How to Use Social Media for B2B Marketing

Successful B2B marketing requires a strong focus on creating and nurturing relationships. While B2B leads can be generated through SEO, content marketing, email campaigns, and other tactics, the power of social media should not be overlooked.

Social media gives B2B companies a chance to add personality to their messages and build relationships with customers in an organic, cost-effective way. It also offers the opportunity to test out messages and content before investing in more expensive campaigns.

For more intensive campaigns, paid social media advertising can be incredibly effective. When used in conjunction with inbound marketing tactics, businesses can generate high-quality B2B leads and nurture them through the sales cycle.

However, you can’t just start posting and hoping for the best. You need to understand how to create a B2B social media strategy that’s custom-designed for your business needs and goals.

This article is a complete guide to B2B social media marketing – from what it is, why you need it, and how to harness it to your advantage.

What is B2B social media marketing?

B2B social media marketing uses Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media channels to market your business to other businesses.

The fundamental elements – like posting great content, engaging with followers, and monitoring analytics – are the same as those for B2C marketing.

But the audience is different: B2B marketers are typically targeting decision makers and professionals at other companies rather than individual consumers.

As a result, the goals are different, too. Instead of simply trying to sell products, B2B social media marketing has a longer timeline. You’re looking to establish relationships and build trust so that your company is top-of-mind when the decision-makers are ready to purchase.

Why is social media marketing essential for B2B companies?

As a B2B company, you may be targeting fellow business owners, but all of them are people, too. And many of them are on social media.

They’re not just there to catch up with family and friends. Social media is now an exceptionally powerful marketing channel, and the numbers back it up:

1. LinkedIn is a lead generator for 89% of B2B marketers

LinkedIn is one of the best B2B social media marketing channels because of its users. Most people on LinkedIn are there in a professional capacity. You’ll find everyone from employees and freelancers to managers, directors, and C-suite executives actively using the platform. These are the people you need to target, which is why the platform is so critical for B2B lead generation.

2. 80% of LinkedIn members are decision-makers

LinkedIn has a user base that is made up of 80% decision-makers. Whether those are people making purchasing decisions for the company or influencing the decision-making process (e.g., IT teams who need SaaS software, HR teams looking for cloud-based recruitment solutions, etc.), LinkedIn places you in front of the people with the authority to make those decisions.

3. 89% of B2B content marketers distribute content on social media

Most B2B content marketers are already using Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, and other social media platforms to present their messages. If you’re not doing this yet – or don’t have a clear strategy for doing so – you’re already at a distinct disadvantage compared to your competitors.

4. B2B buyers go online 27% of the time to do independent research for their purchase decisions

The B2B purchasing cycle is a long one, involving steps such as researching, evaluating, and comparing solutions. As a result, it can take weeks or months to even come up with a short list of potential vendors.

During this time, buyers are going to do a lot of independent research – including looking up your company’s social media pages. You can use these channels to show buyers why your products and services are the best by providing valuable information that speaks directly to their needs.

5. 83% of B2B content marketers now use promoted posts and paid social

Last year, only 60% of B2B content marketers used paid social media ads. This year, that number is up to 83%. The reason for the jump is clear – B2B content marketers are seeing major ROI from their social media ads. But, again, you’re going to be left behind if you’re not competing on this front.

6. 76% of B2B companies use analytics to measure social media content performance

There’s a good chance that your B2B competitors are now leveraging data-driven social media strategies against you since 76% of B2B organisations currently use analytics to measure and strengthen their content on social media.

7. 80% of all B2B sales interactions will happen on digital channels as early as 2025

Finally, consider that by 2025, 80% of all B2B sales conversations will happen on digital channels – with a huge portion of those being on social media. So if you’re not part of those B2B sales conversations, you’re quite literally missing out on sales and leads.

In short, social media marketing is now essential for any B2B company looking to remain competitive in the digital space.

How to create a B2B social media marketing strategy

When it comes to creating a B2B social media marketing strategy, there are several key steps you need to take. Here are some of them:

1. Align your business objectives with your B2B social marketing strategy

Start by assessing your overall B2B business goals, and then create a strategy that is designed to help you reach those objectives. For instance, most B2B marketers prioritize brand awareness, building credibility, and educating B2B audiences as their primary goals.

Those are critical, but make sure to also look at how you can use social media to drive leads, sales, and customer loyalty.

2. Derive an in-depth understanding of your B2B audience

A basic foundation of any B2B social media strategy is a detailed understanding of who you’re trying to reach. You’ll need to gather data such as their job titles, industries, and preferences for content, as well as their interests.

Social media listening tools are particularly helpful in this regard, as they can help you understand what conversations and topics your prospects are discussing. Building customer personas can also be helpful, as you can use them to visualise who you’re targeting and the customer journey they go through.

