Mastering messaging for the social continuum is a challenge for every brand. The time and investment in building that strategy, however, is worth the effort. Social networks, as you know, offer marketers an unprecedented amount of user data. Linking your brand’s message to that data is the key to success in social media marketing.
Social insights provide detailed insight into consumer problems and desires. Some networks – Facebook, for example – provide information that some marketers believe is more personal than necessary for the B2B sector, but we don’t necessarily agree. Our own Kevin Randall points out in his piece “It’s a Fact: Strong Brands Drive B2B Markets” that brands matter in B2B, perhaps even more than B2C, because it’s a realm often considered dry for its numbers and complex product needs. To create balance, the emotional drivers become highly important. Put another way, companies behave like individuals, making purchases based on irrational impulse.
Facebook’s insights into personal interest are not a bad way to connect with B2B buyers. Their professional interests and responsibilities often find their way into their profiles, where they can be reached by savvy B2B marketing.
LinkedIn provides an exceptional opportunity for B2B companies to connect with industry professionals. As the leading platform for shared business interest, it allows marketers to reach sets and subsets of people based on a variety of factors related to their profession. Highly niched B2B companies can find easy access to their target by using LinkedIn strategically. We posted previously about the benefit of LinkedIn Groups as a means for building trust with customers by facilitating discussion relevant to your products or services, and it is worth assessing how to intentionally apply your social messaging to the network for optimal impact.
Twitter, another highly popular networking tool for professionals, offers help to marketers in the form of lookalike targeting. B2B marketers can use it to target Twitter users who have recently interacted with their brand’s competitors or companies that offer services that complement yours. Shaping your own brand’s messaging to attract the attention of users targeted by this type of outreach will help you utilize Twitter data to your advantage.
Social data is one of today’s most powerful marketing tools. Mastering it for B2B companies is challenging, but offers many rewards (read: conversions) in the end. Good luck!
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