Does B2B Social media need any convincing today? Not
really.
When I ventured into marketing some 13 years ago, the
whole world of B2B marketing was different. Companies relied heavily on
brochures and such collateral, a lot of emphasis was given on website and SEO,
and a lot of energies were spent in creating solid email marketing programs.
Things slowly changed with the advent of social media and content marketing.
Today, the buyers don’t want to see your brochures. The
buyer is more educated and well-informed. She is searching for information
online and making her own decisions. Only after getting convinced, she
approaches the vendors. Yes, social media and content marketing has changed the
whole B2B sales scenario. No wonder companies are convinced that they not only have
to be on social media but also do it well.
At Midas Touch, the B2B Specialist Social and
Digital Marketing Agency, we help customers with their social media and content
marketing efforts. Based on my experience of working with several B2B companies
in various industry verticals such as technology, manufacturing, and
engineering, here are a few tips which I would like to share to ensure that your
social media marketing program is successful and delivers on its promise.
Putting these tips in simple lines below – if you need any
clarification on any of these, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter at @radhagiri
1.
Start
with a strong content marketing strategy – without a documented strategy; you
are preparing yourself for failure.
2.
A
good website is a must for deriving true value from social media marketing.
3.
Provide
answers to the questions which your target audience might have rather than
talking about your expertise and skills. Remember, helpful is new viral.
4.
Focus
on education rather than selling – nobody cares about your products and services. Your prospects are looking for solutions
to their business problems. Provide
those.
5.
Add
variety to your content if you want traffic from diverse sources.
6.
Have
a strong content promotion plan in place – Remember, “Content is king, but distribution is queen and she wears
the pants”.
7.
Don’t
debate on quality vs quantity – the point really is how well you can leverage
each piece of content which you create.
8.
Each
type of content has a different objective and its use, therefore, is different.
Don’t try to force fit.
9.
The
world’s most popular social network may not be the best one for your business –
identify the social networks which work best for you and your business.
10.
Don’t
hesitate to reuse the content – convert your whitepaper into a series of blogs,
or a PPT for SlideShare or an infographic. It’s absolutely fine to represent
the same content in different formats.
11.
Webinars,
podcasts, LinkedIn Groups are your secret weapons of marketing – don’t forget
to use them well.
12.
For
B2B companies, the personal branding of the top executives plays a key role – after
all, people connect with people, isn’t it?
13.
If
you are just starting with social media, don’t start with too much which you
cannot sustain and at the same time, don’t do too little that it will not show
any impact.
14.
B2B content marketing requires some key skills and
knowledge - don’t make the mistake of thinking that anybody can do it and don’t
have it as a side project.
15.
Have
a strong collaboration between teams – marketing, sales, and product teams need
to work together to make social media successful.
16.
Don’t
forget to leverage offline events on social platforms.
17.
Email
marketing works – but requires good planning, relevant message, and right
targeting.
18.
LinkedIn
is a great professional networking platform – make judicious use of status
updates, LinkedIn groups, and LinkedIn company page.
19.
Whitepapers
and eBooks are great choices to build an opt-in list and showcase your thought
leadership and expertise.
20.
Use
your employee network – today, marketing is not a job of only the marketing
teams. Encourage your employees to share and spread the word about the company
content and events.
21.
Identify
and engage with influencers – share their content, ask them feedback and
questions, and engage with them.
22.
Constantly
monitor the results – see how the efforts are delivering to the set objectives
and make tweaks based on the results.
23.
Do
social listening – know what people are talking about, what do they care about,
what are their problems. Use this information to tweak your social media
strategy.
24.
Don’t
use social channels for only self
promotions. Connect with others, provide value to them, share other people’s
content, and genuinely engage with people.
25.
Hire
experts who understand social media as well as B2B marketing to handle your
social media.
