Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing

Analysis of content creation in social media by B2B companies

Lauri Huotari Pauliina Ulkuniemi Saila Saraniemi Minna Mäläskä
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companies", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 30 Iss 6 pp. 761 - 770
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 Analysis of content creation in social media
by B2B companies
Lauri Huotari and Pauliina Ulkuniemi
Oulu Business School, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
Saila Saraniemi
University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland, and
Minna Mäläskä
Oulu Business School, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

Abstract
Purpose – The present study aims to examine how business-to-business (B2B) marketers can influence content creation in social media. Social
media tools are becoming an interesting component of B2B marketing because of the roles of personal relationships and interactions in these
markets. However, research has not approached social media content creation from a B2B marketing perspective.
Design/methodology/approach – Social media tools are becoming an interesting component of B2B marketing because of the roles of personal
Downloaded by Chinese University of Hong Kong At 01:07 08 February 2016 (PT)

relationships and interactions in these markets. However, research has not approached social media content creation from a B2B marketing
perspective. The present study examines how B2B marketers can influence content creation in social media.
Findings – The paper proposes that B2B firms engaging in social media as part of their marketing efforts should carefully consider the roles and
activities of various users, which are directed to and by different internal and external users. B2B companies can influence content creation in social
media directly by adding new content, participating in discussions and removing content through corporate user accounts and controlling employee
social media behavior or indirectly by training employees to create desired content and performing marketing activities that influence other users
to create content that is favorable for the company.
Originality/value – The study contributes to the theoretical discussion over B2B marketing communication and the role of social media in it.
Keywords Internal communications, Internet marketing, Marketing channels, Communication, Marketing communications,
Business-to-business marketing
Paper type Research paper

Introduction and suppliers and, thus, deepen relationships (Kho, 2008).

Social media applications are enabled by the development of
In the literature, the traditional approach to business-to-
Internet-based online technologies, but technology itself is not
business (B2B) marketing has highlighted the roles of personal
the reason behind the popularity of applications such as
relationships and interactions between sales representatives
Facebook or Twitter. Instead, social media are popular
and customers. This traditional approach describes contact
because individuals desire to be social and share their
between sales representatives and customers as “the heart of
experiences with other people (Chaffey et al., 2009). Thus,
effective customer relationship management” (Ford et al.,
social media tools are becoming an interesting component of
1998). More recently, marketing communications and
B2B marketing because of the roles of personal relationships
branding have emerged as important areas of management
and interactions in these markets.
in B2B marketing (Mäläskä et al., 2011). For example, it has
In traditional marketing, the audience is passive, while
become more common for like-minded professionals within
interactive marketing communication tools, such as social
brand communities to share content, which contributes
media, engage their audience to become an active party in
to B2B interactions (Andersen, 2005; Bruhn et al., 2013).
content creation (Wade, 2009). According to previous
Additionally, diverse tools of social media, such as Facebook,
research (Smith et al., 2012; Lee, 2013; Galea, 2007; Ryan
Twitter, Slideshare and blogs, have been the subject of
and Jones, 2009), companies experience a loss of control when
increasing interest for B2B marketing because they provide
marketing via social media because the audience participates
faster and more personalized interactions between customers
in content creation. Content created by an audience is better
known as user-generated content (UGC) (Farrar, 2010). Even

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/0885-8624.htm
The financial support of Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for
Technology and Innovation is gratefully acknowledged. The research on
which this paper is based is part of SHARP – a research group at the Martti
Ahtisaari Institute of Oulu Business School.
Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
30/6 (2015) 761–770 Received 23 May 2013
© Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 0885-8624] Revised 5 March 2014
[DOI 10.1108/JBIM-05-2013-0118] Accepted 28 May 2014

