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When thinking about great social media campaigns that raked in thousands of clicks and views, most people would assume that they came as a product of B2C (business-to-consumer) companies.
However, that doesn’t mean that B2B companies do not exist or invest efforts into social media campaigns.
It’s just that they are in the minority. On top of that, many B2B companies rely on traditional methods such as cold calling and attending business networking events. If you don’t want your B2B business to do its marketing the old, intrusive way, keep reading to learn about some invaluable social media tips that will change your marketing approach in 2021.
Speaking directly to your audience
It is an unwritten rule of B2B social media marketing that speaking to a general audience brings no significant results. So, don’t try to approach this as if you talked to thousands of similar customers. Instead, focus on a specific group (your target audience) and use their language along with all the standard terms in your given industry.
On the other hand, this doesn’t mean that you should only use unnecessary technical jargon to address social media followers. Even though you run a B2B company, you should not show off through complex terms on social media pages. Marketing, in its essence, is the technique of communicating and connecting through communication. Social messaging needs to strive for clarity, and that sometimes means simple communication.
Followers will ask simple questions in your feed now and then. Treat those interactions as opportunities to connect and never put anyone down for asking a question, no matter how simple the questions are since building your online reputation remains one of the most important marketing strategies, with reputation management software being your most valuable asset.
Even if a person does not understand what B2B stands for, it would be best to explain it briefly. Make sure not to ignore it or make any negative comments.
You should have carefully considered and crafted your chosen brand voice when communicating with your audience. Should it be strictly serious? Can you play it up a little? It would boil down to the type of persona of your buyer and your brand identity. What’s very important to remember is that every team member should know this significant detail so anyone who speaks with a client can represent your brand like an ambassador and there will be consistency.
Automate, automate, automate
2021 will be all about efficiency. To succeed with marketing efforts, businesses will have to implement the right channels and be very efficient with each attempt. The truth is that more and more people have social media accounts, but that also means that an increasing number of new businesses try to tap into these platforms to reap maximum rewards.
Being efficient and cutting straight to the point will be necessary. Fortunately, with the right automation tools, you can make this happen. Social media campaigns require a lot of time, which means that marketing teams need to be active and consistent if they want to attract more customers.
For instance, it takes time to create and schedule Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter posts manually. But with a useful automation tool, you can create everything in advance and just schedule automatic posting. When you schedule Instagram posts, Facebook posts, and tweets with only a few taps and clicks, you will find that social media marketing is much easier and more effective.
With this efficient software application, it’ll be easier to create and schedule social media posts and attract more customers. What’s crucial is to check the metrics and insights to know if the content you created is gaining traction or if you need to tweak them. Using automation tools will be a great help in promoting your business on different social media platforms.
LinkedIn is saturated, but it still works
LinkedIn may be a bit saturated nowadays, but it is still a goldmine for those who know how to use it. Experienced marketers use LinkedIn to find their next business partners, introduce their companies to potential customers, and even attract top-notch talent to join their teams.
Many B2B companies are still unconvinced that LinkedIn is a great (and necessary) place for B2B digital marketing. However, there are a number of benefits that your business can reap by being on LinkedIn.
First of all, a lot of the data LinkedIn uses for ad targeting is sourced directly from their users. If used the right way, this precise, actionable, real-time, first-person data can get a company in front of its most valuable audiences.
The second most important benefit is that when a business uses LinkedIn for B2B marketing, it has the advantage of context. Contrary to platforms like Facebook and Instagram, where a user’s primary purpose is to have fun and communicate with their loved ones, users flock to LinkedIn to enrich their lives as business professionals. Maintaining a presence on LinkedIn needs to be a vital part of your overall social media strategy in 2021.
But just like with other social media platforms, it can be a bit overwhelming to do everything manually. So, it would also be wise to look into reliable LinkedIn automation software to make the most out of your efforts and simultaneously save valuable time.
Aside from LinkedIn, you may also use Snapchat for your business. This relatively new social channel is not limited to the young crowd. Even B2B businesses can benefit from its fun features. You can create a business account on the platform and run ads using engaging visuals that captivate your audience and make you go viral. What’s excellent about this platform is you can link most of your social media accounts and do a cross-post so you can reach a wider audience
Personalize offers
B2B means business to business, but even in this segment, just a bit of personalization can sometimes work wonders. Many marketers that prioritize LinkedIn state that B2B buyers respond to sales agents who connect them with relevant insights and opportunities. In this case, the emphasis is on the word relevant.
Social media ads can be powerful tools for marketers that can be used to target very specific groups of people. Take advantage of this to send messages to people in certain occupations, locations, life periods, and more. There are also ways to personalize organic messaging, but the main tip would be to focus on buyer personas before anything else.
Know that personalization is more than just addressing someone by their name in a message. With separate social media channels, you should create content that speaks to each target group differently.
Produce valuable content
To really stand out and add extra value for your followers, it is necessary to produce valuable content. It is important to understand what your target customers will find valuable and interesting, so consider their pain points and also learn about their business needs and their customers’ needs.
For example, if your company provides messaging tools for businesses, create content that demonstrates how your organization understands support teams’ challenges. Additionally, explain how your solution will help potential customers as well.
Take advantage of your market research reports, internal expertise, and other resources to create valuable blog posts, whitepapers, tutorials, and other forms of content to share on social media. The goal here is to build trust, reputation, and authority.
Retarget with B2B social media ads
Contrary to B2C, the B2B sales process is a lengthy one, taking time, patience, persistence, and buy-in from multiple parties. In addition, the organic approach in B2B marketing has its limits, but the vast majority of social platforms work on a pay-to-play model for brands.
And this is where paid social media ads can come quite in handy. For example, social media advertisements can help when it comes to follow-ups. Facebook and LinkedIn allow marketers to create custom audiences to target people already familiar with your company.
Personalize an ad message or show a value proposition to someone who’s visited specific webpages or engaged with your social media page. This can help you further engage your audience and get you one step closer to making a sale.
Final words
Gone are the days when you could question whether it is good to use social media to achieve B2B marketing success. Nowadays, it is self-evident that social media platforms are very important for B2B digital marketing.
Now is the time to figure out how you can make most of it and what you need to do to make it work for your business. Consider these tips carefully and see which ones could work for your company in 2021.