Connecting social media and Account-Based Marketing (ABM) efforts is a helpful strategy when developing a B2B marketing program for your business. When it comes to business-to-business social media marketing, remaining active and showcasing your company’s character are helpful tools in achieving your marketing goals.
Social Media & B2B
Although B2B social media marketing is a year or two behind B2C social media marketing, there’s no question that the strategy is growing in popularity and success. Last year, HubSpot reported that over 80% of buyers are more likely to buy from brands that have a professional and cohesive social media presence.
-
- Facebook/Instagram: As two of the largest social media platforms in the world, Facebook and Instagram both provide an easy-to-use and highly accessible avenue for businesses to flexibly and cheaply target consumers based on a multitude of demographics.
- Twitter: As a social media platform that easily creates leads based on its relevant content to clients, Twitter has solidified its place in digital marketing. The immediacy of the Twitter platform allows for quick, easy answers to often asked questions from business consumers; a major plus for B2B marketing.
- Linkedin: When it comes to B2B social media marketing, LinkedIn is a clear winner by providing in-depth targeting. LinkedIn’s creation of an environment in which leaders and experts can showcase their knowledge and create relevant content for followers has set them apart from other social media platforms. However, many B2B companies struggle with posting content that is relevant to their target audience. Ironpaper’s Nora Leary says it’s important to not be overly technical or sentimental: “B2B companies have the most success when they target buyers at the correct stage in the sales funnel. Social media can be an excellent lead generation tool if companies take a deep dive into their buyer and understand what content will resonate with them.”
Your target audience will be the deciding factor in determining which social media platforms that your business will use for B2B paid marketing, and your strategies will vary as such. For example, if your business’s target audience is C-level executives, LinkedIn is likely the most effective platform. If your company’s target audience is small business owners, utilizing more casual platforms like Facebook and Instagram are the most effective.
Creating the right content for B2B social media marketing
Advertising your company’s expertise, product, and knowledge aren’t always enough to cut through the competition, it’s important to present a brand personality worth caring about.
Showcasing employees by sharing bios and highlighting milestones is an excellent place to start. These efforts assist with branding by providing an authentic look into the business-employee relationship and how it contributes to the company’s day-to-day successes.
Investing in videos to grab your audience’s attention is another useful tool in developing your company’s social media brand. Cisco predicts that by next year 82% of all internet consumer traffic will be through video. Posting images, gifs, short clips, and videos are all helpful in providing the visual and auditory stimulation that consumers are looking for.
Discussing societal issues has also proven to be a successful method in detailing your company’s personality and character. Discussing topics like sustainability and employee diversity are helpful in emphasizing how your company works to help make the world a better place. This can make all the difference when it comes to buyers making decisions about who to purchase from.
Account-Based Marketing (ABM) & B2B
Account-based marketing (ABM) is a marketing strategy that focuses on a set of target accounts within a market. By utilizing personalized campaigns that engage with each account, the marketing message becomes specific to the attributes and needs of the individual.
Offering a variety of content that serves different communication objectives is the first step in creating a successful ABM strategy. When a business’ social media has a healthy balance of content from leadership, educational information, and company culture-related content, you know you’ve taken the right steps. And don’t forget, offering this mix of content in a variety of formats (videos, images, polls, etc.) is another useful strategy.
Combining ABM and social media marketing is a powerful strategy to achieve your B2B marketing goals. As previously stated, LinkedIn is an excellent platform to focus on since it has a growing focus on ABM. By creating a space for businesses to utilize the platform’s ever-evolving targeting tools, LinkedIn creates a great environment for B2B marketing.
Social media and account-based marketing can be time-consuming and can leave you confused about where to begin. If you’re interested in learning more about how/where to reach your target demographics, contact me or schedule a call, and I’ll be happy to discuss your marketing needs with you.
Good luck!