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 Content creation in social media by B2B companies Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
Lauri Huotari, Pauliina Ulkuniemi, Saila Saraniemi and Minna Mäläskä Volume 30 · Number 6 · 2015 · 761–770

when a company hires a professional to create and develop and reach the top of search engine results (Ryan and Jones,
content, the audience continues their conversation (Weber, 2009). These elements enable opportunities for B2B
2007). According to the Organization for Economic Co- marketers, but they also pose challenges and may cause some
operation and Development (OECD) definition, UGC is B2B firms to hesitate to use social media. Indeed, B2B
published on a Web site that is publicly accessible or available organizations seem to have acknowledged the potential of
to a select group of people, demonstrates some degree of social media more slowly than B2C companies (Michaelidou
creativity, is not created for commercial purposes (Kaplan and et al., 2011).
Haenlein, 2010, p. 61), highlights the perspective of the Chaffey et al. (2009) noted that creating a dialogue through
end-user and is uncontrollable. Control over content creation interactivity is an important feature of the Internet. For B2B
in social media is a critical issue for marketers because a single companies, social network sites enable interactions with their
online contribution to a blog or forum can have long-term customers for creating customer value, as well as building and
effects on the reputation of their company (Ryan and Jones, fostering relationships (Michaelidou et al., 2011). According
2009). to Haeckel (1998), interactivity can be defined as the
Until now, research has not approached social media synchronous exchange of information or the way two or
content creation from a B2B marketing perspective. A review more organisms relate to each other. Interactivity between
of the existing literature reveals that this topic has been people may be direct or occur through a medium. Thus, we
examined mainly from the perspectives of business-to- argue that interactions between users of social media
consumer (B2C) marketing (Williams et al., 2010; Schultz contribute to content creation. In the present study, we define
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and Peltier, 2013) or internal corporate communications or content creation according to Hoffman and Novak (1996) as
recruiting (Frankola, 2009; Leader-Chiveé et al., 2008). UGC interactions in hypermedia computer-mediated environments.
creation involves the willingness of customers to engage in
activities related to co-creation, community and self-concept Who are the users of social media?
(Christodoulides et al., 2012). Additionally, user-generated
Users of social media have been examined extensively in the
content creation has been connected to brand equity because,
literature. Li and Bernoff (2008) classify users into six groups
according to research, firm-created social media communication
based on how they participate in social media: creators, critics,
impacts functional brand images, whereas UGC creates hedonic
collectors, joiners, spectators and inactives. Creators and
brand images (Bruhn, et al., 2012). It has been proposed that the
critics create the content of social media. Creators add new
optimization of UGC is central to applications of new interactive
content, generate conversations, publish blogs or online
social media in marketing communication. The increasing
articles, or upload video or audio content to social media
adoption of new media channels in marketing communications
channels. Critics react to content, for example, by posting
related to brand and management of customer relationships
comments on blogs or editing wikis. Collectors organize huge
motivates research in this area.
amounts of content created by critics and creators. For
Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine how B2B
example, collectors add tags to Web pages or photos and vote
marketers can influence content creation in social media. First, we
for Web sites that guide users when they seek, visit or join
will review existing knowledge about social media in general
these communities. Joiners maintain their profiles on social
and content creation in particular. We will focus on identifying
networking sites and visit those sites. Spectators are the largest
different types of users of social media as potential content
group, and they are consumers of social media.
creators especially in a B2B context. Our theoretical
Other researchers have categorized users of social media in
framework presents the different actors relevant to B2B social
similar ways. In Table I, we present a selection of different
media marketing and content creation and depicts their
studies that classify users of social media. We identified roles
mechanisms for influencing B2B content. Second, we conduct
that are active or influential in content creation in the last
an empirical study to elaborate on the theoretical model. Our
column.
empirical research method is qualitative because a limited
From the perspective of content creation, the most active
amount of research has been carried out in this area. Empirical
and influential users are creators and critics (Li and Bernoff,
data are based on interviews of representatives of B2B
2008), celebrities (Golder, 2003), lead members (Pitta and
firms with experience in the use of social media and the
Fowler, 2005) and evangelists (Lee et al., 2006). According to
management of content creation for marketing purposes. Four
Li and Bernoff (2008), creators actually upload new content.
industry experts were interviewed. In the analysis, abductive
For example, a company functions as a creator when it shares
reasoning was used because knowledge was built on the basis
news about itself via Twitter, publishes a corporate blog or
of a theoretical model and empirical data (Dubois and Gadde,
uploads corporate videos to YouTube. Critics are users who
2002).
react to content uploaded by creators (Li and Bernoff, 2008).
Celebrities, lead members and evangelists have relatively large
Role of social media interactions in content
influence over their communities (Golder, 2003; Lee et al.,
creation 2006; Pitta and Fowler, 2005). They devote much time and
The major implications of the development of Internet energy to their communities, for example, by uploading
technology for marketing communications are interactivity, numerous posts and involving and expressing themselves
transparency and memory (Gurău, 2008). With respect to (Golder, 2003; Lee et al., 2006; Pitta and Fowler, 2005). In
memory and transparency, companies are concerned that contrast to celebrities, lead members and evangelists, newbies
Internet-based information, especially negative online are newcomers to communities (Golder, 2003; Kozinets,
conversations about a company, can extend to bad publicity 1998).

