Dynamic Capabilities and Social Media: Enhancing Competitive Advantage in Business-to-Business Firms

Social Media has become an increasingly common medium for the creation and management of relationships online, for communication with customers, and development of brands. Despite slower adoption than in consumerist domains, social media research in the field of business-to-business (B2B) marketing has been of increasing interest. However, there is little research investigating the development of social media marketing strategies and the role of employees within the process. We already know that through communication, relationship building and great service, B2B marketing can be successful, and by utilising social media adoption, this research contributes to the current dearth of knowledge on the rising potential of social media marketing in B2B. By applying qualitative research methods, this paper identifies four Phases of development that twelve UK B2B firms went through in the evolution of their social media strategy. Overall, our results show the journey organisations go through when implementing social media as a strategic tool and how organisations can put dynamic capabilities into practice and harnessing resources to build a capacity for sensing, shaping and seizing opportunities. The results of the study show that today’s fast-moving environment favours open organisations that utilise employee engagement into actionable intellect.