Social media has an important role to play in B2B marketing: It can spur engagement, raise brand awareness, and enhance user loyalty. That ultimately means a higher lifetime value and lower turnover for your established customers.
However, when it comes to B2B social media, not all platforms are created equal.
Study after study has shown that certain social networks are much more effective for B2B than others. On the other hand, some have a specific use within a larger social media strategy.
Here’s how to make social media work for your organization:
Determine Where Your Audience Is
B2B social media requires more sophistication than B2C. In general, there are three places where you might find B2B prospects in the social sphere:
- LinkedIn: In LinkedIn Groups related to your area of expertise.
- Facebook: In Facebook communities and Pages for your industry.
- Twitter: Following influencers who operate within your market.
As you develop your strategy, emphasize ways that you can get your message in front of these select groups. That will save you time and money as you don’t have to trawl the entire network of billions to find people who need what you have to offer.
Create a Social Media Content Plan
Each platform offers its own publishing tools for communicating with your chosen audience. It’s up to you to use these in targeted ways that fit into your overall digital marketing goals.
For example, if you’ve uncovered three useful LinkedIn Groups, you may commit to publishing valuable answers to questions in them three times a week. You can also use your company page to publish thought leadership content to a broader audience in your network.
Your content should pass three tests:
- It should be tailored, in messaging and appearance, to the social platform.
- It should follow a consistent blueprint for how often you plan to publish.
- It should help you with lead generation, brand awareness, or other goals.
Analyze and Improve Your Social Strategy
These days, virtually all social media platforms come complete with their own analytics suite. You can use this to precisely target your audience and discover when and how they engage. It is also a gateway to reinforce your social content strategy with social ads. Ads often assist you in extending the reach of your best social media content.
Learn more about social media strategies by reading The Differences Between B2C and B2B Social Media Marketing.