In today’s B2B marketplace, there are more customer touchpoints and communication channels available to connect with what is becoming a younger, more digitally savvy customer base. This new B2B buyer is looking for alternate ways to engage with distributors, and social media is near the top of their list.
Social media marketing pays dividends for businesses, when done right, as it establishes market credibility and brand awareness, and creates increased website traffic and lead generation. In fact, B2B social media engagement platform, Oktopost, says 80% of all B2B social media leads come from LinkedIn.
Direct benefits of social media marketing for B2B enterprises
While social media may not actively drive sales for B2B enterprises, the value rests in building a consumer’s interest over time. Social media is a soft tool that backs hard metrics, such as sales and customer retention. Here are more ways social media can directly benefit an organization:
- It builds online relevance and brand loyalty
- It acts as an established distribution channel for an enterprise’s content, ideas, and offers
- It generates brand advocates who offer additional PR opportunities by sharing your content and providing positive web mentions
- It aids SEO efforts with the use of third-party links, mentions, and related content
- It can drive new leads into the funnel when coupled with content offerings such as white papers, blog posts, factsheets, or other items of interest to customers
- It can serve as an educational tool to help buyers better understand your products and services
- It becomes another customer service channel to address buyer inquiries
Getting started in social media marketing
The best bet for starting a venture in the social media space is to present yourself across all the appropriate channels of social media for the B2B marketplace: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Also, don’t forget that YouTube is another worthwhile social media channel. Create a YouTube page and build a comprehensive product video library as a resource for buyers. These multiple touch points will help you reach and engage with the decision makers and influencers who form your customer base. From there you can develop specific marketing campaigns to reach even more targeted audiences. Start “socializing” today by following these basic tips:
- Commit to daily posts on each social media channel to start building your social presence
- Share interesting content that appeals to buyers like new products, promotions, and industry news
- Include links to content on your website, as well as from other sites, to build engagement and improve SEO
- Encourage employees to share content as well
There are many different ways to engage on social media, so continually change up the content to keep your social pages fresh and relevant.
Social Media Examiner found that more than 79% of marketing teams were able to increase web traffic by dedicating as little as six hours per week on social media marketing. So what are you waiting for? Invest a little time and resources to build this additional marketing channel and you’ll see big improvements in your businesses’ visibility, brand recognition, and customer leads.