It used to be that Social Media was widely believed to serve B2C companies best by increasing brand awareness and allowing for an additional channel of interaction with customers. That's why many B2B companies didn't pay too much attention to it.

It used to be that Social Media was widely believed to serve B2C companies best by increasing brand awareness and allowing for an additional channel of interaction with customers. That's why many B2B companies didn't pay too much attention to it.

For clarity: a B2C company sells directly to consumers, whereas a B2B company sells to other businesses.

For B2B companies, oftentimes, executives overlook the importance of social media and consequently allow it to remain less-favored than other operations like sales, fundraising, partnership development, and traditional marketing. 

As far as I know, it's rare to find a B2B company that truly grasps the importance of social media, and dedicates time and resources to create a thorough and meaningful social media presence.

However, companies that see the value in B2B social media will rate it as one of the most effective tools of their marketing strategy. 

Let's explore why, and how your company could benefit from a strong B2B Social Media Management strategy. 

Social Media in the B2B realm

Social media has quickly become one of the most powerful tools in the B2B marketer’s toolkit. And it’s no wonder why – social media is extremely effective in meeting a wide range of objectives, from building thought  leadership to deepening customer relationships and building an engaging employer brand.

B2B expectations for companies have changed. Several years ago, a B2B brand could get away with just a website and a LinkedIn company page. In the digital age, you want to be seen on at least one or two platforms by your customers, by your prospects and by your current and future employees.

Why? Simply because that's where they are. 

It's where they get industry news, find thought leadership pieces, get to know industry leaders, and make first contact with sales and human resources. If you don't have a B2B social media presence, then consumers are likely to move on to your competitors, and you may have a hard time finding reliable employees.

A study by Marketing Charts found that eighty-eight percent of marketers say social media strategy positively impacts the bottom line, but only 1 in 4 reports those results to their manager or team — and just 10% use social media data to inform business decisions. 

What outcomes can you expect from a strong Social Media Management strategy

A strong Social Media Management Strategy can help you:

1) Build Thought Leadership

2) Build an engaging Employer Brand

3) Generate leads for your business

4) Build relationships with your Customers

5) Drive traffic to your website

Let’s explore these outcomes individually.

Build Thought Leadership

I've been working in B2B Marketing since the early 2000s, and even then we were talking about how crucial it was to build thought leadership to attract qualified leads. This said, it's a lot easier said than done as it requires diligent and constant effort to develop engaging and thought-provoking content marketing your prospects will want to consume.

At the end of the day, good thought leadership content influences sales decisions and generates demand throughout the entire sales and marketing funnel and social media remains the best channels to showcase that thought leadership.

Build an engaging Employer Brand

You know how great your company is to work for, but not everyone is aware of that.

With the recent employment challenges we're experiencing, more than ever, your employer brand requires active marketing and promotion to reach the right candidates. 

Recent studies indicate that 59% of job candidates use social media to research companies they are interested in, meaning it's a place you must showcase a solid brand identity, tell your story, and promote your culture.

Social media is also a great tool to keep your workforce connected to what you’re doing. Tag them in content on your company-owned channels or even re-share company-related posts they’ve shared on their personal accounts—both actions can make your existing team members feel like integral, valued members of your company.

Generate leads for your business

According to a recent study by McKinsey, B2B decision-maker preferences and behaviors have shifted dramatically since the onset of COVID. Here are some highlights:

• 
  The tide has turned: digital self-serve and remote rep interactions are likely to be the dominant elements of the B2B go-to-market model going forward, when selling to both SMBs and large enterprises
• Don’t count on returning to a pre-COVID-19 level of in-person sales coverage, as only 20–30% of B2B buyers want to ever interact with reps in person even in their ideal/post-COVID-19 model
• 99% of B2B buyers claim they will make a purchase in an end-to-end digital self-serve model, with the vast majority very comfortable spending $50K or more online

Build relationships with your Customers

The use of B2B social media marketing offers customers a more human view of your brand, especially if you've been diligent about developing your brand voice. 

Engaging with your customers on social media provides insight into what they value and care about.

Drive traffic to your website

With landing pages, content downloads, and free demo signups, social media is essential to attract people to your website in your B2B marketing plan. 

When creating posts on B2B social media channels, delivering information or entertainment that is interesting or applicable to a large percentage of people is a more efficient strategy for converting followers into sales leads. 

How to get started with your B2B Social Media Management?

A full-scale B2B marketing strategy is composed of numerous elements: Strategy. Planning. Tracking results. And more.

Yet almost 60% of B2B brands don’t do all of that stuff in-house.

The vast majority of B2B companies get help with activities like keyword research, content writing, and social media management. Some choose to outsource work to agencies or freelancers for the more complex work. One way or another, nearly 60% of B2B brands enlist help from outside vendors for their marketing efforts.

Which means that just over 40% actually handle the end-to-end of their B2B marketing strategy in-house.

Not only can you fully outsource your B2B Social Media Management with us, but you'll work directly with proactive experts who live and breathe social.

We offer a turnkey and tailor-made service that gives you peace of mind so you can concentrate on developing your business.