In talks of social media marketing, business to business social media marketing is sometimes overlooked.
However, digital is the way of the future for companies that are doing business to business (B2B) services. Online sales meetings, conferences, and business decisions are becoming more common.
Do you have a social media strategy for your B2B brand? If you don’t, you’re passing on tremendous possibilities for relationship building. These are the kinds of contacts that may lead to rich contracts.
What is Business To Business Social Media Marketing?
B2B is an abbreviation for business-to-business. B2B social media marketing promotes items or services to business clients and prospects via social media networks.
Business to customer (B2C) marketers utilise social networks to contact consumers who are making personal purchasing decisions. To reach decision-makers, B2B marketers must think more strategically. They need to cultivate connections that can result in major purchasing deals.
Why Do You Need Business To Business Social Media Marketing?
Digital, mobile, and social media have become an indispensable part of people’s daily lives throughout the world. The internet currently serves over 4.5 billion people, while social media users have surpassed 3.8 billion.
Nearly 60% of the world’s population is currently online, and current trends indicate that by the middle of this year, more than half of the world’s entire population will be using social media.
People all across the world today rely on social media as a key source of information and news, whether they are consumers or commercial decision-makers. The fact that Millennials have surpassed Baby Boomers as the main demographic group is just as significant as the sheer quantity of people using social media.
Benefits of a Social Media Marketing Strategy for B2B Companies
Beyond the sheer size of the audience and the competitive advantage of establishing a social media strategy, there are several benefits for B2B marketers:
Personalisation
Buyers are searching for a more personalised approach as uninvited methods lose their efficacy. They may be interested in peer-to-peer contacts or suggestions, as well as communications that are tailored to their individual needs.
A buyer’s journey that sees them as a person rather than a job description is more successful.
Reach
Prospects and customers are already present on social media sites, thus the best approach for B2B enterprises to contact them is to be present where they are.
Customer Support
Because business moves at the speed of light, executives want to know they can obtain answers and help whenever they need it, regardless of time zones or holidays.
Customer service channels may now be accessed more quickly thanks to social media. Signpost to a video for a product demonstration, an informative blog piece, or a social network where they may ask a question and receive comments from their peers or the firm in question.
Collaboration
Social media platforms make it much simpler to share information, coordinate actions and establish professional communication networks.
Brand Promotion
Seeing a brand in many contexts helps to confirm a prospect’s perception of a company as a thought leader. It also boosts the know-like-trust factor.
Website Traffic Generation
A successful social media marketing plan provides enough content to entice prospects to visit a website to learn more about available items and services. They may even be prepared to offer personal contact information or seek an in-person follow-up.
Someone who requests to be reached is always more effective in terms of sales than any cold-calling or general advertising tactic.
Developing a robust B2B social media marketing plan is essential for both short-term and long-term profits.
A content marketing approach is used by 60% of the most effective B2B content marketers. In comparison, only 21% of the least successful are successful.
Let’s put you in the “most successful” category by examining how to create a B2B social media plan for your company.
Align your goals with business objectives
Every business to business (B2B) social media strategy, like a solid business to customer (B2C) strategy, should address the following two questions:
- What are the company’s business goals?
- What role will B2B social media marketing play in achieving these goals?
B2B marketers’ business objectives should most likely be longer-term in nature than those of B2C social media efforts.
The following are the top three overall aims for B2B content marketers:
- Increasing brand awareness
- To establish credibility and trust
- To educate the audience
All three of the main objectives contribute to social media B2B lead creation. As a result, it’s no wonder that the majority of effective B2B marketers emphasise the use of content marketing to nurture subscribers, audiences, or leads (73%).
Identify opportunities
A solid B2B social media plan outlines where the opportunities lie.
SWOT Analysis framework identifies your organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. It directs you to capitalise on your strengths, fix your weaknesses, grasp fresh opportunities, and limit risks.
Before implementing any new plan, conduct a SWOT Analysis to analyse your organization’s situation.
Strengths
Strengths are things that your business performs exceptionally well or in a way that sets it apart from rivals. Consider the benefits your firm has over competitors. These might include employee motivation, access to certain resources, or a solid set of production methods.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What do you excel at that no one else does?