3. Create social-friendly B2B content

One of the biggest challenges of B2B social media marketing is crafting content that fits the platform. For instance, don’t expect Facebook users to read a 2000-word blog post. On the other hand, LinkedIn audiences are turned off by fluff pieces.

Thus, you’ll need to create content that is tailored to the platform – such as infographics on Facebook, catchy one-liners and threads on Twitter, and thought pieces on LinkedIn.

Once you’ve crafted your content, consider performing A/B tests to see which versions get the best engagement on each platform.

4. Focus on relevant, B2B-friendly social channels

Not all social media platforms will be useful to your marketing strategy. For instance, if you’re targeting executive-level decision-makers in the finance industry, Snapchat might not be your best bet because it’s mainly used by teens and young adults for entertainment.

Instead, focus on the platforms that have demonstrated B2B success, such as:

• Twitter, for identifying and connecting with B2B influencers
• LinkedIn, for networking opportunities and targeting B2B audiences with its reliable ad platform
• Facebook, for advertising campaigns tailored to the B2B world
• YouTube, for creating ‘how to’ videos that showcase your B2B product or service
• Instagram, for showcasing your products visually

Of course, there are just some of the social platforms you should look into when building your B2B social media marketing strategy. Depending on your niche and audience, other options like Pinterest and TikTok may also be worth exploring.

If you’re just starting, we suggest focusing your time and resources on two platforms first. This way, you can optimise and refine your strategies before expanding to other platforms.

5. Make analytics a cornerstone of your social marketing strategy

Several platforms which offer B2B ad capabilities, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, come with built-in analytics tools that can provide you with insights into how your campaigns are performing.

Using analytics data, you can track elements like:

• The performance of specific posts and ad campaigns
• A detailed breakdown of your target audience
• Your actual ROI vs. your projected ROI

On top of all that, you can also leverage analytics to optimise your campaigns. For instance, you can A/B test different ad versions and post formats to see which ones deliver the best results.

Analytics is essential when it comes to creating an effective B2B social media strategy. By monitoring and refining your efforts, you’ll be able to maximise your social media ROI and achieve the best possible results.

6. Invest in paid social advertising

Complement your organic B2B social strategy with paid social advertising. While organic posts are great for building awareness and engagement, they may not be enough to get the conversions you need.

Paid social media offers several key advantages, such as the following:

• Ability to target your ideal customer with greater precision
• Capacity to scale quickly and reach more people
• Opportunity to measure ROI accurately
• Feature time-sensitive promotions

And that’s just the beginning – paid social media can help you cover every angle of the customer journey and drive more sales.

B2B paid social media advertising

You may be thinking, “isn’t a regular social media strategy enough?”

The answer is no. You can’t rely on organic traffic alone to reach your target audience. Sure, they may be able to find your posts one way or another, but there’s no guarantee. In addition, it takes time to build an audience on any social media platform, let alone brand credibility, authoritativeness, and more.

Paid social is how you clear a path to the exact B2B audience you’re looking for. You can use ad targeting tools to target users with specific interests and demographics, ensuring that only the most relevant people ever see your ads.

Furthermore, you can get creative with your messaging – from lead magnets to branded content – to really engage your target buyers.

Creating a paid social media advertising strategy is similar to that of a regular social marketing strategy. You’ll need to clarify your goals, identify your intended audience, shortlist the initial platforms you’ll concentrate on, and adapt your content for each one.

Still, you’ll want to observe the following best practices when it comes to paid social:

1. Conduct in-depth research into your competitor’s current ad campaigns

Instead of wasting time and resources on trial and error, we recommend checking out what your competitors are doing. This will give you valuable insights into the kinds of campaigns that work best in your industry and help you improve them for better results.

2. Allocate a realistic budget to your paid social campaigns

Too little, and you may not be able to reap the rewards of paid social; too much, and you could end up wasting money. To create a realistic budget, evaluate your key objectives, analyse your competitors’ ad spends, and consider how much you’re willing to invest in each platform.

3. Take advantage of the advanced targeting options available on certain platforms

Again, some platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook offer built-in advertising tools for B2B marketers. For example, you can find high-quality leads within LinkedIn Groups since they’re exclusive to certain individuals and companies. Or, you can use the Ad Relevance Score on Facebook with tools like lookalike audiences to further refine your campaigns on Facebook.

Play around with paid ad formats as well – try boosting posts, creating lead forms, or running mini polls – in order to keep your campaigns fresh and engaging.

Wrapping it up

There’s no doubt as to the power of B2B social media marketing and paid social. However, there’s a huge risk of blowing your ad spend without ROI if you don’t plan and implement your campaigns strategically.

We at Common Ground can help you craft a smart B2B social media strategy that can deliver higher conversion rates and stronger customer relationships – all while catapulting your brand to the next level of success.

Get in touch with us to find out more about how we can help you hit and exceed your goals today!