Social networks have become part of our daily lives, both personally and professionally. However, 90% of companies are dedicated to the B2C sector when we think of successful strategies in these channels. For example, when a user wants and searches the web query: “help me write an essay for free,” the first thing he will come across is brands. Brand development is the task of marketing. In the last decade, social media has had a strong development.
Many B2B companies find it more difficult to integrate social media as an integral part of digital communication and still prefer traditional techniques such as cold calling. Incorporating inbound techniques for this type of business does not mean completely excluding the strategies that have been adopted and followed until now, but starting to implement this strategy to coexist. Using one does not exclude the other, but rather they complement each other.
A good B2B content marketing strategy should include a social media action plan that is integrated and consistent with the company’s communication. A good B2B marketing strategy is to do it through LinkedIn. Not using social media channels means missing out on important business opportunities. Next, let’s see how to structure a successful inbound strategy on social networks.
- Choose the right channels
Don’t think that social media is only useful for the hospitality, beauty, and esthetics sectors. The users on social networks are varied and varied; surely, a percentage of them could be interested in your products or services.
You only need to figure out how to get to them. The secret to this is to change the perspective. And that’s why you need to stop thinking about your company for a second and try to create useful content suitable for your audience. Putting the spotlight on potential customers can help you establish trust and build lasting relationships over time.
- Set goals and KPIs
Suppose you already understand why it is important for your B2B business to be present on social media. In that case, you probably already know which are the best channels to promote your business.
The first step to follow is to clearly establish what you want to achieve with your social media strategy: Brand awareness, increase traffic, and generate leads and contacts. The answers to these questions will help you identify which metrics to use to measure the impact of your actions.
If, for example, you want to increase the reach of your posts and reach a wider audience, you will need to take into account the following:
- Organic reach
- Paid reach
- Impressions
- Engagement
- Number of followers
If, on the other hand, you would like to increase the number of your leads, the metrics to use would be, for example:
- Number of clicks
- Number of leads coming from social media
- Conversions
Set the objectives and plan your strategy according to your goal, using an effective analytics tool to monitor all actions.
- Online advertising
We usually think of social networks as free tools. However, if you want to use this tool for your business and get the most out of it, you must consider it Paid Media.
The only effective tool for the content you publish to reach the right users is paid ads. In this case, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn have been developing criteria to define our audience more and more specific, so creating content aimed at a specific audience and aligned with our target audience is possible.
Inbound Marketing is about showing the right content to the right people at the right time. Therefore, social media ads are one of the best ways to achieve this goal.
At this point, there is no point in asking whether social media works for a B2B business model. You have to ask yourself which channels work best depending on the type of business and the audience you want to reach.
More and more B2B companies are choosing to use social networks other than LinkedIn. One of the best ways to find other channels besides LinkedIn is to see which ones your competitors are using to build a successful audience. Finding them is easy, as most companies have links to their social media profiles on the website itself.
Learn how to sell on social networks
As we have already mentioned, the main focus of a social media strategy should not be on leads. However, it is still very important to make sure that your social media efforts are paying off, especially for B2B companies. This is where social selling comes into play.
The sales process has significantly changed thanks to social media, and B2B companies are not immune to these changes. Today, consumers do not need companies to contact them to offer and discover new products and services. On the contrary, they are the ones who carry out 90% of the purchasing process on their own. They google for features, reviews and the best solution to their problems. And also in the B2B sector, buyers search for information on social networks beforehand, and then usually contact the company to resolve their doubts or questions.
Although LinkedIn is the leading channel for obtaining B2B leads on social networks, Facebook and Twitter are also effective for generating leads. Here is a breakdown of B2B leads generated through social networks in the last year:
- Linkedin 80%
- Twitter 12% of leads
- Facebook 6%.
In addition, the LinkedIn Social Selling Index (SSI) highlights four main elements to keep in mind:
- Establish your professional brand
- Find the right people
- Interact by offering information
- Build relationships
It’s already clear to you that implementing social media in your B2B company is critical. Now it’s your turn to develop a strategy that fits your business, to improve your online visibility, increase customer acquisition and increase sales.
