B2B Social Media, 5 good reasons why you should get on that

Social media is everywhere. It’s now surprising to see a company is not listed on any of the major platforms. And yet, many businesses that don’t directly deal with consumers feel that they are not meant for social media, that putting the time to manage and maintain that would be a waste. Here’s a few good reasons why this is wrong.

5. Greater visibility

Face it, everyone you know, their grandparents, and their dog is on some form of social media.

In fact, the average user base of the most famous platforms are in the hundreds of millions.

Frankly there is no valid reason to pass on making yourself known to that many people simply because your business model doesn’t deal in direct sales to consumers.

Every platform caters to a different crowd, sure, but their users all have jobs and lives, and some might even work in businesses that could use your services! That means don’t just dwell in the LinkedIn pool, swim out.

B2B Social Media representation isn’t misplaced resources, it will improve visibility. It’s just maths, even if only 0.1% of users are interested in your business, that already gives you a sizeable boost. Translate that to as many platforms as you can manage, and the numbers will grow in accordance.

4. Higher lead generation

This is the natural step forward from an increase in visibility: lead generation. With that many people, there will be users who like what you do or could find a use for it. Again, it’s just stats, if you increase visibility, you have more chances of finding people who need your business. This surge in leads can do wonders for finding out what your business needs to get a bigger reach! Redirect as you go along. Marketing is all about creating an image and social media is nothing but that.

3. Stronger networking

Networking is a necessary thing for any business or business model. You should think of social media in the same way you would showing up to a symposium or convention. Sure, you go there to show off your products and services to other like-minded businesses, but ultimately it’s about building a strong network of relationships. Ones based on emotions.

Social Media is nothing but that. People will follow your business and check up on what you do, and they will develop an interest in your products and your company through that. It’s about what you, as a company, can share to potential users and how it will relate to them emotionally.

You’re really just trying to get people to remember you and what you do, even if what you post on social media has nothing to do with how you would market it to other companies.

And on that last point:

2. Added revenue streams

This is the good bit. If you’re good at what you do, you can make money out of this. Stop thinking of social media as a waste of time and money paid for complicated ads that render few returns. You need to understand that marketing on social media isn’t about the product, it’s about the soul of the company and what people would like to see you do or show. If you go in B2B social media the same way you would with standard ads, you will fail.

I mentioned a company’s soul: this should be made up of the people who work in it, or with it, and what they do and see. That’s why platforms like Instagram host very successful B2B accounts that show lovely pictures and interesting visuals that don’t hammer you over the head with keywords and important jargon. IBM is a great example. The company doesn’t do anything that a regular person would ever care to know, but their Instagram account is MASSIVE. That’s because they always show cool and interesting pictures, letting you know how they feel, how they work and where they get to do that from.

And there are so many ways to go about doing this too!

1. Good branding recognition

B2B social media is about your brand. People dislike ads. You can do a lot of interesting things on these platforms without ever having to market your product and services directly.

You need to pick a means of expressing what you want to be known for and stick to it.

As I have said, a lot of B2B companies use different methods to each other and put emphasis on different things. The final product is the same, however, they are known and popular because of the choices they made and the way they brand themselves, their products are secondary to that.

Conclusion:

Get out there. There’s no harm in at least representing your company and reserving your account names across the platforms. Then, take the time to learn how to use the platforms you’re not familiar with. Learn about how your competition uses social media and build yourself on their failures and successes.

Be different. Find something that you think represents your business and stick to it, keep up with a good posting schedule, interact with your base and involve those who follow you.

There is no reason not to try. Once you’ve got a good base or you feel more comfortable, start using ads and campaigns, begin monetizing your content and make the whole venture a profitable one!

The good thing is with the right tools you could even integrate social media seemlessly into your normal workflow. We at OneDesk offer you the ability to integrate with twitter or facebook and make tickets and stories out of customer posts. Check out how what we do here! Or book a demo to find out about integrations like that one or others!

Photo Credit: “Promote” / Joe The Goat Farmer / CC BY