Social Media Management for B2B Companies

B2B marketing has undergone significant changes in recent years.  Social media is no longer part of a digital marketing strategy that companies can neglect; it is an integral aspect of it.  With good management of these platforms, you can increase the quality of your leads and ultimately grow your business.

Social media at its core, enables you to reach people and build connections. This is what makes it an effective tool to use. B2B marketing has been injected with a sense of fun, moving away from its prior somber, dry and relatively boring take on appealing to the corporate world. Through developing your social media presence, you will be able to invoke a personality to match your brand. This brand culture is what will appeal to people and help build your relationships with them.

Your B2B Social Media activity, therefore needs to cater to your industry, your customers and your employees. Managing your platforms from this standpoint will sum up your business’s ethos well by showcasing its positioning in the community. Any advocacy and networks you can leverage will be beneficial. This, in addition to the solutions you provide is what will attract other businesses to you, who want to work with like minded businesses.

Part of devising your Social Media strategy will include platform selection. When it comes to B2B marketing, the main platform to use is undoubtedly LinkedIn - and 93% of B2B’s agree. It has over 660 million users and where you will find your best caliber of potential customers. When utilised effectively, this translates into high quality leads. Social Media heavyweights Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and even Pinterest could follow.

In terms of the content to share on your B2B Social Media platforms, incorporate what you are working on. Let people in on exciting projects, products or services you have available. When greatness is achieved, share that in a sincere way as a celebration of your achievements. When showcasing this, engage with those who show interest. When sharing anything, remember that it is content that your business needs to approve of publishing, meaning that it needs to be prepared and presented in the highest quality possible.

In getting to the ‘social’ part of social media, your business should aim to collaborate. This works across the board of people you’re targeting, from sharing partnerships you have to your business customer success stories. You can also provide insight into the working culture at your business and show how your business fits into the industry and community at large.

Social media managers need to keep abreast of the latest social media trends. That includes a surge in video content, which can be highly effective for your B2B. Consider multi-modal means of communicating with your audience, from webinars to animated videos. This should feed into your digital marketing strategy (including content marketing) as a whole, with social media as a tool to help boost it.

If your business is unable to effectively manage your social media, it is wise to seek the assistance of an agency. These external experts can be brought on to help with all aspects of your social media on an ongoing basis, or for specific campaigns that can help get your started and trained. They will have an in-depth understanding of your industry and niche, as well as the tools and software needed to share effective content that appeals to both potential and actual customers.

Social Media Management Includes:

• Conceptualisation of campaigns
• Content creation
• Scheduling
• Advertising
• Community management
• Analytics

Effective Social Media Management Strategies:

• Personification: Treat the business you’re working with as more than just a business. Take a people-first approach and appeal to the employees and the values of the brand. This is what will help you to develop stronger connections with your audience. Some tips on how to do this include directly messaging people and sending out personally addressed emails instead.
• Advertising: Advertising can boost your business’s social media efforts, regardless of how much you have the spend. It needs to be justified and viewed as a crucial part of your budget for digital marketing. The account manager needs to develop specified groups to target and create ads that will resonate with them. This will expand the reach of your brand, as relying on organic algorithms may stifle your social media efforts. 
• Support: Social media is a supportive space when it comes to B2B dealings. As mentioned above, collaborations are of high value. Show your support through engagement with others, offering assistance wherever possible and by being consistent. Your ability to be responsive and post consistently shows the value you place in these relationships, as well as your commitment and reliability - this perception will translate into your business operations.
• Optimisation: Of course, good management includes having the knowledge of how to optimise the content that you share on social media to achieve the highest possible results. By being relevant and seen to be relevant by search engines, your business will be easier to find by people, resulting in more traffic and leads. The manager should work in line with best practices and develop brand specific hashtags and keywords.

Making your B2B social media strategy a primary means of your digital marketing will help you to secure more leads. By having effective management in place, you can expect business growth and a trusted presence in the B2B community.

Let’s talk about your B2B social media.

Contact us at Nexa, your full house digital agency, ready to help you in all aspects of digital marketing.