As a marketer, you may consider social media to be a key aspect of business to consumer marketing, especially when taking into account various data that suggests consumers are likely to buy from companies they’ve liked or followed.
However, social media platforms may also play an important role in B2B marketing. Modern marketers are developing their B2B campaigns to include social media, but what exactly are the benefits?
- The content you post on your social media accounts can actively contribute to your SEO efforts. Providing you’ve included a link back to your website, it will count towards raising your ranking.
- Your social media posts also have the capability to drive traffic to your company page, as long as you’ve put thought into your content and ensured your posts are relevant to your demographic.
- You’ll be able to use social media analytics tools in order to develop a better understanding of your audience, helping you serve them effectively.
How to run a B2B social media campaign that works
Integrating social media with your existing B2B marketing campaign doesn’t have to be a headache.
Step one: Understanding your demographic
As with any effective marketing campaign, you’ll need to have a relative understanding of your audience before making any decisions.
An in-depth customer profile will help you reach out to consumers in ways they’ll respond to.
When taking B2B into account, you’ll need to assess two potential audiences:
- The organisations: How will your product or service solve the problems of your intended business audience?
- The buyers: What can you do to convince them to invest in your solution?
Step two: Determine your goals
To determine your goals, you’ll need to ask yourself a number of questions relating to your campaign. For example:
- Does your campaign make connections?
- Are potential consumers joining your newsletter subscriber base?
- Are people asking questions about your product or service?
- Is your content shareable?
- What could you do to further increase your conversion rate?
Your overall goal will be to convert potential consumers and make sales, so it’s important to understand how social media could help your business achieve that.
Step three: Examine your metrics
As with any campaign, you’ll need to take note of the impact your efforts are having on your demographic. The simplest ways to measure effects are by value and volume.
- Volume metrics are based on user engagement. Data may show an increase in your follower base, frequent sharing, click-through rates or web traffic.
- Value metrics indicate outcomes, for example lead generation or sales. These are the goals you are working towards as a business.
This information can be used to establish your current position, for instance how many leads are being generated by your campaign. By establishing your current situation, you’ll have the data to determine exactly what needs to be changed.
Step four: Take your situation into account
Despite solid advice being readily available, content strategies don’t work on a ‘one size fits all’ basis.
Prior to setting up a campaign, analyse your goals, industry, resources and demographic. Understanding these dynamics can help you create a measure of your campaign’s success, in addition to showing how and where to use B2B social media marketing.
Whether you’re looking to boost the effects of your existing campaign or starting out from scratch, understanding how a strategic B2B social media initiative could improve your campaign will ensure you create positive, lasting effects on your networks.
Have you considered the benefits of a B2B social media campaign? We’d love to hear your ideas and success stories!