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 Content creation in social media by B2B companies Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
Lauri Huotari, Pauliina Ulkuniemi, Saila Saraniemi and Minna Mäläskä Volume 30 · Number 6 · 2015 · 761–770

Table I Different classifications of users of social media

Author Roles suggested Description Relation to content creation
Golder (2003) Newbies Newbies have made their first online postings but Low
do not have strong commitment to social
networks
Celebrities Celebrities contribute much time and energy to a Very influential user
community
Kollock and Smith (1996) Free-riders Free-riders only “lurk” in online communities Passive
Kozinets (1998) Newbies Newbies are newcomers to a community Low
Lee et al. (2006) Evangelists Evangelists are leading members of a network Very influential user
Li and Bernoff (2008, pp. 41-45) Creators Creators invent new content and upload it to Actively creates new content
social media
Critics Critics react to original content, for example, by Actively comments
commenting and criticizing it
Collectors Collectors share and organize content (Actively shares content)
Joiners Joiners belong to social networks and maintain Passive
their profiles
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Spectators Spectators consume what others produce. They Passive

are the biggest group of users
Inactives Inactives do not participate in online communities Passive
Nonnecke and Preese (2001) Lurkers Lurkers belong to a specific online culture before Passive
actively participating
Pitta and Fowler (2005) Lead members Lead members are highly involved in a Very active user
community at all levels and upload the most
content

Because newbies, celebrities, lead users and evangelists are active specific employees. A corporate user can be the company itself
participants in their communities (Golder, 2003; Kozinets, 1998; or its B2B marketers. An employee user, on the other hand,
Lee et al., 2006; Pitta and Fowler, 2005), they can be either can be identified and connected to her or his employer. An
creators or critics. Collectors do not create content, but they have employee user has a human personality and, thus, can
the important role of spreading content in social media (Li and communicate in a personal way in social media.
Bernoff, 2008). Thus, collectors may be defined as creators or From the marketer’s perspective, it is important to define
critics because they share content that can be interpreted as a the employees who create and control the professional content
new contribution to the community. For example, sharing a for a company (Lee et al., 2006). This subject can be
YouTube video as new content in a different community can addressed by viewing corporate blogging as an example of
generate new conversation about that video. social media (Lee et al., 2006; Ryan and Jones, 2009).
Corporate blogs offer a much more personal level of
Users of social media in the B2B context communication and interaction with customers than, for
Although most of the previous research on users of social example, a static corporate Web site (Ryan and Jones, 2009).
media has focused on consumer context, the same roles are Of course, the level of controllability depends upon a
also applicable in the B2B context. In social media, creators company’s social media tactics Brennan and Croft (2012).
and critics actually create content. In terms of UGC creation, Those authors identified two basic tactics used by B2B
especially in B2B marketing, a marketer must consider the companies:
broad range of external stakeholders (Bruhn et al., 2013) and 1 tighter corporate control over content to ensure a coherent
internal employees (Brennan and Croft, 2012) of their firm. message; and
2 empowerment of the staff to more openly engage with
Internal users wider social media audiences.
In this study, the term “internal user” refers to a user who is Additionally, two strategies are discussed in Lee et al.’s (2006)
on the payroll of a company. From the perspective of a B2B study on blogging:
marketer, internal users are colleagues. According to Lee et al. 1 company-wide blogging, i.e. a “bottom-up” strategy
(2006), it is important to pay attention to employees of a allowing grassroots employees to blog; and
company who can create company-related content in social 2 a “top-down” blogging strategy where bloggers include
media. We divide internal users of social media into two specific professional, a group of professionals or even a
sub-user groups: corporate users and employee users, who use company executive.
social media not only to communicate on a personal level
(Ryan and Jones, 2009) but also as a traditional mass According to Lee et al. (2006), a top– down blog can enhance
communication medium (Lee et al., 2006). Corporate users corporate credibility and trust by sharing well-considered
represent the voice of the company and cannot be identified as opinions about a company and give outsiders new insight

