Having worked in the business to business world for the past few decades, it is always interesting to see companies try to apply consumer-based principles directly to B2B programs.  While there is a component of B2C marketing that carries over to B2B, the tactics need to be applied in a way that makes sense for this particular business segment as well as the intended audience.

Take social media as one of the more recent examples.  A few years ago, our clients gave us questionable looks when we said we needed to get their social media profiles in order.  What could it possibly have to do their businesses?  They mainly target the industrial and electronics folks, which is a very engineering-focused crowd.

Keep proper perspective for B2B

Social media for our clients’ businesses is about more than building a community and pushing people to your website. It’s also like a modern day ‘corporate branding ad’ that helps define what the company is and generate overall awareness of the brand.

And it’s not really about starting a social movement, but rather showing you are a good social citizen.  Provide value content that is shareable, not just corporate dribble that sings the praises of your company.

The complexity of the B2B sale far surpasses that of consumer.  A flashy package or a celebrity endorsement won’t have the same sway as being able to show actual value-driven results. Businesses are looking for information that can be applied to its industry, its systems, its problems.

Benefits of social media for B2B marketing

The benefit of using social media in B2B comes from sharing credible content. When you post content, you should be thinking about how it will start a conversation with your audience. Will it turn into a larger contextual conversation or fail to launch into anything deeper?

Consider these questions when deciding what to share:

• What challenge are you addressing?
• Are you providing concrete data to aid in the decision making process? (Fluff doesn’t fly!)
• How are you making things easier (faster, better, cheaper, etc.)?
• How can they get more information?

Why you should consider social media

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat… there are still some very “social” social media platforms. Don’t ignore them if your customers are there, but remember to prioritize efforts.

LinkedIn is an increasingly useful place to start a conversation in a business context.  It can still be wrought with shameless self-promotions, but there are useful insights if you can find the right groups and follow the right people where true information is being shared and problems are being solved.

On any platform, it’s not about your number of followers necessarily, but creating compelling content that others are interested in and feel is of value enough to share with their own network.  Social media or not, this should be a solid principle in any communication you are crafting!

What other platforms make sense for B2B

Do you have a blog? We hope so, but keep in mind a blog should not just be rehashes of regular news, product and company updates.  It should be a platform where your company can provide insights and reactions as well as discuss trends and processes.

And it doesn’t need to be a daily activity. It just needs to be consistent and informative.  Once or twice a month is ideal to start, and if you want the best SEO results, make sure it’s a few hundred words with relevant key words and phrases used throughout that apply to your business as well as the audience you’re trying to reach. (Think natural language search- what will prospects type into Google?)

Then there’s Pinterest (yes, Pinterest) which, if done correctly, has validity as an engineer’s design board.  Instead of pinning crafts and recipes, design engineers can pin system, solution or application ideas that could help in a future project. The first step on your part is to get the information up there.  And it’s really quite simple if you can integrate it into your existing social media upkeep. (Post a product announcement to your site, FB and Twitter?  Make sure a mention is on Pinterest, too!)

Content to support your brand

Social media for the business to business world is not about web traffic.  It’s about branding, branding, branding and is a growing part of a successful marcom strategy.

So instead of looking for followers and likes, look for the conversation happening without you.  You want industry influencers to retweet you and repost your information. By providing interesting and useful content, you’ll be remembered as a resource that provided value, and that will be remembered far longer than offering the latest and greatest, industry’s best thingy-majig.