Figuring out how to best implement and harness the power of social media as a part of B2B marketing can be a difficult target to hit. It’s simply not enough to be active on social media. The ability to create a social presence for your brand and executive effective social media campaigns that utilize engaging, innovative content – and ultimately drives sales – is the real goal.
The impact social media is having on B2B marketing is real and significant. It’s not going away. A recent study by Marketing Pilgrim found that over 90 percent of B2B decision makers utilize social media in their buying process.
Knowing where to put the resources of your social media marketing mix to reach those decision makers can be tricky, as can the inherent difficulties in measuring the effectiveness of your efforts. Looking a bit beyond the basics, here are a few B2B social media tips to separate yourself from the crowd and get results.
Unwritten rules of engagement
There are some unwritten rules of social media marketing. While it’s cool to be “yourself” and “informal,” don’t forget to be professional at the same time. Limit the shameless self-promotion by knowing what your audience really wants from your firm. Let your reputation and expertise drive your growth and know that less is more – focus on contributing value and not on noise, which will only cause followers to drop you.
High impact social media tools
As social media becomes a cornerstone of your B2B marketing and you increasingly use it in a number of ways, know that there are tools to help optimize your content and strategy. These tools generally fall into five categories: listening and monitoring, social analytics, social influence, social management and content creation. Listening and monitoring tools (such as Conversocial, Mention or InboxQ) are valuable as a way to know who is talking about your brand and where. Social analytics tools (like Twitsprout, AgoraPulse, TweetReach, Crowdbooster and Social Bro) help measure the all-important ROI by seeing how well you engage with and influence your community. Social influence tools (try Inkybee or Followerwonk) help measure, build, and manage influence for a brand as well as identify key industry influencers.
Managing social media content
Content is instrumental for B2B social media marketing, and getting the most out of that content across your media channels is critical. Luckily there are countless tools out there that offer ways to manage, analyze, measure and report your social media efforts. One list of 50 top tools was put together by SocialMediaToday.com, while TopRankBlog.com suggests 22 social media marketing management tools to help your efforts.
The impact social media is having on B2B marketing is real and significant. It’s not going away. A recent study by Marketing Pilgrim found that over 90 percent of B2B decision makers utilize social media in their buying process.
Knowing where to put the resources of your social media marketing mix to reach those decision makers can be tricky, as can the inherent difficulties in measuring the effectiveness of your efforts. Looking a bit beyond the basics, here are a few B2B social media tips to separate yourself from the crowd and get results.
Unwritten rules of engagement
There are some unwritten rules of social media marketing. While it’s cool to be “yourself” and “informal,” don’t forget to be professional at the same time. Limit the shameless self-promotion by knowing what your audience really wants from your firm. Let your reputation and expertise drive your growth and know that less is more – focus on contributing value and not on noise, which will only cause followers to drop you.
High impact social media tools
As social media becomes a cornerstone of your B2B marketing and you increasingly use it in a number of ways, know that there are tools to help optimize your content and strategy. These tools generally fall into five categories: listening and monitoring, social analytics, social influence, social management and content creation. Listening and monitoring tools (such as Conversocial, Mention or InboxQ) are valuable as a way to know who is talking about your brand and where. Social analytics tools (like Twitsprout, AgoraPulse, TweetReach, Crowdbooster and Social Bro) help measure the all-important ROI by seeing how well you engage with and influence your community. Social influence tools (try Inkybee or Followerwonk) help measure, build, and manage influence for a brand as well as identify key industry influencers.
Managing social media content
Content is instrumental for B2B social media marketing, and getting the most out of that content across your media channels is critical. Luckily there are countless tools out there that offer ways to manage, analyze, measure and report your social media efforts. One list of 50 top tools was put together by SocialMediaToday.com, while TopRankBlog.com suggests 22 social media marketing management tools to help your efforts.
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