The second session that I attended while at Social Fresh Portland was the "Social Media B2B Panel," with Greg Cangialosi of Blue Sky Factory, Jason Peck of eWayDirect, Adam Holden-Bache of Mass Transmit, and Schneider Mike of Allen and Gerristen. A lot of great information came out of the panel, starting with the first comment that "social media doesn't just happen." The panelists agreed that companies need to put a smart person behind the tools, and get buy-in from everyone in the company, not just the executives.

For B2B companies, their goal is to make their customers more successful than their competitor's customers. To identify what they want from a specific social media strategy, they need to start with the bottom line in mind. Cangialosi commented that social media is just an extension of every other area of the company, but that it's largely happening out of marketing departments. The panel advised that the marketing department should lead with their messages, but customer service should be involved as well, and whoever is responsible for CRM, for a more complete strategy. Peck added that B2B companies need to have communication skills and subject matter expertise to effectively deploy a social media strategy.