Stay connected using social media best practices (and create happy customers!)
One thing is sure about today’s changing business climate – we need to stay connected with each other, and in B2B marketing, that’s just as important. We hope the video below gives you some ideas you can use to enhance your marketing.
We’d also like to share 5 tips for B2B social media success. Whether you’re a one-person business or part of a larger team, a few best practices can help you get started and stay on target for social media success. We also invite you to schedule a FREE 30-minute consultation with us to hit the ground running with your social media or brand strategy.
1. DEVELOP A PLAN
Just like you wouldn’t go into business without a well-developed plan, don’t dig into social media without a plan. To get started or when revisiting your social media plan, consider these elements:
- Audience: Consider both prospects and current customers, since they might all see your content
- Topics: Think about relevant content (more on that below) for each of your audiences
- Channels: How do you plan to share your information and updates? You might want to communicate via a company blog, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, association websites, and networking groups. When you select each channel, consider the audience, topics and the kind of updates and articles that make sense for each channel. You may need to tweak your content to make it work.
- Make a Schedule: Consider timing and how often you will be able to consistently present something new, interesting, and on-brand without burning out your audience or your team (or even yourself if you need to DIY!) Then create a calendar with your schedule of updates and start developing them in advance.
2. STAY ON BRAND
Call it brand consistency or being constant in your branding, but whatever you call it, stay on brand. That means keeping everything from your visuals, messages, and tone consistent enough so that customers and prospects know the wonderful work that you’re creating is from your company. Sharing a video on social media? Use the same tone as the email campaign you create to promote it. Building a new website or campaign landing page? Even if you’re trying something new, be sure that the tone is consistent with your brand – colors, images, and more. Let there be no question that a visitor is in the right place when they’re looking for or even finding you for the first time. If you’re struggling with what that looks like for your company, we can help you establish a strong brand identity.
3. DEVELOP RELEVANT CONTENT
Content is key to B2B social media success. You’ll need to deliver the right content, at the right time, using the right channel, for the right customer, so that it all comes together. Relevant content happens as a result of both listening to your customer and being a thought leader. You might try surveying customers to find out what they’d like to hear about. Or talk to them 1:1 directly through your sales team. Ask your technical support team to record what customers are asking, and then share tips with your social media followers and your sales and marketing teams. Address concerns directly, then use that feedback to create valuable messages that you can share with others via social media.
4. INTEGRATE VIDEO CONTENT
When creating and integrating video content, help your customers by taking an ‘audience-first’ approach. Consider developing videos to address client concerns. Try providing some easy how-to’s to educate clients and prospects on how to be more successful in your field. You can even use a little humor to entertain them while respecting their time and (always) keeping it clean. You can still tell your company’s story and help clients and prospects learn about your products along the way. Just consider your audience’s pain and their buying process and add something of value. Valuable, helpful videos might help make more happy customers. Then chances are that they will share your videos out to their connections, who trust their opinions and might lead them to consider working with your business, too, and that means a better return on your marketing program investments.
5. ENGAGE YOUR AUDIENCE
It may seem obvious but remember to engage your audience. Even simple interactions with your customers and prospects when using social media can generate trust and possibly referrals. Monitor your active social media followers. Respond quickly to questions and comments. Ask them questions, too. Challenge them to get involved by starting interesting conversations. Get to know your social media audience and deepen your relationships with them. Say ‘thank you’ (a lot). Take responsibility and let them know how you’re working on fixing things when you need to. If you receive negative feedback, saying thank you and apologizing that they’ve had a bad experience can go a long way toward resolution and gain respect from others who are watching and listening to how you react. Few companies do this correctly, so prepare to publicly address both the good and the bad, forge your own path, and reap the rewards of increased loyalty and more educated followers.
We hope you benefit from our 5 tips for B2B social media success. For additional help, schedule a consultation with us to discuss even more ways to leverage social media and branding best practices for your business.