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 Content creation in social media by B2B companies Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
Lauri Huotari, Pauliina Ulkuniemi, Saila Saraniemi and Minna Mäläskä Volume 30 · Number 6 · 2015 · 761–770

about the corporate culture. On the other hand, Brennan and Influence of marketing activities on content
Croft (2012, p. 112) argued that this “protectiveness over the creation
brand” may indicate social media “laggards”. In contrast,
“leaders” multiply their presence and impact across social Internal activities influencing content creation – direct
media, although not always as planned. and indirect
However, Lee et al. (2006) stress that the authenticity rather Social media involve many-to-many communication, which
than the number of bloggers is necessary for success. An provides an opportunity for marketers to engage in
authentic human voice is important element of blogging conversations about corporate issues (Ryan and Jones, 2009).
because it separates corporate blogging from traditional According to Ryan and Jones (2009), social media marketing
marketing channels. consists of two basic elements:
1 raising the online profile of the business, products and
External users services by contributing positively to the online
In this study, the term “external user” refers to all users of community; and
social media other than internal users. External users are 2 managing the reputation of the company by monitoring,
divided into groups: corporate users, customer users, assessing, responding to and influencing online
professional users and civilian users. Corporate users are conversations.
enterprises that use their company voice for content creation.
Kietzmann et al. (2011) discussed how companies can benefit
The term “customer users” describes individuals who are
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from social media by starting or manipulating conversations.

employees of current or potential customers of B2B
Descriptions proposed by Ryan and Jones (2009) and
marketers. As potential decision-makers for customers, they
Kietzmann et al. (2011) are consistent with those of different
are the most interesting audience for B2B marketers.
roles for users in content creation (Li and Bernoff, 2008). A
“Professional users” are other business-related stakeholders.
“Civilian users” are individuals who are interested in the creator is a community member who contributes by starting a
company but are not connected professionally to the conversation. A critic responds to conversations and, thus, she
company. or he influences content creation. Thus, a company can
Because social media communities are formed by influence content creation by adopting the role of a creator or
individuals who share common interests (Alavi et al., 2011; a critic and interacting with other members of communities.
Kietzmann et al., 2011), the stakeholders of a company may This is a direct way to influence content creation, and it is only
be interconnected through social media. Thus, B2B marketers activity that is controlled completely by B2B marketers.
should consider all stakeholders as possible users and content Online communities are potential media that companies
creators of social media. Potential stakeholders include not can use to interact and build relationships with their
only buyers but also investors, media representatives and customers (Alavi et al., 2011; Bruhn et al., 2013). For
potential employees (Brennan and Croft, 2012). In fact, example, a blog can be a medium for generating conversations
Brennan and Croft (2012, p. 111) argued that B2B-related with customers, ask their opinions and gauge their reactions to
discussions on Facebook or Twitter are often endorsements changes in the company and the industry (Ryan and Jones,
from trusted, known sources rather than comments from 2009). Conversations in social media can have a positive tone,
“random strangers” as in consumer markets. but certain discussion may damage the reputation of a
Table II summarizes internal and external users of social company (Ryan and Jones, 2009; Szmigin et al., 2005).
media from the perspective of B2B marketers. Different users Employees can engage actively in content creation for their
can act as a creator or a critic in social media, but her or his company by participating in online conversations. However,
activity and influence over the community depends on that employee participation in conversations can provide
individual. indirect influence from the perspective of marketers. As

Table II Users of social media from the perspective of B2B marketers

Users Description
Internal users
Corporate user User can be identified as an enterprise. Content created or added by a company is treated as a voice of the company.
Corporate user can be the B2B marketer itself
Employee user Employee user can be identified as an ambassador representing their company. Employee user has an occupational
identity. Some employee users are more influential than others

External users
Corporate user User can be identified as an enterprise. Content created or added by a company is treated as a voice of the company
Customer user Customer users are individuals who are customers or potential customers of the company. They are the most
attractive audience for marketing activities. Some customer users are more influential than others
Professional user Professional users are all stakeholders of the company other than customers or potential customers. They have
professional connections to the business where the company operates
Civilian user Civilian user represents him- or herself in social media and not their employer. Civilian users are not connected
professionally to the business

