The road to CONSUMER social media is paved with yellow bricks. Communities play with widgets built by the lollipop guild.  Contests fill the skies like winged monkeys.  The trees positively  drip with tweets about Skittles.

But life is more serious in the land to B2B.

Consider it the Kansas to Dorothy’s Oz.

Though the black and white of P&Ls makes life look simple — even boring — to outsiders, the shades of gray reveal a more complex world. The topics are complicated.  The communities, smaller.  Sales cycles are longer but the beefier price tags are worth it.

Most important, people within B-B communities are swayed by ideas — not novelties.  You won’t find B-B professionals debating Britney’s comeback on blogs.  And if you ask them about Paris Hilton, their first thought will be the hotel they stayed at on their last due diligence trip.  No, they’re more concerned with things like their tech infrastructure, Asia growth targets, and public affairs strategies.

The good news is that social media — more than traditional media relations and far more than advertising — is the best platform to promote B2B ideas.  If B2B companies use social media correctly, they won’t be seen as vendors to be used, nor as partners to be tolerated, but as leaders to be followed.

This blog will explore and explain how to use social media to deliver results to the bottom line.  The goal?  Find formulas that work, and that have predictable, repeatable results.  In short, to turn social media into a business science.

Welcome to Kansas.  You’re not in Oz anymore.