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Even though social media has been a huge part of our lives for years now and has become a key marketing tool, there are still some B2Bs that have largely remained hold outs. They still think it\u2019s more for B2Cs and aren\u2019t quite sure how to leverage it. The truth is, social media is an important platform for all companies today, regardless of industry.<\/p>\n
People are checking social media sites on a daily basis, if not more frequently than that. No matter what products you sell or services you offer, your target audience members are browsing social sites which means that you need to have a presence there. Here are some tips for those B2Bs that are just getting started with using social media as a marketing tool:<\/p>\n
What makes social media different from many other forms of marketing is that it is a two-way medium. Users are supposed to be \u201csocial\u201d after all. It essentially gives customers, clients, and other followers a voice and a way to share information about the company. While this might seem scary, B2Bs need to embrace this by actively engaging in a dialogue and having public conversations with consumers. These conversations are going to be happening anyway, so it\u2019s better for the company to be aware of them and responsive.<\/p>\n
Like any other marketing initiative, it\u2019s necessary to have a strategy in place. While it\u2019s OK to post on social media on a whim for personal use, every public post on behalf of a company should be created strategically. Know what you expect to achieve out of a social media strategy and work towards those goals and analyze success. Social media obviously takes time and resources to do well and it may make sense to hire an in house person or outsource the work to a trusted agency.<\/p>\n
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\nFor B2Bs, it makes sense to focus social media efforts on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, however it\u2019s important to look for additional opportunities that might be available within a specific niche. Due to their popularity, there can be lots of noise on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Yes, LinkedIn has a business focus, which is key for B2Bs, but there\u2019s still a lot going on. A niche social network has a much more narrow focus and improves the odds that your voice will be heard.<\/p>\n
A big part of social media is sharing. Of course it\u2019s important to share the content of others in order to build relationships, but to get the most out of social media a B2B should be sharing their own content. Do you have any? Start a blog, contribute blog content to other blogs, and upload videos and podcasts. This is all content that can be shared via social media and keeps a social media page interesting. In addition, it ties back into an SEO strategy. When a link is shared in social media it generates traffic back to the site and helps to improve social signals, which is an SEO ranking factor. If the search engines see that a piece of content is receiving a lot of social media traffic, it tells the search engines that the content is valuable.<\/p>\n
The goal of an online marketing campaign is to develop trust (among target audience members and the search engines) over time. In order to develop that trust in social media you need to be consistent. This means sharing content and communicating on a regular basis. Business social media accounts should be checked at least once a day, and much more frequently for larger companies that have an active social media following. You don\u2019t want to promote your social accounts, gain followers, and then essentially ignore them or leave them wondering what the point of following you is. In today\u2019s day and age social activity is something that prospects take into account when deciding which company to hire. A company that isn\u2019t active in social media or doesn\u2019t even have social media profiles can be viewed as out of touch and dated.<\/p>\n