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 Content creation in social media by B2B companies Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
Lauri Huotari, Pauliina Ulkuniemi, Saila Saraniemi and Minna Mäläskä Volume 30 · Number 6 · 2015 · 761–770

Bruhn et al. (2013) noted, interactions in B2B brand Kozinets et al. (2011) describe two principal alternative means
communities are driven mainly by professional objectives. It for influencing content creation without direct participation
would be ideal to allow employees to perform as online by marketers:
evangelists. However, their participation in social media raises 1 the beginning of a conversation can be organic; and
issues related to control. For example, use of corporate blogs 2 a company can indirectly influence other parties.
involves balancing control over employees with their
When the marketer does not intend to generate a
autonomy to act as online evangelists. (Lee et al., 2006). It is
conversation, that conversation is purely organic. In this case,
an internal corporate responsibility to brief employees about
users of social media simply start to discuss a specific subject.
participating in social media.
A company may not have access to conversations when
communities limit access to a particular audience (Gurău,
External activities influencing content creation – 2008; Kietzmann et al., 2011).
direct and indirect An opinion leader can be described as an individual whose
A marketer can directly influence content creation by adopting WOM opinions, whether online or offline, are influential
the role of a creator or a critic. If a company is not directly (Godes and Mayzlin, 2009), and this description parallels one
participating in content creation, then their influence can description of online evangelists (Lee et al., 2006). A company
be described as indirect. Based on the assumption that should try to engage users who are influential and trusted
communities and networks of social media must have creators sources in their communities. We use the term “influential
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and critics (Li and Bernoff, 2008), a company can indirectly user” to refer to those individuals who exert significant
influence UGC creation by affecting creators and critics. influence over members of a community (Figure 1).
Generating and influencing conversations indirectly is According to previous research (Chaffey et al., 2009; Godes
associated with word-of-mouth (WOM) communication. and Mayzlin, 2009; Haywood, 1989; Kozinets et al., 2011;
Word-of-mouth communication is a significant feature of Lee et al., 2006; Li and Bernoff, 2008), a marketer can
social media because social networking sites afford the encourage and indirectly influence content creation through
possibility to monitor the spreading of WOM (Trusov et al., different marketing activities. Figure 1 illustrates how B2B
2009). Haywood (1989) describes the traditional view of marketers can influence content creation in social media. In
WOM as “getting opinion leaders to spread good words about Figure 1, solid lines represent direct influence, and dotted lines
the company in the marketplace”. represent potential indirect influence.

Figure 1 The B2B company influences on content creation in social media

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 Content creation in social media by B2B companies Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
Lauri Huotari, Pauliina Ulkuniemi, Saila Saraniemi and Minna Mäläskä Volume 30 · Number 6 · 2015 · 761–770

Empirical research methods the B2B context, participation in social media conversations
depends on the community and its users. B2B companies are
To elaborate on our theoretical framework, we conducted an
willing to participate in conversations in communities where
empirical study. Data were collected through four semi-
the debaters are professionals and related to the industry. The
structured expert interviews of four B2B marketers who use
role of a corporate user is to communicate company or
social media in their work. All of these interviewees are
industry related information through corporate accounts in
involved in designing, coordinating and executing B2B social
different social media applications. For example:
media marketing. We selected these subjects because they are
experts experienced in the influence of UGC creation. We also We use Power Plant Ltd. corporate account for everything we publish in
social media. Sure employees can publish as individuals everything they
wanted to involve experts representing different business want but we publish everything in the name of the company. It is a corporate
contexts in terms of company size and nature of the business identity. We have to consider that everything we publish can be interpreted
and customer base (Table III). as company’s comments. Basically if we re-tweet [re-publish a message
made by third party] something it can be interpreted as our opinions or
Interviews were conducted face-to-face and recorded. All comments. Power Engines Ltd (Interviewee).
recordings were transcribed. Interview themes were based on
A corporate user is a “corporate voice” that represents the
the theoretical framework and indirect and direct means for
thoughts of the entire company. Corporate user accounts are
companies to influence content creation in social media. The
an extension for “traditional” communication channels, and
purpose of these interviews was to reveal how these companies
the role of a corporate user is to communicate company or
attempt to influence content creation in social media. Certain
industry related information at a companywide level.
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questions concerned different types of users. These questions

