Social media is entering the B2B space in mysterious ways. For some businesses, social media platforms are beneficial in similar ways to B2C companies: building brand awareness, and connecting with potential customers. Increasingly, B2B firms are turning to a hybrid of eCommerce-social media services. Suppliers and manufacturers can build a social media profile to find potential customers, and then conduct their trading.
But recent research suggests that social media sites are not quite there when it comes to facilitating transactions between B2B companies. A recent study by B2B Social Media Report concluded that B2B firms have missed out on $36 billion worth of revenue because companies are not following through when a business on social media mentions a buyer or supplier, or expresses an intent to purchase.
Still, analysts have found that B2B companies are boosting their social media interactions, and that this increased digital communication is leading to new revenue streams.
One new social media platform for the B2B community, Keyconex, is taking a gradual approach to the B2B eCommerce process. With plans to launch services this month, Keyconex already has a payments service in place – PayPal – but will not begin facilitating payments between corporate buyers and suppliers until later on.
First, Keyconex Chief Marketing Officer Megan Hyche told PYMNTS, the company is focusing on connecting suppliers and manufacturers to potential corporate clients across borders. The platform will first focus on markets in the U.S., Canada, Europe, India, Japan and China – some of the world’s largest B2B eCommerce climates. The company said it plans to commence an extended launch early next year to connect even more B2B firms across borders, all with the aim of facilitating cross-border trade.
“Right now, many businesses are limited by distance, language and currency,” Hyche said. “They want to expand abroad, but don’t have the tools to do so.”
The first step in entering the global supply chain is to find the right business partner. Hyche said that Keyconex was developed with the understanding that corporations can rarely succeed in accessing the right suppliers through a simple Google search. The social media platform allows suppliers, manufacturers and other B2B service providers to create a profile. Based on the package they purchase, that profile will target corporate customer groups.
Currently, the B2B social media king is LinkedIn. A recent eMarketer survey found that 78 percent of corporate buyers use LinkedIn to find potential business partners. Keyconex hopes to challenge LinkedIn’s reign. “While the business community currently looks for their peers on LinkedIn, soon they can turn to Keyconex to find a business to work with,” the company said in a release last week.
For now, Hyche said that much of the transaction process lands on the shoulders of the businesses. “Keyconex provides a service in which corporations can find each other by focusing on their products, skills, industry, name and origin,” she said. “What they do after Keyconex makes the initial connection is up to them.”
But moving forward, Hyche said that Keyconex will become more than simply a marketing tool for B2B companies, and offer more integrated services for B2B companies. For example, the company said it will also look to facilitate connections between businesses and potential investors. And while its current integrated PayPal system only operates for businesses that want to buy a Keyconex package, in the future, companies will be able to use PayPal to conduct payments between each other for the goods and services they find on the Keyconex platform. Plus, Hyche told PYMNTS, “more payment options are to come in the future.”
“In the beginning we will start with a basic functionality of the Keyconex website,” she said, “but there are many more opportunities and possibilities we will include down the road.”