The past few years have been one of severe upheaval in the marketing world. As we continue to shift from the traditional world of marketing to a mix between the ways of marketing from the past 20 or so years and the digital / social media environment the landscape shifts regularly.

One area of social media that carries a wide array of opinions regarding its use is blogging. I am tempted to put quotes around social media in reference to blogging because social media as it is defined by most today makes many blogs look like the long form journalism of the past. Maybe that point of view is a reason why a recent study by the University of Massachusetts / Dartmouth shows that within the Inc. 500, which tends to be smaller, more nimble and less social media averse organizations, the use of blogging declined quite significantly in 2011. See the chart below for the comparison to blogging’s use by the Fortune 500.

We have watched the B2B space lag behind in the Internet and social media marketing space for most of the existence of the industry. That’s not a knock on the B2B space really because the nature of Internet marketing lends itself much more readily to B2C plays.

Of course that doesn’t mean that social media doesn’t work for the B2B space. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth and as B2B marketers continue to see just how these options can fit into their business and marketing plans this area of the Internet is just starting to truly see the light. This epiphany of sorts could make 2012 a very interesting year in the B2B space for social media marketing.

As shown by some statistics from a study conducted by eMarketer, social media is being used. It’s the continual evolution of exactly HOW it is being used that will mark the arrival of the marketing tool to the space.

As I was doing my daily early morning scan of way too much information for anyone to actually ingest, I came across a study that was done by IDG and looked at by the Center for Media Research. The study looked at technology marketers, the classic B2B marketers who are trying to sell their wares to other businesses in most cases.

The study was interesting and talked about all the great plans for spending for 2012 but the most important piece of data in my opinion is the one that marketers often overlook which are the barriers to getting the work done. In particular, this related to an area deemed very important by these surveyed marketers: content marketing. Take a look.

Whether it’s lead generation or whatever else as the end game of online marketing, content is the crux of it all. People don’t just come to a site because they are told they should. They don’t fill in forms on sites because it’s fun. They don’t open themselves up to the sales process because they feel lonely and are looking to talk to someone.

We are seeing more and more reports coming out about the involvement of B2B marketers in social media. That’s a very good sign and something that is necessary on many levels for marketing success in the future. Of course, with anything that is just getting traction in a particular space there are some hiccups.

eMarketer reports on a survey produced by the management consulting firm Accenture. The report is dated November 3 but the data comes from May of this year. First is a look at how B2B marketing executives see their level of engagement in social media.

Now one would expect marketing executives to say that they are involved in social media because that’s what all the cool kids are doing and there are now more and more rumblings from the C-suite in the vein of “Are we using The Twitter?”

Its not news that B2B and B2C marketing techniques and preferences differ. As with most things, however, it’s when you see numbers tied to the assumptions that you can say “Hmmm, I didn’t know it was quite that different” or “Well, of course! I knew that already because I am a social media and marketing guru!”.

A report done by Webmarketing123 shows some of these stark differences particularly in the use of social media marketing. Here we see just how different the use of social media tools can be between the two disciplines.

What is more surprising about this is the B2C dependence on Facebook. Good news for Zuck and the boys, huh?

B2B marketing is usually viewed as being behind the curve with regard to the online space. It has a reputation of being more traditional in its approach to how prospects and customers are reached and then developed. While this image of B2B marketers being less progressive than their B2C counterparts is warranted to a degree it appears as if that perception may be changing.

A recent study by Eccolo Media (which is a content marketing company so our research source antennae should be up class) shows that B2B technology buyers are expanding their marketing intake palette a bit. In other words, it’s not all white papers any more. Here is a snapshot of some of the ways that these tech folks are consuming marketing messages over the past six months.

With all of the focus that has been placed on Facebook lately (and for good reason since they are changing the rules of the social media game) it’s important not to lose sight of the B2B segment of the social media marketplace.

It’s quite easy for social media pundits and the like to dismiss B2B uses of the Twitter, Facebook etc because it’s not the sexy side of social media. Well, like many things in this life, just because it’s not all shiny and pretty doesn’t mean it’s not effective. In fact, our obsession with all things glitzy and polished often blinds us to areas where things actually work. The B2B social media space is one of those.

A recent report shows just how one “unsexy” player, LinkedIn, stomps Facebook in its level of importance in the purchasing research process for B2B companies. Take a look from the data from TriComB2B and the University of Dayton’s School of Business Administration as reported by eMarketer.