The administrator of a corporate user account can remove
were intended to determine whether corporate employee and
content published by other users. Removing comments is one
civilian social media users exist in the B2B context. The
way to directly influence the content. According to our data,
analysis of these empirical data was initiated by repeatedly
the tone of conversations among professionals is mainly
reading and browsing the data to obtain an overview. At the
positive, and there is little need to remove negative comments.
beginning of the actual analysis, QSR NVivo 9 software was
Only irrelevant and inappropriate comments by civilians are
used to organize the material according to the themes in the
removed. Negative comments are managed by responding
theoretical framework.
directly to their authors:
Empirical analysis We have answered to them [negative commenting] as best we can. Power
Engines Ltd. (Interviewee).
This empirical analysis is organized according to influencing
We haven’t removed any conversations [from the communities that are
internal activities and influencing external activities. According to administered by Power Plant Ltd.] except spamming. Conversations with
our framework, internal activities include corporate user businesslike tone we won’t remove, that is the starting point. Power Engines
Ltd. (Interviewee).
accounts and training and means to control the social media
behavior of employees. External activities are direct actions as Indirect influence through training employees about social media
well as other marketing activities. behavior
Our study suggests that employers train their employees’
Influencing internal activities active participation and content creation. Power Engines Ltd.
Direct influence through corporate user accounts systematically trains its employees to use social media to
Adding content is an obvious way to influence content. achieve their daily business objectives. This is an indirect
According to our data, a B2B company can directly influence influence over content creation that encourages employees to
content by participating in conversations or removing content, if create certain content. The role of employee users is to
possible. participate in conversations related to their company and
Participating in conversations is an appropriate way to industry. One of the interviewees summarized his influence on
influence content, especially in the B2B context. However, in content creation in social media as follows:

Table III Description of the interviewees

Size of the Social media tools in
Company Position of the interviewee(s) company Main area of business Customers use
Agricultural Entrepreneur Micro firm A wholesale vendor of Local farms and Facebook
wholesaler Ltd agricultural products businesses
Lightning Ltd Managing Director Marketing SME Develops and produces Wholesalers and Corporate blog,
Coordinator LED lights and related construction companies LinkedIn account
software
Software Ltd Director, Administration & SME Develops customized ICT manufacturers, Corporate blog,
Marketing software for business banking and insurance LinkedIn account
customers sectors and technology
companies in traditional
industries
Power Engines Senior Manager of Global firm with Supplies power engine Industrial multinational Facebook, Twitter,
Ltd communications and branding 20,000 employees equipment and manufacturers in different Facebook, YouTube
solutions industries and Google⫹ accounts

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 Content creation in social media by B2B companies Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
Lauri Huotari, Pauliina Ulkuniemi, Saila Saraniemi and Minna Mäläskä Volume 30 · Number 6 · 2015 · 761–770

In practice, we try to promote for our employees to participate in The amount of conversations is incredibly huge. Only thing we can do is to
conversations if they locate one. Power Engines Ltd. (Interviewee). communicate to business units that if they perceive conversations they
should participate in them because it may be useful. In practice we try to
It is important that all employees who participate in promote to take part in conversations. Power Engines Ltd. (Interviewee).
conversations in social media understand the content and
According to these interviews, it is appropriate to respond to
“tone of voice” desired by their employer. The nature of social
both positive and negative commentary. However, given the
media makes it possible for uncontrolled negative
vast amount of social media content, responding to every
commentary to spread throughout the Internet. Thus, when
comment or example of company related content would
participating in conversations, the tone of responses is
require extensive resources.
especially critical.
Employee participation in social media is also a matter of Direct influence through controlling content creation by employees
corporate politics. According to these interviews, employee The most extreme way to influence content creation is to deny
participation in conversations related to their companies or employees the opportunity to debate certain issues or
industries should be guided at some level, but these employers participate in certain social media platforms or forums.
trust the judgment of their employees. Companies vary in their According to the data, this approach can block corporate-
needs to brief their employees about using social media. related issues from the public. This gives for a company an
According to our interviews, some companies do not instruct opportunity to control corporate communications as desired.
their employees but plan to begin to provide training: Preventing members of an organization from participating in
conversations can be interpreted as a direct way to influence
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No we haven’t [instructions how social media should be used]. In fact it

