While many marketers think of social media as being a business-to-consumer channel, more business-to-business firms are flocking to it, a new study from BtoB Online indicates.

While many marketers think of social media as being a business-to-consumer channel, more business-to-business firms are flocking to it, a new study from BtoB Online indicates.

Whereas only 52 percent of B2B companies leveraged social media two years ago, 90 percent currently do so. LinkedIn has traditionally been the go-to social network for B2B organizations, but Facebook has also gained B2B relevancy, with 72 percent using the former and 71 percent now leveraging the latter.

As the source notes, however, LinkedIn is still regarded as the best social lead generation among B2B firms, even as Facebook gains adoption.

“This is shocking in a way, because people say you don't really do lead-gen in social media marketing,” Bob Felsenthal, publisher of BtoB, said. “But lots of people are doing it.”

BtoB Online further emphasizes the importance of social media content, even among B2B companies. As Brafton reported earlier this month, a separate study conducted by Focus Research indicates more than one-quarter B2B firms were able to generate leads and sale due to their social media and content marketing efforts.