There’s a false belief that social media as a marketing tactic is meant for businesses to find consumers, not other businesses. What many B2B brands don’t realize, however, is that every business owner and purchase manager is a person who uses social media daily to meet their own needs, as well as the needs of their business. So, the truth is, social media is the perfect place for B2B companies to find and engage with their audience and maximize their leads.
There are “must do’s” and “must do not’s” when it comes to building a social media strategy…
First, it’s important to remember that last word: strategy. Using social media randomly, when you think about it, and without any plan in mind is a recipe for disaster. Having a formal written down strategy and using the data you collect to further and better align your goal, is the only way you can succeed long-term. The strategy is also needed for analysis. Does your social growth strategy align with your B2B goals? Take into consideration the following list for optimal B2B growth from social media.
Write Content That Provides Value
You could share multiple posts a day, but unless they’re providing something of value to your readers, you’re probably going to lose engagement rather than gain it. When you’re creating content with the goal to engage, it’s important to ask yourself whether what you’re writing is one of the following:
- Is it relevant to your readers and to the potential clients you want to attract?
- Is it providing something educational or answering a frequently asked question?
- Is it meant to inspire your audience? Perhaps you want them to feel happy, motivated, or connect with a special cause.
There are lots more ways you can build great engaging content, but if you’re struggling to build something interesting or wondering if it’s going to deliver the way you intend, come back and ask yourself these questions.
Keep it Professional
Keep your personal life off of your social media or limit it as much as possible to what’s relevant to your business. With B2B, it’s a little different and unless you’re promoting yourself as your brand, then the posts with your morning hike should be left to your personal page (unless of course, you can link that hike back to your business, say perhaps, a post on achievement).
Stay Consistent
The content you share, the branding and images you use, and other strategies you set in place should remain consistent and predictable to your audience. Even the tone of your posts should try to follow the same consistency so that your audience begins to build trust and expectations of your brand.
You should also try and share your posts at the same time each day and on the same days to continue this trust. If you do end up skipping a day, just remember to pick up where you left off without dwelling on it or letting too much more time pass by without putting out content.
Optimize Your Social Media Profiles
Your brand should be easy to find across all platforms, so using the same account names and the same branding images is important. Remember that your social media profiles are a direct reflection of your business. Treat it like a storefront and try and keep it as close to your branding as you can.
It’s also important to make your website as easy to find through search results (on Google or through the platform itself, such as Facebook search). Use images and keywords within your profile and the social media posts you make that are relevant to your brand and industry and link back to your brand.
Use a Call to Action
Posting every day and thinking up great content for your readers might eventually grow your audience and result in some engagement. It’s important, though, that you have a fantastic Call to Action (CTA) in your social media posts that will compel your followers to click the link, share your post, or engage in another way. You shouldn’t expect them to know what you want them to do. Just asking can go a long way to developing engagement on social media, yet only about half of B2Bs use a CTA on their social media.
Some examples of great CTAs for a B2B brand’s social media posts (that work!) include:
- Adding a “Learn More” button to your social media advertising campaigns. Simply adding “learn more” to your posts and pasting a link to your relevant article/web page can go a long way.
- “Shop Now” is another popular and top performer when it comes to CTAs.
- Asking a question at the end of your post. Even “what do you think?” will promote readers to engage.
- Sentence length CTAs are also quite popular and effective in gaining engagement organically without seeming to beg for attention. An example of a sentence CTA would be “read our latest blog post on digital marketing to find out more about Call to Actions.”
Boost Your Posts
It is always a great idea to increase your reach and generate more B2B leads with paid social advertising. Since you have created that engaging content that your target audience wants to read, digital campaign management is the way to spread brand awareness. When it comes to paid campaigns, detailed targeting and optimization is necessary for best results. Today, digital campaign management, multi-channel data funneling and optimization solutions present deep audience insights for better conversion rates.
What’s Next?
Social media can be a saving grace for your B2B business, especially if you use it effectively to engage with your clients and potential customers. Your business is online which means there’s a high chance that your target audience’s business is too. Find them, follow them, and above all else: engage with their content! By showing that you value what they have to say, you’re likely to have them return the feeling back to your brand.
Building a social media presence takes time, but it’s worth the return on investment when you see how much it can positively impact your lead generation!
Now that you’ve increased your leads, it’s time to turn them into real conversions and long-term clients. Outlasted Data can help you grow your B2B business using real-time data to achieve measurable results. Reach out to get the conversation started today.
