B2B Social Media - Here's what you're doing wrong

With social media taking many B2C companies from the little league to the big, it’s time for B2B to step into the 21st century, and tweet about it. You might be keen to jump into what you should be doing, but what you shouldn’t be doing is just as important - in fact, it might be even more critical.

What Shouldn’t B2B Social Media Look Like?

Here are the biggest mistakes B2B companies use when drafting a social media strategy.

1. Thinking your company is boring 

You sell managed IT support… no one is interested in that! Well, think again. Actually, you help to make your customers run like clockwork so they can reach their wildest business dreams. There are millions and millions of small and medium businesses out there who want to see what you have to offer. There is no company that is ‘too boring’ to partake in social media - everyone has a wider purpose than intricate details of what they do. 

2. Producing self-serving posts

We, me, I, we, me, I - will cause people to switch off pretty quickly. Talking only about what you, and what you have on sale is actually what’s boring. 

You probably have an entire industry that is alive and producing content, innovative products, talks, seminars, and other materials that are having a very positive impact on the lives of their customers. The key is to share content that is useful and interesting for the reader and adds value to their lives in a positive way. 

3. Not offering value to the end reader

What are your followers getting from your posts? Are you providing useful information that they can use to solve a unique problem? Are you holding all of your ‘trade secrets’ to yourself to ‘not give anything away.’ Providing as much information and value as possible does exactly the opposite - your customers will see the free value that you offer and trust that you can do a job for them!

4. Not adapting your message for each social media platform

What works on Twitter will not translate onto Instagram. Why? Well, Instagram is designed for images and a curated feed. Twitter is designed for witty and informative tweets, fast engagement, and a short life span. Each platform has strengths that you can use to give a cohesive online presence. The trick is to discover which platforms your customers are using. 

5. Not having an end goal 

What is the point in the perfectly curated Instagram feed? Where will a reader go after enjoying 240 characters on your Twitter? What is the goal? You should produce content with a clearly defined goal, and always with the idea that you will provide your end reader with value.

What Should B2B Social Media Look Like?

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all option for creating a great social media strategy, but there are some things that just ‘work’. 

Create a personality 

Who are you? What are you about? Social media is brimming with creativity and personality. It is important that your posts have personality in them. Being afraid to get edgy, or to support a cause is what stops real, meaning social media content from B2B. 

You don’t need to be inappropriate, and there should also be more than just one sign off on the content. This will ensure that there isn’t anything that is culturally off-point, appropriated, or tone-deaf posted. 

Look back through the company vision and goals; from there, you can build a personality for your B2B social media channels. 

Use a conversational tone 

Social media is more personal and approachable than you might think. Even though each of these interactions is on the internet, ‘we’ ‘us’ and ‘our’ mean that it has a personal feel. 

Conversation writing feels more like you are talking to a friend in a cafe than someone you are cold-calling on a Friday afternoon to sell them a kettle. You can strip away all of the jargon, and complex sentence structures. Keep it as simple and accessible as possible. 

Even though you are a B2B company, there will be many consumers and the public reading what you write. It is important that, no matter what the impression is that you want to give, you keep yourself friendly. 

Remember that social media wasn’t created for businesses; it was created for people (the public) to communicate and share stuff. It, at the core, is about engaging and connecting. So keep it simple, and keep it conversational. Copyblogger states "Content marketing is relationship marketing" and using a conversational tone allows your prospective customers and clients to relate to you.

Research Keywords

We all know that search marketing is built on keywords. But you might be wondering how you can apply those keywords to your social media. Well, it is essential that you research the keywords that people are searching for so that you can create content that meets their needs. 

Not only does this increase your visibility, but it brings your audience to you. You can perform social media-specific keyword research. Here is what you will need to do:

Track trending topics and popular topics, and relate them to what you do

• Determine the search frequency
• Understand market interest in the products and services that you provide
• Highlight relevant points of engagement

Performing keyword research for social media, per platform, can give you an advantage over your competitors and will allow you to create content for each platform and each audience. Increasing your engagement. 

Engage

While it might be tempting to set up an auto social media poster and leave it, that is effectively wasting your time. You need to have a combination of auto-posting and responding to replies and engagement. 

This also means that your social media strategy has factored in seeking out places to respond and reply too. 

Which channels should I use?

What makes the most sense for your business and your marketing strategy? It might be tempting to hold-fast to LinkedIn, but Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, TikTok and YouTube are also great options. People who scroll social media want to be entertained or perhaps learn something. Think about where your business can supply. Here are some interesting statistics from SproutSocial to consider:

• 89% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn
• 88% use Facebook
• 83% use Twitter
• 61% use Google+
• 55% use YouTube
• 39% use Pinterest
• 26% use Instagram

One of the best things that you can do to find out where you need to be is to find out where your competitors are. This will give you some key insights into how and where to post. 

For more information about how we can help with your B2B marketing, get in touch with our B2B marketing experts today.