B2B Social Networks Exploding

For a while, B2B social networks had struggled to get traction in a social networking dominated by B2C interactions. Well that appears to be changing according to some eMarketer projections

As more Business people are joining socia networks, more advertsing dollars are being spent on B2B networls. In the US this year, advertisers will spend $40 million to reach a business audience on online social networks, and that is just the beginning. According to eMarketer projections, that ad spending will reach $210 million in 2012.

“As compelling as the ad growth is, marketers will spend far more over the next few years to create and manage their own social networks for business customers, partners, suppliers and vendors,” says Debra Aho Williamson, senior analyst at eMarketer and author of the new report, B2B Marketing on Social Networks: Engaging the Business Audience. “These business networks will serve a range of purposes, from improving customer communication and collaboration to aiding product development.”

The most popular and widely known professional social network is LinkedIn, whose audience has more than doubled in the past year and this success has spawned a raft of networks aimed at verticals or niche markets.

Among the most prominent business niche social network is ITtoolbox, a 1.3-million-member community of information technology professionals. Other fast growing professional social networks are Legal OnRamp and LawLink for attorneys; and Reel-Exchange, for film and video professionals.