would be topical at this moment (Lightning Ltd.). content creation. According to these interviews, in terms of
On other hand, the best instructions would be “be smart” when acting as an controlling its employees’ content creation, the company
employee in spare-time and in conversations [of social media]. I think that should consider carefully where to restrict employee
our employees have behaved in smart way when they have participated in
conversations. If you have lots of instructions and directions it wouldn’t participation in social media to control content creation:
work (Agricultural Wholesaler Ltd.).
A couple of years ago, a CEO of another Finnish LED-lightning
Only several people participate in a real-life conversation, manufacturer participated in conversations in social media. For example in
[general discussion forum]. I think that it wasn’t a very positive thing. He or
whereas a single person can “shout” their opinions to the she tried to stand up for different issues but other participants tore him or
whole world through social media. Thus, “the tone of voice” her into pieces [. . .]. That is why we haven’t participated in those
is a very critical issue: conversations [between civilians]. CEO’s and company’s names were public
information (Agricultural Wholesaler Ltd.).
I have to think about the content because it is very important to evaluate
what kind of associations it could call up in different segment groups. It is
Participating in conversations in communities where civilians are
very challenging. Basically the content should not insult anyone. But the debating is treated with hesitance. Civilians use nicknames, and
content is always different. A message to professionals includes professional their comments may be inappropriate in content and tone.
expressions and it is pointed to professionals (Agricultural Wholesaler Ltd.).
Debate among civilians is undesirable because it lacks
It is important for a B2B company to understand that professional perspective and opinions may be extremely
employees have professional and civilian user identities in polarized. It is a difficult task to control and monitor employee
social media. People act as civilians and as individuals in social media behavior due to the extensiveness of social media.
certain social media platforms, e.g. in their spare-time, but In summary, B2B companies can influence content creation
they represent their employer in work-related platforms: in two manners:
Our sales representatives’ participation [in LinkedIn] is related to sales. I 1 direct influence by adding and removing content through
think that their purpose is to increase sales and awareness about the corporate user accounts and controlling content creation
company (Lightning Ltd.).
by employees; and
Our employee from product development has commented a news report in 2 indirect influence through training employees in social
[local newspaper] but in his own name (Agricultural Wholesaler Ltd.).
media behavior.
According to our data, employees participate in social media
to promote their occupational expertise. In the B2B context, However, it is essential to identify clear roles of corporate and
users signal their professionalism and create an important and employee users. Corporate users should focus on general
influential status in social media. Certain users are more marketing related to the company, whereas employee users
influential than others. In the B2B context, greater should demonstrate professionalism and interact as
professionalism connotes a more influential user express. individuals.
Employee participation differs in online and actual
conversations with the professionals. The difference is that Influencing external activities
conversations in social media are available to users other than According to our data relevant to direct actions that influence
the original participants. Other users can access the discussion content creation by influential professional users, it seems
until an administrator removes the content: unlikely that a B2B marketer can exert influence over the content
[. . .] [corporate blogging] is a long-term process to create professional creation by influencing specific social media users. Instead of
image to the writer (Lightning Ltd.). “lobbying” one or two users, the interviewees influence the
Extent and number of different conversations in social media content of social media by promoting marketing messages
are enormous. It would appear unlikely that only a few people through other communication channels. This approach directs
could have a significant influence. When an employee locates the public opinion about the company. Additionally, influencing
a conversation concerning his or her business area, he or she the audience at a public level is a possible means to influence
should be capable of joining it: conversations that have not been identified.

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Lauri Huotari, Pauliina Ulkuniemi, Saila Saraniemi and Minna Mäläskä Volume 30 · Number 6 · 2015 · 761–770

