Social Media Is The Way Forward for Business to Business Marketing
There’s a lot of talk about using online social media platforms to grow your business by connecting directly with consumers. But should we be using these tools for B2B (Business to Business) marketing?
Recent statistics out of the USA show that the annual spend on B2B social media marketing is expected to increase from $11 million in 2009 to $54 million in 2014 in the US alone.
Here are some useful tips when using social media for B2B marketing:
- Use Twitter: It’s one of the largest social media platforms available with 105,779,710 registered users and an average of 300,000 new users signing up per day. That translates into around 180 million (yes, 180 million!) visitors per month and an average of 55 million tweets per day!
- Take advantage of other online social marketing tools: LinkedIn is a great platform for both businesses and clients to connect with each other. You never know who could be a potential customer. And then there’s Facebook,
- Use a BLOG to keep your business and brand top of mind: Just like us! It’s a great way to share current, hot-off-the-press market information; answer specific questions from customers or other businesses; share top tips and keep your customers up to speed on the best way to use your products. Just remember to be consistent. If you have a BLOG, use it regularly.
- Get your tone right: Social media marketing language should be just that – ‘social’. Using a personal tone of voice humanises your business and shows the reader that you are just as passionate about them as you are about your business.
- Don’t be shy: If someone has posed a question or tweeted you, they’re obviously keen to engage with you. Follow them up at a later stage to see if there’s anything else you can help you with. It shows you care and goes a long way towards strengthening your business relationship.
- Use statistics to inform your content: Check out your website analytics to see what people are interested in reading on your website, tweets etc. This is a great way to ensure you are telling them what they want to hear.
- Offer incentives: It’s a big world out there in social media. If you want to be seen, think about offering giveaways or promotions to get people’s attention.
- Keep an eye on what’s happening out there: Google Alerts is a fantastic tool which allows you to you keep an eye on what’s happening online with regards to your business, your industry and your competitors. If you don’t already have this set up, do it now!
- Target key influencers: You will already be aware that B2B social media marketing is all about building strong business relationships. Find out whose ‘ear’ you need to get into and follow them on Twitter, Facebook or through their BLOG. When you have something to share that they might be interested in, share it.
There’s plenty to consider when launching your online social media B2B marketing. But how do you physically do it?
Mobilize Mail have the expertise, tools and technology to get you started on your B2B social media campaign – check out our social media website and to get you started with an automated social media marketing solution – read more