The advent of social media has transformed the way people communicate and interact with one another. It’s no surprise that companies have also started to adopt this technology, but does social media marketing work in the B2B marketplace?
While many people associate social media marketing with B2C (business-to-customer) marketing, social media marketing is now used by many B2B (business-to-business) marketers to improve customer relations and reach out to new prospects. Let’s take a look at how social media marketing for B2B works, why it works and how to implement it into your marketing strategy.
Table of contents
- What is social media marketing and how does it work?
- Does social media marketing work in the B2B marketplace?
- Why social media marketing works
- How to do B2B social media marketing
What is social media marketing and how does it work?
Social media marketing refers to any marketing which takes place on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. As a practice, it might include publishing written posts, photos, polls, memes, infographics and competitions, and can be done by individuals or an entire marketing team.
The way that social media works for marketing is that it allows businesses the opportunity to:
- showcase their products and services
- interact with customers
- listen to customer feedback
- source new leads
- keep in touch with existing clients
- boost brand awareness in an increasingly competitive marketplace
All in all, this contributes to stronger engagement between a company and its consumers, regardless of whether that company is B2C or B2B facing.
Does social media marketing work in the B2B marketplace?
One of the fundamental differences between B2B and B2C marketing is the way consumers and businesses are driven. While consumers are largely emotionally driven, businesses are rationally driven. Professionals are out to make clear, logical decisions when it comes to which brands they purchase and partner up with. This has an effect on the way social media is used by B2B marketers compared to B2C marketers. Here are some of the ways social media works in B2B:
Make connections
Whereas for B2C marketers social media can all be about getting your brand noticed and promoting a positive image to potential customers, in the B2B market, social media must serve a more solid purpose. It’s not enough just to promote a strong image; social media in B2B has to be used to inform and impress.
In B2B marketing, social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn provide a great way to get in touch with other professionals and showcase your business’s expertise online in a natural and organic way. 97% of B2B companies are using LinkedIn, while social sites like Facebook, which are perhaps seen to be more consumer-facing, can also prove useful to B2B marketers due to their wide reach.
Contribute to your overall web presence
Using platforms like LinkedIn is a great way to contribute to your business’s overall web presence. Having a consistently professional presence across multiple locations on the internet adds to your business’s credibility in the eyes of potential business partners and customers. By posting links to thought leadership pieces, you can also help to grow your traffic, ranking and brand visibility.
Bring in sales
Finally, social media can be instrumental in driving your target audience of departmental decision-makers, buyers and leaders towards your website for lead generation. This is a clear, simple way to signpost visitors to buy or get in touch with you and gather data so that you can reach out to them with more information on your offering. Your website is where other businesses will go to make informed decisions about working with your brand and register their interest.
Why social media marketing works
Social media marketing is beloved by marketing professionals because it’s cost-effective and relatively easy to implement. Social media marketing is comparatively easy to use for those who don’t have the budget for in-house staff, and it’s capable of reaching a wider audience than traditional print ads.
Social media marketing is also targeted because businesses and professionals who follow your social media pages are, generally speaking, probably already interested in your products and services. This means you’re not wasting advertising spend on people who aren’t listening.
If you stick to using social media for posts that offer genuine insight and utility to other businesses, social media marketing can be truly beneficial for both your marketing campaign and your audience. The power of your online presence as a B2B company will grow exponentially with time when you implement social media into your strategy.
How to do B2B social media marketing
Now that you have the basics of B2B social media marketing in place, let's take a look at some best practices that you can use to maximise the effectiveness of your strategy:
1. Create a clear social media strategy
The first step to creating an effective B2B social media strategy is to define your goals. Ask yourself: What do I want to achieve with my social media presence? Once you have identified your goals, create a strategy that will help you reach them. Consider things like the types of content you want to share, the channels you want to focus on, and the audience you want to target.
2. Tailor your content to your buyer personas
When creating content for B2B social media, it’s important to tailor your content to the buyer personas you’ve created. This means you should create content that will be of interest to your target audience, such as articles, blog posts, white papers and videos that provide helpful tips and advice.
3. Use visuals to engage your audience
Visuals are a great way to engage your audience on social media. Photos, videos, infographics, and other visuals can help to draw attention to your content and make it more engaging.
4. Monitor conversations and respond
Monitoring conversations on social media is essential for B2B social media marketing. Make sure you have the time and resources to track conversations and respond in a timely manner. This will help to build relationships with your followers and establish yourself as an expert in your field.
5. Analyse your performance
Finally, it’s important to track your performance and analyse the results. Use relevant metrics to measure your success, such as website traffic, conversions, and engagement. This will help you determine what’s working and what needs to be improved.
With the right strategy and these best practices, you can maximise the effectiveness of your B2B social media marketing efforts.
Takeaway
Social media marketing in the B2B marketplace isn’t completely different from B2C social media marketing; the key thing for marketers to remember is that businesses are sold on facts, not feelings.
Use your social media pages to showcase the real reasons why your brand is the best; if these don’t come easily to mind, perhaps it’s time to go back to the drawing board and build a marketing campaign that focuses on the true USPs of your products and services.
✏️Content creation is an integral part of social media marketing. Enquire about how Copify can provide content for your B2B business today.
Header image: Dole777
Embedded images: Sara Kurfeß, Alexander Shatov, Firmbee.com