Social media marketing – surely that’s B2C territory, nothing us B2Bs need to concern ourselves with, surely?
If that’s your attitude, your business is already on the back foot.
But fear not, we are making it our business to put you back in the race with ATTAIN’s quick guide to why, where and how you should be investing in social media to put yourself ahead of your competitors.
Why?
We know B2B purchase decisions are driven by logic and financial incentive – compared to the emotional and spontaneous decisions often made by members of the public.
Yet the age-old adage that ‘people buy from people’ still stands in B2B marketing. Marketing to a business customer is the slow burn of growing relationships and trust – and social media can help you to do just that.
Twitter and LinkedIn are the perfect platforms for reputation and relationship building. Developing personal profiles of key staff within your organisation can provide an authentic voice that prospects can connect with.
Social media also provides an invaluable market research tool to identify potential customers and keep an eye on the what the competition is up to at the same time. Social media listening cuts both ways keeping you informed of your business customers are saying about your own brand and sector, too.
Where?
Long gone are the days when LinkedIn and its relentless email notifications was a joke in the burgeoning social media world.
As the top professional networking platform, LinkedIn with its over 500 million users is the natural home for thought leadership insights and company updates – as well as targeting potential business prospects by exploiting the platform’s search tool.
Don’t forget, Facebook and Twitter are your friends too. With 3.33 million active users logging onto Twitter every day, it would be mad to miss out on the opportunity to make connections and spy on the competition.
How?
According to the Content Marketing Institute, 85% of B2B marketers say lead generation is their most important content marketing goal.
Use social media to amplify your organisation’s voice in your industry by sharing thought leadership pieces, sector news and information that will be of use to your prospects – that, crucially, link back to your website to generate web traffic.
Don’t shy away from details and complex areas – you are talking to people with in-depth industry knowledge so be proud of your expertise. They want to know that you know what you are talking about before embarking on a contract that could last years.
Make your LinkedIn homepage part of your sales pitch rather than a dry description of company history so prospects are excited to visit your website to find out more.
Discussion Groups should be leveraged for engagement and content distribution. Starting your own group gives your brand added stamp of authority.
A word of warning: B2B social media is a role which requires skill, insight and stellar messaging – it is not necessarily a job for the member of staff who qualifies for the job simply by being the youngest in the office!
If you don’t have the expertise inhouse to run responsive and creative social media campaigns, talk to ATTAIN’s super social media squad like women’s networking group FubHub and IT service specialists Keytech did.
ATTAIN offers a range of social packages to reach businesses across Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. Our social media account managers will work with you to design a bespoke package that works for you and your audiences.
Contact the team today.
