It’s easy to ignore social media – especially if you’re a B2B industrial company. Social media is new, it’s flashy and it’s just not something a crusty sales guy has any interest in. (Just give ’em a booth at a tradeshow and they’re happy – harrumph!).

If you’re ignoring social media for this reason, it’s time to rethink your strategy.

Companies such as Dell and Comcast use Twitter to sell products and improve customer service (respectively). HubSpot uses LinkedIn Groups to grow its community and increase its user base. And, Cisco uses YouTube and other social media tools to promote new products.

Social media is definitely a business tool.