Over the past couple of years, social media marketing has become increasingly popular with B2C companies. Although B2B businesses are a bit slower to adopt the trend, a growing number of B2B companies are realizing its power in building brand awareness and generating leads. However, from talking to a lot of B2B business owners, it seems that there’s a lot of confusion on how to make social media marketing works best for B2B business. Here, I’d like to share some of my learning.
When it comes to social media marketing for B2B business, a good strategy to keep in mind is to utilize the mindset of content marketing. This includes creating blogs, photos, videos, and other content to promote what you do. In fact, promote might be the wrong word; educate is probably more precise. Whether you’re creating short videos demonstrating how to use products on YouTube or sharing them on LinkedIn, the goal should be to educate potential buyers. If your content is exceptional, they will find you, remember you, and hopefully work with you.
The first question that a lot of B2B business owners ask us is which platform to use for social media marketing. Of course, not every platform is right for every business. You have to consider where your target audience goes online and decide accordingly. But generally speaking, there’re a couple platforms that in my opinion are essential for B2B business.
A blog is definitely one of the most important social media tools for a B2B business to establish your company as a thought leader. LinkedIn is another great platform for that and also to connect with potential sales leads. As videos are gaining popularity, YouTube is a great social media platform to educate your target market. And lastly, Google plus is one platform you do not want to ignore, as it can positively affect your search ranking. In the same vain, having a news blog with well chosen articles from varied sources benefits your SEO, as well as makes your site a destination for people in your sector and encourages repeat visits.
Another problem a lot of B2B business encounter is that after all their selected social media accounts are set up, they’re at a lost of what to post on there. That’s why it’s important to take the time to think about your goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics. First, you want to define your overall social media marketing goals (e.g. increase sales) and determine specific objectives (e.g. grow LinkedIn connections). Then you can develop your core strategy (e.g. create thought leadership content) and tactics (e.g. post new content 3 times a week). Once you have all that figured out, start using an editorial calendar will greatly help you to plan your content ahead and make sure you’ll never panic on what to post on your social media platforms.
