributes to a company's bottom line or at least drives traffic to one's website, it's a wasted tactic. By Jon Franko, Partner at Gorilla 76 The State of Social Media in B2B Industrial Marketing I n college, I had a great copywrit- ing professor. His name was Steve Kopcha, and he was a true pro of the craft. He taught me everything I know about headlines, body copy, and how to write a witty tagline, but more than anything, he taught me to always remember the purpose of marketing. W hat Kopcha taught was that "great ads sell stuf." To him, an ad, or a marketing initiative in general, was to be evalu- ated by how it contributed to the bottom line — not how many awards it put in an agency's or company's trophy case. His belief was that if you spend money on promoting your brand, it should help you make more money — an ideology that informs my thoughts on social media, and marketing in general, today. Social media is a marketing tactic that is always changing and one that always seems to spark great debate. Traditionalists will argue that brand awareness is a perfectly acceptable outcome. Marketing modernists will argue that unless something contrib- utes to a company's bottom line or at least drives trafc to one's website, it's a wasted tactic. I tend to side heavily with the more modern perspective. So keep that in mind as you read my synopsis of the state of some of the most popular forms of social media marketing for business to business (B2B) industrial brands. A lso keep in mind that social media use should always be guided with goals. Without marketing goals with each tactic you implement, you're doing nothing more than throwing darts. LinkedIn If I'm a marketer and my resources are limited, LinkedIn is my frst stop in the social media sphere. In all honesty, a book could be written on best practices for this channel, so what I write here won't do anything more than highlight my argument for why this channel should be a must-use for your company. If you're a B2B marketer and you're looking to grow your leads via social media, LinkedIn is where you should be placing your bets. First, LinkedIn users are in a business mindset when they're logged in. After all, that's the purpose. Cat videos and the like aren't commonplace, making wormholes easier to sidestep. Second, LinkedIn status updates and LinkedIn groups ofer ample oppor- tunity to help others. Helping others establishes trust. Establishing trust tends to lead to business opportunities.