Social Media for B2B too?

Just wanted to point you to two interesting posts on the use of social media for the B2B market. Everyone seems to agree on the fact that the social web is great and a must for the B2C market. Most B2C companies are actively using social media to engage with their customers. The B2B market seems to be lagging and wondering if 'social media' is really something they should get into.

PR Squared and Chris Brogan don't understand this reluctance and clearly state what B2B companies need to hop in. And I fully agree with them. Some B2B companies (mostly with a US home-base) are showing how it's done. If I'm not mistaken most of these companies have some relatedness with the internet or computer world. I haven't seen many companies yet using social media that sell wafer steppers, large dump trucks, complex tractors, windmills, etc. Most of these companies still have very 1.0-ish websites too. But if I am mistaken, please let me know!

Could it be that the reluctance to jump on the bandwagon has to do with the distance of the business to the internet? Or is the distance to the internet the same for all companies, B2B and B2B? Your customers are there, so you'd better be there too.

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