Social Media Marketing: Tips for Reaching B2B Customers

Should B2B (business-to-business) companies market on social media? While it’s true that many B2B products don’t have mass appeal and may have a smaller customer base than their direct-to-consumer counterparts, B2B brands can still use social media marketing to reach customers and prospects.

3 Ways Social Media Marketing Can Help Your Commercial Business

Social media marketing is essential for B2C and B2B organizations alike, whether you want to learn more about an audience, keep your marketing costs in check, or simply develop an honest dialogue with your potential customers. Because many B2B companies have niche audiences, social media, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or even Tik Tok, can be used to build strong, collaborative relationships and to position products. In other words, B2Bs that use social media can get the right message to a precise audience in a timely manner. 

Specifically, social media marketing can assist with the following:

1. Social media gives you insight into your customers. By interacting with the audience online on a regular basis, you uncover their immediate needs and questions. Facebook and Instagram allow you to broadcast live and take comments and questions from the audience. Could there be a better way to find out what’s on your customers’ minds?
2. Social media can help drive sales with improved ROI. Creating a LinkedIn post doesn’t cost much, and posting valuable content that answers your audience’s questions can reap big rewards. By focusing your efforts on creating targeted content, you can attract specific customers and direct them through the buying cycle. Plus, organic messaging, which means any social media post that you don’t pay to promote, is a low-cost way to reach a prospective customer.
3. Social media engages, teaches, and connects. Engaging with your audience in a conversational manner and highlighting your brand’s personality—which visually driven channels like Tik Tok, Instagram, and YouTube excel at—can help you gain a loyal following and build trust, all of which can translate into new leads and new business. The more people who follow you, the more people see (and possibly share!) your message.
4. Social media lets your audience uncover what makes your business unique. Your story and your team differentiate your business and/or product from everyone else in your industry. You know why you started your business and what it took to get off the ground—but do your prospects understand how that influences the product or service you sell today?

How to Market a B2B Company on Social Media

Social media marketing is more than simply sharing an occasional thought or photo. If you’ve never done it before, here are some guidelines to consider.

• First, review the social media channel. Spend some time as a consumer familiarizing yourself with the content and the type of content that you’re drawn to. 
• Next, take a look at what your competitors are doing, but don’t copy them. You only need to get an idea of how they’re interacting with your target market. Read comments on their YouTube videos and their Facebook posts. See how they present their work on Instagram.
• Decide what you want to achieve with social media. While “closing sales” might be your number one target, it may not be a realistic expectation for your first-ever social media marketing effort. Instead, consider setting a goal of generating awareness or developing relationships. Determine what you want to accomplish with social media marketing and orient your goals around those findings.
• Lastly, create your own distinguishable brand voice to set yourself apart from other B2B brands in your industry, and then make a commitment to share that voice! Build a calendar of what you’ll post and when. Posting regularly on social media can position your company as the helpful, knowledgeable authority in your space. This strategy can, over time, grow your audience and may become a means of generating qualified new leads. 

The Best Social Media Platforms for B2B Companies

Still not sure which social media sites will work best for your business? Begin with one of the following, where you’re most likely to find your competition and other B2B companies: 

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a great networking site for B2B marketers since it boasts the largest professional network in the world, with more than 774 million members in 200 countries. 

On LinkedIn, you can connect with decision-makers, educate prospective customers, and build your professional network. You can also generate leads by showing your expertise, participating in conversations, and joining industry-specific LinkedIn groups. 

If you’re new to LinkedIn, start by creating a personal profile and a business profile—then reach out to people you know and ask them to join your network. After you’ve done that, expand your reach by connecting with the decision-makers of prospective companies.

Twitter

Twitter is an effective platform for B2B marketers to communicate with their target audience. Although the platform turned 15 in March 2021, it’s still growing with roughly 199 million daily active users. 

How can B2B marketers use Twitter to their advantage? Twitter gives you direct access to your prospective customers. You can engage in conversations, interact with potential buyers, and follow people in your target market. 

You can also use Twitter to uncover the specific needs and pain points of your audience. By searching for industry-specific hashtags, you can engage in conversations with others and demonstrate your experience. You’ll also gain insights into how your target audience thinks and uncover what they want. As you continue to follow this strategy, you’ll build a loyal following of people who will like and trust your brand. 

YouTube

More and more B2B marketers recognize the power of video marketing, which makes YouTube a good platform for new marketing strategies. With more than 2 billion monthly users, YouTube may be the perfect place for sharing insightful behind-the-scenes videos that give an inside look at your company’s processes or explainer videos that demonstrate the value of your products. 

Other benefits B2B marketers can experience from YouTube include:

• Expanding your audience
• Strengthening your company’s brand
• Boosting your search rankings
• Building a loyal following

The key to YouTube success: posting content on a consistent basis. Remember, however, you’ll need video to use this channel. If photos are more your thing, consider Instagram instead.

The information provided in this post does not, and is not intended to, constitute business, legal, tax, or accounting advice. All information, content, and materials available in this post are for general informational purposes only. Readers of this post should contact their attorney, business advisor, or tax advisor to obtain advice with respect to any particular matter.