Is Social Media a Relevant Tool for B2B Marketers?

social media

To give you a quick answer to the title of this blog post, the answer is a definite yes. Whether you are a social media guru or a newbie, your business will more than likely benefit from a social media presence.

A sales prospect in the beginning stages of the decision making process is doing a great deal of research to measure the validity of your product or service. A majority of this research, approximately 90%, is conducted digitally. Depending on the product or service you are promoting, your social media platforms can be just as valuable and educational as your website, possibly even more. Another thing to keep in mind is that the number of younger buyers is slowly increasing. Millennials and Generation Z hold the majority in monthly active social media users so that’s something to consider when putting together a strategy.

 

The Benefits of a Sound Social Media Strategy for B2B marketing:

– Increased website traffic

– Brings brand awareness

– Directly connects and stays in touch with customers

– Ability to interact and begin developing real, authentic relationships with potential prospects

– You control what type of content you want to share, how often you post, which platform to use, etc.

– Leverage user-generated content: share on social media, website, email campaigns, mailers, etc.

 

What to Ask Yourself Before Getting Started

When beginning a new social media strategy, it may help to look at what your competitors are doing. What are others in your niche doing and does it appear to be working? How can you improve on it? Also, ask yourself what sets you apart from your competitors. Use that to your advantage as part of your strategy on social media.

Now let’s dive into the platforms B2B marketers should be looking at.

 

LinkedIn

The #1 social media platform for B2B marketers is LinkedIn, hands down. Due to its channel promotion and ad capabilities, in addition to its aptitude for organically promoting content and easily connecting people, LinkedIn is certainly the most effective tool for B2Bers.

LinkedIn has slowly been rolling out new features that will accommodate a successful B2B social strategy and overall, will enhance the LinkedIn experience. Some of these features include:

– Document and presentation uploads

– Lookalike Audiences

– Audience Templates

– Interest Targeting

When it comes to setting up a promotion on LinkedIn, sure you can choose the location, age range and other standard demographics, but what makes it unique is that the platform now allows you to choose specific industries for your targeted audience. This ensures that the exact type of people you want to see your ad, will actually see it.

 

Facebook for B2B marketing

Facebook has a great ad platform called Facebook Business Manager where you can easily set your budget and your target audience to run ad campaigns and boost posts, which can also be promoted to Instagram. Facebook also succeeds when it comes to link clicks and website traffic. As many of our clients agree, Facebook is probably the most commonly sought after social platform.

 

Twitter and Instagram for B2B marketing

Other platforms that fit into some B2B social media strategies are Twitter and Instagram. Twitter is a fast and easy way to strike up a conversation with new and old customers, industry experts and thought leaders. This platform also opens the door to finding prospects to connect with and develop authentic relationships. Twitter can also be utilized as a research tool. You can easily search hashtags and trending topics as well as content and topics that are commonly being shared within your industry.

Instagram has about 1 billion monthly active users. The photo-sharing app gives a different type of opportunity for B2B marketers on social media. We find that companies from various industries get a little more personal on this platform and prefer to share their company culture. Instagram Stories is a fairly recent addition and has been growing in popularity. These Stories exist for only 24 hours before disappearing and because of this, they create a sense of urgency for followers [customers and potential leads] to pay attention and act upon these posts.

 

So what’s the difference between running a social media program and running a successful social media program? Years of social media marketing knowledge, experience and resources that only a professional can provide. If you need help building a successful social media strategy, or want to learn more on how it can benefit your business, give CGT Marketing a call today!