Facebook’s new Graph Search is the epitome of combining search and social for optimal benefit, the topic of this month’s discussion here on the blog. The targeting capabilities for marketers became more robust with this tool, and if you haven’t tried it yet, we recommend doing so. Targeting potential leads through social is becoming easier all the time.
B2B marketers should not assume a Facebook tool won’t apply to them. Graph Search has been heralded for its speed and ability to understand complex queries and provide relevant results – attributes perfectly suited to B2B needs.
For companies looking to discover and respond to their target customer’s pain points, Graph Search offers direct access to user commentary on any particular product, service or niche. The nature of the content is highly personal, including posts about customer feelings that exist only on Facebook. This allows marketers to cut to the chase when figuring out what consumers really want or need.
It is important to remember that Graph Search varies for each person using it, depending on his or her connections and various network privacy settings. Only posts listed as “public” or “visible to friends of friends” will show up in results. For that reason, it might be useful to have your whole department collectively join in the research. A small B2B company might have to consider employing a larger social media management company if it is comprised of only one marketing professional.
For the creative marketer, there are a variety of ways to use Graph Search for B2B. A search determining what hobbies your fans enjoy, for example, will tell you what company culture photos to post to make them feel engaged. It might seem disingenuous to some, but it works – and it allows you to easily give customers what they will, literally, “like.”
Have you tried Facebook’s Graph Search for your business? How did it work to your advantage?
(Image credit: Kelsen06)
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