Especially in B2B marketing, social media exists in a strange place: its immediate impact on business isn’t always clear, yet it seems like something that should be done. But is it? Today, let’s take a look at how B2B brands can use social media to make a meaningful impact on the bottom line. It all starts with an understanding of what social can and cannot do.
Many B2C companies rely on social sales, but B2B purchases aren’t usually made because of a single Facebook post. Any B2B company that expects a standalone social media campaign to translate directly into sales will be disappointed.
Social media can be used to target potential clients, but to truly move those prospects through the sales funnel, social needs to be supported by other tactics like conversion optimized websites, content marketing and email nurturing. Social media should be thought of as one piece of a much larger marketing puzzle.
Social media can be an excellent tool for brands that want to build awareness among a highly targeted group of customers and strengthen their reputation through thought leadership.
Social media can help you share your expertise and ideas with the individuals who care about them most. Those ideas may spark conversations that can be used as jumping off points for lasting relationships that, if nurtured appropriately, can turn into sales. B2B marketing is all about relationships, and social media creates a venue for those relationships to germinate and grow.
To truly maximize social media’s thought leadership and relationship building potential, be sure you’re focused on the the channels that are best matched to your goals. LinkedIn is particularly well-suited to hosting long-form thought leadership pieces from your team members. Channels like Facebook and Twitter allow you to share links to your thought leadership pieces and other content, and your engaged followers can then discuss them with you share them more widely.
Any social strategy must work to strengthen other elements of an integrated marketing campaign, and be open to change as your marketing team reviews its performance. The best social media efforts are cross-channel optimized and developed based on data insights from past campaigns. Is your business following these best practices and launching social strategies with an understanding of what they can and cannot accomplish?
Photo credit markus spiske via Flickr Creative Commons
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