B2B social media stays here. In fact, according to recent statistics, social advertising is practiced by an astonishing 83% of B2B marketers, ranking second only to search engines in success rate. From customer consideration to leveraging industry influence, there are many B2B brands in social spaces. However, it is undeniable that the works of B2B social media marketing agencies are not easy. This is especially true when dealing with “boring” or technical products. That’s why we’ve put together this step-by-step guide to help B2B brands develop social strategies in line with their key goals.
Develop B2B Social Media Marketing Goals
Companies of all shapes and sizes need to focus on setting goals, which is especially important for B2B companies. After all, competition is fierce, and there are numerous marketing channels to work with. Also, note that B2B social media strategies are apples and pears, not retail or e-commerce. Instead of focusing on sales, most B2B companies use social media as their best marketing channel, especially for promotion and content awareness.
Any social media advertising company needs to formulate exactly who they are, what they are different from their competitors, and what they value as a company. Social media is a great place to do this because it provides a place to promote small content that emphasizes all of the above.
Educate the audience
B2B buyers’ journeys go beyond just visiting websites and browsing pricing pages. The overwhelming numbers of B2B buyers are doing their research and want to make sure that the businesses they support are credible. Perhaps the best way to build your trust is to teach your audience. From blog posts and ebooks to direct reports and how-to videos, any B2B social media optimization agency needs to focus on practical and educational content.
Build trust
The competition between B2B brands is so fierce that anything you can do to build trust and prove your company’s value is beneficial. Customer feedback, positive reviews, and awards (e.g., awards, customer milestones) are all great for sharing, and you can do just that. Probably no better place to collect and promote social proof than social media.
Adopt a customer-centric B2B social strategy
Your customers should be your top priority in your social campaigns. No matter how technical or niche your product is, customer loyalty can make your brand more attractive. As a timely alternative to email, social media is a transparent place to interact with customers about questions, compliments, and feedback. Consider incorporating customer stories as part of your content strategy, not just customer support. Remember what you said earlier about introductory texts and the promotion of positive reviews? Sharing them creates loyalty to the customer base. It’s also a great way to promote your service without being overly aggressive or oversold.
This shows that customer interaction should be at the heart of the strategy, both in terms of service delivery and content production. Pay close attention to all @mentions and brand keywords, and don’t miss the opportunity to connect with your customers.
Align B2B social media strategies with business initiatives
This point is worth repeating. Many marketers can’t link social media performance to company-wide data (sales, traffic, etc.) or communicate these results between departments. However, social media is a major place to support company-wide initiatives. From product launch to PR, it’s important to connect with non-marketing people and provide the very necessary context for your campaign. Measure your social efforts in the context of performance and communicate their results regularly—reporting tools make the process much easier.
Polish the voice of the brand
No surprises here. Don’t talk like a robot. The voice of a conversational brand can make the people behind your social account stand out and give a friendly impression. Contrary to popular belief, a “professional” voice does not have to be stuffy or rigid. Adapt content to a socially friendly format In many cases, all you need to do to get more enthusiasm for your content is to change the subtitles and format of your post. For example, are you interested in following people who just leave a link at once without comments?
Here are some ideas for adding spice to your social media marketing freelancer job while adding entertainment value to your content.
- Convert blog posts or lists to short infographics
- Post a one-minute snippet as well as a link to a podcast or video presentation
- Use Twitter threads and long text posts (think LinkedIn) instead of external links and blog posts.
Remember: The average social user has microscopic attention.
The above format is more interesting than links and promotes engagement. Keep up to date Much of B2B’s social media is about trends. Companies go up and down. It’s important to keep track of what your customers and competitors are talking about on social media. This makes it much easier to identify trends and participate in relevant industry discussions. Oh, and let’s rely on social listening instead of checking for updates on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Accept the interests of employees
Just as you should try to get your customers to talk about your brand, so should your employees. Who is better at emphasizing your human side than the people who keep you moving? Employees can enhance and complement the brand’s voice with a little personality while introducing the company’s culture. Oh, and it’s well documented that employee accounts have a much wider range than business accounts alone. Creating a sense of community among your colleagues can enhance your social presence.
Focus on the most B2B-friendly platform
As mentioned earlier, B2B companies need to make good use of their time when it comes to advertising. Based on a recent survey by the Content Marketing Institute, several selected channels are the “best” for B2B social media. We recommend that you prioritize one or two networks so that they are not too thinly distributed.
Hence, these are some of the ways to win the social media game in B2B marketing.