Social media marketing on the rise! Can B2B handle it?

Social media marketing takes over the Internet. It is an undeniable fact. And it brings an extended package of challenges for the B2B sector:

• A large amount of noise, making it even harder to pursue a correct and efficient branding action for a B2B company.
• In B2B, social media selling didn’t respond so well, like it happened in B2C, through social commerce, mainly because B2B purchases are typically complex decisions, thus sales cycles are longer. This asks for new models involving B2B and social media selling.
• Decision makers are becoming increasingly restrictive on being contacted through social media channels.

Social media marketing takes over the Internet. It is an undeniable fact. And it brings an extended package of challenges for the B2B sector::

• 86% of the B2B companies are using social media (source)
• B2B online marketers focus on lead generation (38%), retention (34%) and awareness (28%) (according to an eMarketer study)
• B2B marketers consider cross-media marketing as most effective, social media being almost always on the list; 78% combine three or more major marketing methods.

If I managed to catch your attention, here are some tips before starting your B2B social media adventure:

• In order to make your way through the crowd, prepare to manage your communications very well, to discover the channels that suit your company and your services/products (where your target audience is), to participate and interact; also, pay attention to everything that happens and act accordingly.
• In B2B, there is a greater emphasis on the business made between real people; social media makes it easier for us to get to decision makers – after that, it all depends on our power of persuasion.
• Use optimization tools for the information you send and receive in order to have efficient marketing actions in the online social space. Also, use wisely the networking tools.
• Don’t forget to measure your results and to improve your campaigns based on that data!

Instead of conclusions, we made a step-by-step guide to help you find your way in social media marketing:

1.       Have a clear objective - write down what you want to achieve from social media (add also measurable results).

2.       Google your brand and find out where you are now.

3.       Set up accounts on social media channels and start reading, listening and interacting with your potential clients.

4.       Find the influencers from your industry and connect with them.

5.       Publish content and make it findable.

6.       Make your brand/company findable and build trust.