Social media marketing has been around for many years and according to marketing leaders, it will continue to grow in 2012. As social media sites, like Facebook and Twitter, gain even more of a following, it is important for marketers to understand the ever changing social networks and how they can be made useful for B2B.

So, how can we expect social media marketing  to change in 2012?

- Content Creation: B2B marketers are realizing the importance of content, so there will be a strong emphasis on content creation. It will continue to grow rapidly and spread to different marketing platforms such as Google+, LinkedIn, and Blogs. Google rewards companies that are creating new content by factoring this into a higher search ranking.

- New Marketing Platforms: Google+ was the largest social media based marketing platform to come out of 2011, but as we enter 2012 we wonder what’s next? Niche social media sites such as Pinterest and Push are now being used for business. Look for more of these platforms in 2012.

- Facebook Timeline: Facebook timeline will be rolling out to businesses soon and similar to Twitter feeds, the Facebook timeline will update constantly. Therefore, in order to stay relevant, marketers will need to post more often.

- Cross-Platform Linking: With so many different social sites and media platforms popping up it’s important to stay relevant in each community. 2012 will bring the increase in social media buttons and linking from platform to platform. Cross linking will bring fans of your Facebook page to your Twitter feed, so it’s important to have different and fresh content on each platform!

The beautiful weather during the summer months provides an excellent opportunity to get outdoors.  At CGI we’ve come together again for our very own “CGI Walk 2011” challenge.  for this annual tradition, each person that participates receives a pedometer and is assigned to a team. This year we have 18 participants divided into 3 teams.  The team names are picked by each captain and are a fun expression of the folks involved. This year have “Six Chix,” “Lupe Troop,” and “Five Girls and a Guy.”

CGI designed and developed our very own walking challenge website where each person records their steps which are also added together for team total. These cumulative steps are then mapped to a trail where different landmarks are identified as a goals —  a new landmark for each week.  This year the trail follows the famous route 66 and teams can check their progress along the route with a time line located on the web site. Captains provide thematic prizes for their teams as they reach the different landmarks that are set for the week.

The “CGI Walk 2011” challenge creates a sense of friendly competition and unity among the teams. Let us know how you’re office is keeping active during the summer months! Follow CGI on Twitter (@cgiinteractive), Facebook, or YouTube!

How do you engage your company in social media? Here at CGI the inbound marketing team has come up with a plan to get everyone on board.  Through monthly “Lunch ‘n Learns” the inbound marketing team is working with CGI staff to create more engagement opportunities in the social media realm.

With our first Lunch ‘n Learn we created an overview of all the different channels CGI is a part of and encouraged our team to sign up. Knowing that we needed an incentive to get people to participate we created “Franks” after the memorable fish that was part of CGI’s 2010 Holiday Card.

Each member of the team receives a Frank for attending the meeting and is given additional Franks if they are participating in the Social Media topic of the month. The Franks can then be used in a raffle for cool prizes, like an itunes gift card.

The second Lunch ‘n Learn was held last week, focusing on Twitter (@cgiinteractive), and the attendee response was greater than ever! This session’s focus was on Google Reader. We challenged the team to create a Google Account and set up five alerts.

Let us know how you’re engaging your team in social media! Connect with CGI on twitter, facebook, and  linkedin or check out our YouTube page!