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Social Media Marketing: An Effective Sales Tool For B2B Companies

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Social media marketing initiatives do not have to be strictly for business-to-consumer (B2C) companies. Yes, social media is used for connecting with loved ones, watching dog memes (because who doesn’t love doing this?), and sharing cool activities you’ve done recently, but we can’t forget one important detail. These same people have day jobs that your company could do business with.

Business-to-business (B2B) companies have the same opportunities to create relationships and leads with other professionals to grow business and increase revenue.

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Where to Start with B2B Social Media Marketing

LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ are all social platforms a B2B manager should utilize.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is clearly the one platform that has the reputation for being for professionals. It includes tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator and advertising methods like Sponsored InMail that assist with targeting the right prospects.

Twitter

Some may find this surprising, but Twitter falls second in generating leads. Most of my clients, whether B2B or B2C, are actively engaging with other businesses on Twitter. This on-the-go app makes it easy to share quick snippets and enticing phrases that lead to content and strengthen the case to work with you. Google also takes into consideration Twitter signals where individual tweets have the potential to be linked directly on the search and help your rankings. Plus, posting a few times per day is accepted here, so share as many articles, stories, or images as you’d like!

Facebook

Facebook is the head honcho of social media, but it’s mostly considered as a B2C marketing channel, however, this needs to be part of your social media marketing strategy as a B2B company. Use photos and videos to catch the attention of users on your latest new content, industry statistics, or share expert advice.

Facebook Live is another great visually appealing way to start the conversation with prospects by having them comment during the stream. There are multiple other ways to target B2B prospects such as social advertising or as simple as engaging with another business’ content. Experiment to find out what works for you.

Google+

Google+ has over 300 million users as of 2016 – believe it or not. While many businesses don’t take advantage of this platform, it has its perks for any B2C or B2B company. Forming communities on G+ will help start the conversation with customers and prospects. These communities can serve as forums to aid with customer service or chat with leads. On top of this, the search engine optimization (SEO) benefits are also exceptional since Google search and Google+ integrated. Google has slight favoritism for its own social platform.

You might as well get used to using it now because it’s not going anywhere. By 2050, it’s reported that every business will have a Google Plus page.

Share Relevant Content Consistently

Grasping the concept of reaching out to prospects through social media is easy, however, what to post may not be. Content marketing is critical when utilizing social media for your business. Show your audience and your prospects that you are an industry thought-leader and know what you’re talking about! And hey, content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing. All it takes is the time and knowledge to create a piece of material that’ll convince your future customers to sign on with you. Drive people to your website. Make let them learn more about what you have to offer. Get people talking about your brand!

social media help for b2b companies

Monitor Your Online Brand and Reputation

People always have an opinion about your work or company. This could be from your employees, customers, or competitors. Unfortunately, social media is typically the first place people go to complain or share negative feedback. Being the first to respond and to react to these situations will only allow for a better outcome.

But don’t forget to thank those who give you the 5-star reviews, too! Appreciating your customers for taking the time to share their experience will go a long way.

social monitoring benefits

Regular Social Monitoring Helps With:

– Voluntary Feedback

– No matter the sentiment behind the review, it can only improve products/services, attract customer, and allow for additional customer service.

– Employee Actions, Images, and Posts

–  Some companies have strict social media policies that restrict an employee in engaging in certain behaviors online.

– Handling an Immediate Crisis

– Negative feedback can spread like a wildfire in today’s online world. Be the first to address the situation and hopefully, convince the user to take it down.

– Attracting New Customers

– When your content is shared, you have the ability to get in front of new prospects you might never have thought of.

– Tracking Competitors and Industry Trends

– What are you competitors talking about? What’s trending? What should you be addressing in your feed?

Social Media Marketing is Right for Your B2B Company

Social media marketing works hand-in-hand with content marketing, search engine optimization, customer service, brand management, and so much more. Skipping out on this marketing tactic is a mistake. When you find the right platforms and strategy for your business, your sales will reflect this. Your hard work will pay off as long as you keep at it.

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2017 Social Media Updates

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In my younger years as a millennial, there seemed to always be a new social media platform. From Xanga, to Myspace, and then finally to Facebook, none of them seemed to stick around and keep our attention. However, Facebook started a new trend – consistent updates and new features. Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram also utilize this method to stay relevant and appealing to its users. These updates are critical to their survival.

As a millennial, these changes were simply… fun. But, now as a social media marketer, they are important to keep your audience’s attention. Only half way through the year and we have seen many updates thus far! Here are a few of the latest.

Twitter - Live From The Twittersphere

Twitter has been having an identity crisis. Competing with the ‘almighty’ Facebook could leave it feeling lost and distressed. Last year, began its outcry to rebrand itself. They began to reiterate the fact the Twitter is for what’s happening right now around the world. This led to the recent launch of the #SeeEverySide campaign. This will feature tweets from real people across the globe of every point and perspective. Check it out:

In addition to its fight to stay top-of-mind, they’ve recently unleashed its ‘refreshed’ look. Some features were initially on Android last year, but after a lot of approval, it is now on IOS, too. The Twitter updates include:

  • Reorganized navigation
  • Articles open directly inside app, so a user stays logged in
  • Bolder headlines and refined typography.
  • New symbols – Many new users complained the old reply button looked like a ‘back’ or ‘delete’ button.
  • Live updates on likes, retweets, and replies proving Twitter is providing you real-time information

At the request of its users, major improvements have made the user experience great. Most people are pleased with how it looks. Next, Twitter needs to listen to the businesses, those connecting with their users, to provide each “Tweeter” an even better (local) experience.

