The Benefits of Social Media Marketing for B2B Companies
Recent research indicates that social selling will replace traditional methods of reaching out to consumers in the near future.
Engaging and swaying B2C clients is no longer social media’s exclusive purpose. B2B marketers and salespeople nowadays make excellent use of social media channels for connection building and sales. In fact, the results of a recent study by Forrester predict that social media will replace traditional channels of advertising as the most effective means of generating revenue in the near future.
Hence, marketers and sales professionals should be aware that there is a whole universe of possibility outside the domains of LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter if they want to succeed in the B2B scene, which is dominated by social media. This article delves into some of the most cutting-edge and helpful of these recent online communities.
With more than a billion active users per month, Instagram is a powerful platform with enormous potential. Sixty-nine percent of users have visited the brand lookup section, and 63 percent of users are followers. These results suggest a large market opportunity for organisations who want to expand their sales efforts into the social sphere.
When it comes to Instagram accounts run by businesses, marketing automation tool MailChimp is among the most imaginative. As a consequence, MailChimp’s 35.1k followers enjoy a feed that is both entertaining and innovative, while also seamlessly incorporating the brand’s core values.
As a result, the audience is more likely to have a true connection to the brand, which is great for both parties.
Pinterest is mostly a visual medium, therefore it’s essential to have high-quality photographs that present a business or product in a unique way. Infographics engage with customers and boost pinning, prompting pins to be shared, while captivating product photos convey the spirit of a firm.
Videos from your company’s YouTube or Vimeo channel may be pinned, as can tracks from Soundcloud and presentations from Slideshare. 93% of pinners have made purchases online within the last six months, making Pinterest a promising social channel.
The electronics giant Philips is making waves on the social media platform Pinterest. With 16 boards and 4,300 followers, the company maintains loyal to its roots by focusing on the needs of both its end users and its business-to-business clients. The page glows with the illuminating content of stories of invention, innovative devices, and landmarks in the brand’s history.
Almost 37,000 people have followed the company’s ‘Into the Light’ board, which features examples of their lights in use throughout the world, from the International Youth Cultural Centre in China to a wind-controlled lighting installation called ‘Silo 468’ in Finland.
Snapchat
Snapchat has grown from a small photo messaging app to a mainstream social media network with over 161 million active users each day, 34% of whom are in the 18–24 age range. Companies such as Cisco and GE are utilising Snapchat to have more meaningful conversations with their audiences in a method that doesn’t break the bank.
As an added bonus, Snapchat now has analytics-enabled features including an advertising API, picture recognition, and Bitstrips. So, the platform is transitioning from a restricted, private area to one in which dark social is being illuminated by means of technology and acquisitions.
If you want to use Snapchat for business-to-business purposes, you need a plan that works in tandem with Snapchat’s primary function and appeal: storytelling. Many business-to-business companies find that having an employee act as a “brand ambassador” and promote their account across several social media platforms is the most effective strategy.
Consider Cisco, a household name in the telecommunications and networking industries. Not exactly the most riveting material, you might think, to advertise on Snapchat. But, the platform’s success might be attributed to the company’s emphasis on its people, rather than its technology, to reveal insights into its culture. This makes the company seem more approachable and communicates with its target audience in a way that is natural for the medium.
In the series “Day in the Life of an Account Manager,” Cisco employees document one another going about their normal workday with the help of comedy, emoticons, and various lenses.
As a primary means of doing business, 29% of respondents cited the use of instant messaging services such as WhatsApp and WeChat.
One billion users worldwide wouldn’t lie if they said WhatsApp wasn’t the best social messaging app available. With its new suite of enterprise-focused tools, WhatsApp gives businesses an opportunity to connect with their clients on a more human level.
Its broadcasting function lets users contact several individuals at once, and when one of those people responds, the conversation between the sender and the respondent is private. Only with this one addition, social retailers have a tremendous potential to reach out to new customers and make a good impression. Examples of viable methods of communication include:
- Give-aways and contests
- Sales alerts and other time-sensitive incentives
- New content landing page links (e.g. eBooks or webinars)
- Information about upcoming events, conferences, speaking engagements, etc. News and updates from the firm and industry as they happen.
- Follow-ups and “Thank You” notes after an event
- Online chat with a support agent or tech help
In addition, the recent elimination of commercials has opened up new opportunities for companies to communicate with customers in a non-intrusive way, much as how Uber use Facebook Messenger.
Although B2B businesses have had more time to learn how to make advantage of this new platform, several B2C brands were early users of the channel. To market their Desert Boot, Clarks was among the first companies to use WhatsApp in an interactive narrative campaign. The company employed real-time communication to introduce its consumers to “important people from subcultures of the previous 65 years” by means of three characters connected to the boot and its historical significance, transporting them to 1960s Paris, the Mod era, and Reggae Jamaica.
