How to Use Social Media in Your B2B Marketing

Social media for B2B companies has become a central component of their marketing strategy.

The growth of social media platforms has made it possible for businesses to reach millions of prospects and customers and interact with them in a direct and personal way. Not only that, but social media provides a wealth of valuable insights into the behavior and preferences of customers, which can help you inform and improve your marketing strategies.

Social Media is No Longer Optional

In the past, social media was seen as an optional addition to a organizations’ marketing efforts. However, today it is an essential component of any successful marketing strategy. According to a study by the Content Marketing Institute, 84% of B2B marketers are now using paid social for their content marketing efforts (more on this below).

One of the biggest benefits of social media for business is the ability to reach customers directly and engage with them in real-time. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn provide businesses with the opportunity to share their products, services, and company culture with potential customers. This allows businesses to build their brand and establish a relationship with prospective employees, prospects and customers. But truly effective social media is about engagement. Social media provides a platform for businesses to receive real-time feedback from prospects and customers, respond to questions, and even resolve issues right in front of everyone.  This shows publicly that you care about your customers and are responsive to their needs and concerns.

Using Social Media for Market Insights

Gaining insightful knowledge on the behavior and preferences of prospects and customers is another significant advantage of social media. You can utilize social media as an additional method of gathering market insights given that social media platforms gather a variety of information about users, including their interests, activities, and demographics. How is the content you are sharing being received and engaged with by your target audience? This could assist in guiding your content strategy. And this is just one simple illustration of how companies can use social media to better understand their target demographic and develop more successful marketing campaigns.

Going Deeper in the Funnel

Social media provides businesses with the opportunity to create and promote content that is tailored to the specific needs and interests of their target audience. By using a combination of images, videos, and written content, businesses can effectively educate their audience about their products, services, and brand. Additionally, social media platforms offer a range of targeting options, allowing businesses to reach their ideal audience with precision.

While brand awareness and audience education are important, they should not be the only goals of a social media marketing strategy. There are also deeper-funnel goals that businesses can pursue, such as growing their subscriber list, creating revenue opportunities, and fostering loyalty among existing customers.

For example, businesses can use social media to drive traffic to their website and increase the size of their email subscriber list. By offering exclusive and valuable content to those who sign up for their email list, businesses create an incentive for customers to engage with them further. (Check out my post “Thank you for Subscribing!” that talks about why newsletter signups are important to your business.)

Additionally, businesses can use social media to create revenue opportunities by promoting their products and services directly to their target audience. While organic posts are needed and can be very effective depending on your following, keep in mind social platforms have also become monetization platforms which means that you will reach more of the right people when you use the paid ad platform features which can be done natively on each social media platform.

Using sponsored posts or paid advertising give you the ability to get even more granular on your objectives, and more importantly, measure your return on investment (ROI) so you can make data-driven decisions on where and how to spend and optimize your marketing budget. LinkedIn, for example, allows you to pick your objective when setting up a paid campaign—is it Awareness, Consideration or Conversion? The awareness category is broad and includes just that, brand awareness. For consideration, you can go a bit deeper and choose if you want website visits, engagements on your content (which provides you with further reach) or video views. And conversions allow you to generate leads right on the LinkedIn which is a trusted platform or measure website conversions.

Social Media is Essential to Your B2B Marketing Plan

Social media for B2B is no longer optional. It is an essential way to reach customers, gain valuable insights, and grow your brand. Make sure to include it in your strategic marketing plan at each stage of the buyer’s journey. By leveraging the power of social media, businesses can achieve top-of-the-funnel goals like brand awareness and audience education, as well as deeper-funnel goals like growing their subscriber list, creating revenue opportunities, and fostering loyalty among existing customers.