Managerial perspectives on B2B social media marketing adoption: benefits and challenges

With the advent of technology, social media (SM) has become an essential part of everyday life used by individuals, businesses, and governments worldwide. The overwhelming reliance on SM for communication and information reflects SM's power over people's decisions. Despite the significant effort and attention devoted to SM in the B2B context, there are still numerous and significant gaps (Dwivedi et al., 2021). This study aims to explore the benefits and barriers of adopting social media marketing (SMM) in the B2B context within Greece's telecommunications industry. The study's findings provide insight into SMM's potential for B2B organisations, as many are still sceptical (Michaelidou, Siamagka and Christodoulides, 2011). The study utilised an exploratory qualitative approach through semi-structured interviews with eleven managers from a leading Greek telecommunications company. The thematic analysis helped uncover key themes and patterns related to the benefits and barriers of adopting B2B SMM in this sector. The findings revealed that the main benefits of SMM are increased interaction and engagement with customers and business partners, brand awareness and improved performance. The participants also highlighted the challenges of integrating SMM into B2B processes, citing issues such as the lack of knowledge and technical skills among their personnel, the company's internal bureaucracy and complicated structure, and financial and GDPR restrictions. This study contributes to the limited literature on B2B social media marketing. For B2B companies and managers, the study provides practical insights into the benefits and barriers of B2B social media marketing, helping them to refine their strategies and enhance their competitiveness in a rapidly changing digital environment.