I've had a lot of clients engaging us recently on the social media front. For B2B marketers, it's been a long, strange trip - despite the relative "newness" of social media as a marketing discipline and cultural phenomenon.

And for many companies, there's an acknowledgement that something has to be done to develop these social media channels. But there's also a sense of urgency – a palpable rumination that a company is late to the game if they don't have a Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn presence. This may be true in some respects - but creating a quick Facebook fan page for your business is not the remedy. I've seen lots of companies rush to create a social presence without a sound strategy - and without a purpose. And the result is sometimes worse than doing nothing at all.

Whenever we discuss the value of social media to B2B and technology companies, we approach it from a place of purpose. Like any other marketing tool in our arsenal, the plan must be crafted with reason and rationale. And because of the "rapid-fire" nature of the business-to-business marketplace, it's even more imperative that this strategy serve the greater goals of developing visibility, generating leads, nurturing loyalty and impacting revenues. That's a tall order for something that's still difficult to wrap our heads around as marketers. But the beauty of social media is that it can - and will - provide us with an even more powerful method for reaching highly targeted audiences.

The key is content. We know content is king - and in order to have social media vehicles serving your purpose, they must be managed efficiently and effectively. You've probably seen a few blogs and Facebook fan pages that have significantly outdated content (maybe their last posting was from November... of 2008). In a rush to develop the tools, the strategy for managing them - and ultimately, their effectiveness - was never considered (maybe an intern is tasked with updating postings?). How are we promoting through these channels? How are we measuring the response? How does it translate into advancing our goals, and creating more brand awareness? There are ways to make the "intangibles" of social media more tangible - when a strategy is defined from a place of true purpose.

So before we advocate slapping those snazzy, social media icons at the bottom of any company's homepage, it's important to ask this simple question: WHY? With the right answer - and the right strategy - you'll be ready to leverage the full potential of this exciting new medium.