I'm famous (in my own mind) for using an analogy to describe business use of social media which I refer to as "getting a table of their own." It looks like that is exactly what is taking place and what will continue with great prevalence, according to a report from eMarketer, entitled Social Networks Get Down to Business.
The article indicates that businesses will pay $40 million to buy ad space on social network sites this year, a figure that will grow to $210 million by 2012. While that's significant the real news is that "marketers will spend far more over the next few years to create and manage their own social networks for business customers, partners, suppliers and vendors," says the article.
The article cites a number of such networks including *ITtoolbox, a
1.3-million-member community of information technology professionals; Legal
OnRamp and LawLink for attorneys; and Reel-Exchange, for film and video
professionals.
I can think of a few more, each created by WordFrame partner Social Media Today.
Not to mention what the likes of Dell, IBM, SAP and countless others have done/are doing. It's an exciting time for the B2B social media space.
If your company is considering entering it, let me recommend WordFrame as the platform upon which to build your community.
*ITtoolbox is looking for an online community manager btw.