Civilians may, however, participate in debates among it is critical to integrate external marketing activities and social
professionals. Debates between civilians may vary from one media behavior of the company.
extreme to another. Their experiences and information is
based on public images and publicly available information
about companies and industries: Summary of the empirical analysis
Our company has been mentioned a few times in conversations in [general In Figure 2, we summarize the empirical analysis and present
discussion forum] or similar sites. We notice it when somebody has linked an empirically adjusted framework for understanding how a
our website to the conversations (Lightning Ltd.).
B2B company can influence social media content. In
The conversation is very diverse because non-professionals and people who comparison to our theoretical understanding, we have
pretend professionals present false statements about different lightning
technologies. In other hand some of them are smart and ventilate different identified three empirically grounded adjustments to our
alternatives. In practice then our company is brought out. Lightning Ltd. framework. First, instead of emphasizing direct actions to
Our data indicates that desired outcomes can be obtained influence external users, we argue, with respect to external
by integrating marketing activities, e.g. using traditional marketing activities, that it is more reasonable to use an
marketing communication to influence social media content. integrated marketing communication strategy in which the
For example, a company that does not have access to a specific advancement of user-generated content creation is also taken
social media community can have indirect influence through as an objective for actions. Thus, through external marketing
other communication mediums. Indirectly influencing the activities in general, firms should also aim to engage
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content of social media through other communication prospective and current customers to initiate social media
mediums is one approach to controlling large numbers of content creation. In a B2B setting, this might be related to
conversations: existing customers giving references or leads for creating
content that is relevant to potential sales efforts.
Sure we try to influence them through other [communication] mediums
[than social media] every time it is possible. It is normal. Conversations Second, in addition to professional community, we have
concerning the industry are difficult to influence because there is so much of added a second type of community, a civilian community. The
it (Power Engines Ltd. – Interviewee). civilian community represents the social media communities
In summary, B2B marketers are limited in their ability to in which civilians debate about issues related to B2B
directly influence content creation by external users. More companies or industries. Professional communities represent a
importantly, performing marketing activities can be applied to community in which professionals debate and to which
influence external civilian and professional users. In this case, civilians most likely do not have access. The empirical data

Figure 2 Empirically adjusted framework of a B2B company influencing social media content creation

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 Content creation in social media by B2B companies Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
Lauri Huotari, Pauliina Ulkuniemi, Saila Saraniemi and Minna Mäläskä Volume 30 · Number 6 · 2015 · 761–770

strongly support the diversion between civilian and B2B rights. However, on the basis of these findings, it is more
communities as well as the importance for B2B companies important to encourage and support the use of social media by
to notice the possible threats of participation in civilian training employees rather than focusing on limiting its use.
conversations. Importantly, civilian communities are not the Additionally, Brennan and Croft (2012) pinpoint openness on
types of communities in which the corporate users or employee the part of a company as a means for employees to position
users should take part, but rather the influence of the company themselves as innovative experts in the market.
may be conducted indirectly through civilian users. According to With respect to managerial implications, professional
the empirical data, debate between civilians can be extremely communities are valuable for B2B companies because their
far-reaching in social media. If a B2B company aims to influence employees can promote their occupational professionalism to
conversations among civilians, its resources allocated to the task other professionals. In professional communities, the identities of
should be relatively much higher than those resources allocated users and their employers are available to other users. Thus,
to directly influencing B2B communities. employees of B2B companies can create personal relationships
Third, the empirical findings of this study are with regard to through social media and promote their products and services to
the attitudes for how to treat social media behaviors of appropriate audiences. It is important to control the choice of
employees. Instead of controlling employees’ social media social media where employees are allowed to represent their
behaviors, companies should merely focus on training and company. Certain civilian communities are inappropriate places
encouraging employees to use social media. Our data clearly to promote professionalism and debate issues concerning the
indicate that social media is such a new form of communication industry.
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that, to use it successfully, employees require training. In summary, we acknowledge the limitations of our
research. The focus of our research is a phenomenon that has
Conclusions not been researched extensively within the B2B sector. Thus,
our findings are exploratory insights that should be
The purpose of the present study was to learn how B2B
investigated further in future research. In terms of our
marketers can influence content creation in social media. In
empirical approach, our intention was to learn how informants
conclusion, we propose that B2B firms engaging in social media
view channels and methods of influence. However, our
as part of their marketing efforts should carefully consider the
examination did not focus on mechanisms of influence at the
roles and activities of various users, which are directed to and by
level of revealing actions and their outcomes. In future studies,
different internal and external users, as depicted in our
this type of examination would contribute to the knowledge
framework (Figure 2). In a B2B context, the content of social
required to take a clear strategic stand on the use of social
media is created by corporate, employee, professional and
media by B2B firms.
civilian users, all of whom play crucial roles in the complex
ensemble of social media and content creation. We suggest that
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