- What values motivate your company?
- What resources, unique or low-cost, can you access that others cannot?
Then, flip your perspective and consider what your competitors could see as your strengths. What circumstances cause you to outperform them in the sale?
Remember that any part of your business is only a strength if it provides you with a clear advantage. For example, if all of your rivals offer high-quality items, then a high-quality manufacturing process is not a competitive advantage: it is a must.
Weakness
Weaknesses, like strengths, are fundamental characteristics of your business; thus, concentrate on your people, resources, systems, and processes. Consider what you could do better and what practises you should avoid.
Consider how others in your market see you. Do they detect flaws that you are unaware of? Take the effort to investigate how and why your rivals outperform you.
What do you lack? Be truthful! A SWOT analysis will only be useful if you collect all of the necessary information. As a result, it’s essential to be practical today and confront any unpleasant realities as soon as possible.
Opportunities
Opportunities are openings or chances for something wonderful to happen, but you must claim them! They often come from conditions outside of your business and necessitate a foresight into what could occur in the future.
They may occur as a result of changes in the market you service or the technology you utilise. The ability to identify and capitalise on opportunities may make a significant difference in your organization’s capacity to compete and seize the lead in your market.
Consider good prospects that you can take advantage of right away. These don’t have to be game-changers: even little advantages may boost your company’s competitiveness.
What interesting market trends are you aware of, large or small, which could have an impact? You should also keep an eye out for changes in government policy affecting your sector. Changes in social patterns, demographic profiles, and lifestyles can all present new opportunities.
Threats
Threats include everything that can have a negative impact on your firm from the outside, such as supply-chain issues, market fluctuations, or a shortage of recruits. It is critical to foresee risks and respond to them before you become a victim and your growth stalls.
Consider the challenges you’ll have in bringing your product to market and marketing it. You may discover that the quality standards or specifications for your items are changing and that you will need to update those products if you want to keep ahead of the competition. Evolving technology is both a threat and a source of opportunity!
Consider what your rivals are doing and whether you need to shift your organization’s focus to meet the challenge. But keep in mind that what they’re doing might not be the best thing for you. So, avoid imitating them until you know how it will help your position.
Get personal
All marketers should be aware of who they are attempting to target. B2B social media marketing is no exception. Personas, on the other hand, are used by slightly more than half (56%) of B2B content marketers to direct content production.
This provides you with an easy opportunity to go ahead. Incorporate best practices for B2B social media marketing and establish audience and buyer profiles. Your company structure most likely already caters to several customer personas. Or, at the very least, various client types.
You should, as a general rule, be where your consumers are. Begin with the overall demographics of social media. Then, conduct some audience research.
LinkedIn is used by almost all B2B content marketers (96%). They also ranked it as the best organic platform.
For paid social posts, the picture is similar but not identical. LinkedIn triumphs once more (80%). However, Facebook ranks higher than Twitter, and Instagram ranks higher than YouTube.
Separate channels may also be appropriate for various industries, goods, and markets. Depending on your sector and the size of your company, you may wish to consider: a news channel, a careers channel, a customer service account, or any other account that caters to a specific demographic inside your industry.
Best B2B Social Media Tools
Google Analytics
With Google Analytics, you can get a complete view of your B2B social media initiatives. Keep track of where your visitors are coming from and what they do when they get to your site. Make use of this information to fine-tune your plan.
Hootsuite
The second most popular technological tool for B2B content marketers is social media posting and analytics tools (81% ). Web analytics tools are the most popular (88%). Hootsuite satisfies both criteria.
Hootsuite allows numerous team members to manage various accounts in one spot. Track client inquiries and assign messages so that the appropriate member of your team, whether a community manager or a sales salesperson, can answer. The Hootsuite dashboard also makes it simple to assess social media effectiveness and demonstrate ROI.
Brandwatch
With over 95 million internet sources, Brandwatch provides a comprehensive view of the online debate. Track mentions, competitors, consumer sentiment, and more. Then, use your analysis to inform everything from product development to other business decisions.
Final Thoughts
B2B firms just cannot afford to avoid social media any longer. Whether you want to raise awareness or promote your content, the best practices listed above can assist lead your approach in the right direction.