Snapchat - “X” Marks The Spot on Snap Map

Snapchat, another “real-time” social media platform not only has consistent updates, but very unique ones at that. The latest update, which has been stirring up controversy, is their Snap Map. You can explore any event around the world and see exactly where your Snap-friends are at that moment. Snapchat wants you to see where your friends are or local events nearby, so you can join in on the fun, too! This worries parents, but the company assures anyone who does not want their location visible to friends, the user can turn on ‘Ghost Mode’ to disable the Snap Map.

A business update Snapchat has implemented is that every business now has its own geofilter. It shows the business name along with the city it’s located in. This screams to me, “Brand Awareness!” and I like it, a lot.

Instagram - Helping Businesses Tell Their Story

Since being bought by Facebook, a lot of what you see on Facebook is also on Instagram which now makes it a major competitor. Instagram’s recent updates focus more on businesses who use platform than their audiences. Instagram Stories now has business tagging and linking. From someone’s story, a location can be found on a map or an external link can be clicked on. Instagram Story ads also have new objectives (not simply to build brand awareness). We can now track reach, video views, traffic to a website, conversions, and mobile app installs which will be great to track future performance of a particular ad.

Facebook - The Older You Are, The Wiser You Get

Lastly, my absolute favorite to manage – Facebook. Social Media updates of 2017 As soon as I finish writing this, I am sure that Facebook will be soon releasing another new feature that we will have to get up-to-speed with (and personally, I am completely okay with that – hence why, I love social). If you currently are on Facebook or are running a Facebook account get ready for:

  • GIFs in comments – However, I can’t wait until these are added to posts
  • More control over ad placement – The location of ads will change slightly
  • Soon-to-Come Cover Videos along with new text headlines – How fun is that?!
  • Target a particular post to a specific audience
  • Facebook Live updates coming soon – I highly recommend your business use Facebook Live
  • New Photo Album Features

Phew! This is a lot of to keep up with and this isn’t even all of it. In a few years, Facebook will release an augmented reality component. There are many things this will allow a user to do. One in particular, you will be able to leave secret messages for friends a bar or restaurant. By using the app, the message will appear exactly where they left it on the table or bartop.

Overwhelmed? This is why hiring a social media marketer makes your life easier. Social media marketing in Reading, Pa

Facebook updates of 2017
While it might be a pain to constantly update your applications (and clear more room on your IOS system), your business’ social account must stay trendy and relevant. Your competitors may find new features to grow their business before you and you’ll be forgotten just like Xanga and MySpace.
To learn more about social media marketing, ask a question below or check our social media accounts.

5 Rapid Fire Social Media Tips

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Along with the exponential popularity of social media, there’s been an equally large amount of misconceptions surrounding the “right” or “surefire” way to be social and reap all its benefits. In light of that, we’ve compiled a quick list of tips that almost any organization can use, whether they’re building a social strategy, looking to improve their efforts, or are still learning how social media works.

Expand your presence (if it makes sense)

A big misconception related to building a presence on social media is that you should focus on one network. Another big one? That you need to be anywhere and everywhere. Both seemingly have their benefits, whether you’ve got limited resources for the former or a small company and big dreams for the latter. The problem here is that not every network is right for your business. The best approach is to experiment, evaluate which networks are really worth it, and move from there. Wash, rinse, repeat as necessary.

Set aside the appropriate amount of time

Think that your entire social media workload can be handed off to an intern who works a few hours a week? Think again! As you learn more about social’s impact on a business, you’ll begin to appreciate the amount of time and work it takes. This is due to the fact that now, more than ever, social media represents the face and personality behind a company. Our last tip will talk about this in greater detail, but just remember: marketing with social media is just as important as any other tactic.

Don't spam!

This tip falls in line with the first one on the list. The assumption that “the more you post from the most places, the better off you’ll be” really shows a lack of knowledge and experience surrounding social media. Understanding that different networks attract different audiences, and that those different audiences have different expectations in terms of post language, content, and frequency, all come into play during a business’s social media strategic planning.

Cater the message to the network

To piggy back off of the previous point, crafting messages that align with the networks you’re sending from should be the last line of defense before social media communications head out the door. This also reinforces the point of getting educated on the subject. Once you do, you’ll find out that Twitter is more useful for quick, frequent updates, while images and videos are better served for Facebook. Little things like that can mean the difference between fostering engagement and your following taking a major nosedive.

Bring in company and employee personality

One final thing to realize about social – your business is one in a sea of many. It’s going to be difficult to set your business apart, and there isn’t going to be an end-all be-all solution. One great way to get started is to add distinct personality to your social media presence. Remember earlier in the post how we mentioned the face behind a company? Audiences are on social to interact with other people, and nothing will make you look like a robotic, faceless corporation more than impersonal messaging or broadcasts focused solely on you.

Have a tip we might’ve missed? Let us know in the comments below!