THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO B2B SOCIAL MEDIA FOR 2018-2019
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
THE DEFINITIVE
GUIDE TO B2B
SOCIAL MEDIA
F O R 2 01 8 - 2 01 9
Page 1
CONTENTS
6 1. The six most important reasons to use social media for B2B 4
2. B2B LinkedIn 6
•
LinkedIn Language 7
• How to use LinkedIn for B2B 8
3. B2B Twitter 9
• Twitter Language 10
• How to use Twitter for B2B 11
4. B2B Facebook 12
• Facebook Language 13
• How to use Facebook for B2B 14
5. B2B Instagram 15
• How to use Instagram for B2B 16
6. B2B Google+ 17
• Google+ Language 18
• How to use Google+ for B2B 19
7. B2B Video 20
8. How to structure a social media campaign 22
9. Social Media: Your takeaway points 27
Page 2
THE UNAVOIDABLE TRUTH
ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media has exploded in the last ten years and in the past year alone, we have seen a monumental boost in the power
of social media platforms. Due to its popularity, it’s essential to keep up-to-date with ongoing trends and stay ahead of
the game. So, if you’re not taking advantage of the benefits it has to offer, then you really are missing out – big time! As a
business, if you’re not already crazy in love with social media, you should at least learn to like it. Here’s why:
• Social media brings fresh, creative air into your marketing strategy
• You can reach thousands of potential customers in new and exciting ways
• Social media allows you to listen to your audience’s conversations
• Sharing great content can provide a personal touch to help you stand out from the crowd.
6 78%
B2B companies, on average, use up 78% employ a dedicated social
to six social media platforms media individual or agency
LinkedIn is the no.1 most popular B2B social media platform (89% B2B users)
Facebook sits at no. 2 (88% B2B users)
Twitter is no. 3 (83% B2B users)
Instagram is becoming increasingly popular (26% B2B users)
Page 3
CHAPTER 1 The six most important reasons to use social media for B2B Page 4
ONLINE EXPOSURE B UI L D N EXT GENER AT I ON
It’s not rocket science; the more presence your R EL AT I ONS H I P S
business has online, the easier it is for your We all know relationships can become stale.
customers to find and engage with you. Social media is about creating excitement and finding
new and relevant ways to bridge the gap between you
and your customers.
23%
G RO W YO U R C U S TO M E R B A SE FL EXI B I L I T Y TO C H A N GE
Great content acts as an irresistible pull in attracting Tune in to what your customers are saying about you.
more customers and allows you to reach thousands Posting online gives them the opportunity to offer
of potential customers in new and exciting ways. positive and negative feedback.
20%
OFF
F AS T T R A C K O F F E R S S TA N D OUT FR OM T H E C R OWD
AN D P R O M OT I O N S Social media gives your company a voice that enables
Social media is the perfect way to fast track offers you to interact with your followers in meaningful and
and promotions whilst tailoring them in more imaginative ways.
interesting ways – even allowing you to respond
to real time trending events.
Page 5CHAPTER 2 B2B LinkedIn Page 6
B2B LI N K E D I N
In 2007, there were 15 million users on LinkedIn; now there are 500 million! Both companies and individuals create profiles which
include descriptions of their particular expertise and details of their skills and services. LinkedIn opens the door to valuable new
opportunities such as connecting with potential business partners, future employers and employees, whilst generating important
new business leads and much more.
LINK E D IN L AN G U A G E
Invitation
An invitation is an electronic invite to LinkedIn or a specific group or event on the social media platform.
Group admins or users can invite new members and the invitation is sent to your email address as a notification.
InMail
InMail, a Premium feature, allows you to directly contact any user of LinkedIn, whilst ensuring the privacy of the
recipient. Alongside this, connected users can instantly message each other once logged in, whether using the free
or Premium version.
1st degree connections
On LinkedIn, every user you’re connected with is a 1st degree connection. You can also view 2nd degree connections.
These are people who are connected to your associates and you can invite them to connect with you.
Recommendation
Recommendations are used to refer a person or business based on their expertise, skill or service provided.
A recommendation is effectively a thumb’s up to verify the individual’s expertise and reassure other
potential customers.
Status message
Your status message is seen by all your LinkedIn connections and can include information such as what
you’re working on, job advertisements or even a promotion.
Page 7HOW TO U S E L IN K E D IN FOR B 2 B
When it comes to B2B businesses and social media, LinkedIn is an ideal start. Studies show for lead generation,
LinkedIn is 277% more successful than Facebook and Twitter. B2B marketers are in agreement too. If you want
to take LinkedIn by the scruff of the neck this year, make sure to follow our tips outlined below.
UP D AT E YO U R C O M PA N Y PA G E S H A R E N EW C ON T EN T
Once you’ve created your LinkedIn profile, it’s important to keep LinkedIn members are always hungry for new content on their
it well maintained so contacts are informed and stay interested. homepage: satisfy their need and provide them with it. This new
Be consistent and keep your brand identity fresh and relevant. content can be created for your website’s blog - all you need to
do is publish the link online. Of course, make sure you tailor
content to the interests of your connections - and you’ll start
to get engagement.
CO N N E C T W I T H T H E JOI N DI S C US S I ON GR OUPS
D E C IS I O N M A K E R S It’s all well and good filling your company’s page up with useful
information and promotions, but if you’re not being seen by the
With LinkedIn you can easily filter prospective connections based
masses, you won’t be successful. It’s easy enough to do this simply
on their job title, which is clearly visible on the user’s profile. 79%
by joining industry related discussion groups and becoming a visible
of B2B marketers say LinkedIn is an effective source for generating
presence online.
leads through communicating with decision makers.
Page 8CHAPTER 3 B2B Twitter Page 9
B2B TWI T T E R
In brief, Twitter is a social media platform where you can engage with potential customers and fellow business professionals
by communicating online. Anything can be shared, including news, information, images, videos or opinions, with the only
stipulation being you’re limited to 280 characters per tweet.
Most Twitter profiles are public and users tend to follow profiles they share something in common with, or are interested in.
TWI T T E R L ANG U A G E
Tweet
A tweet is the message you send out from your account and will appear on the homepage of all your followers.
Hashtag (#)
The all-important hashtag refers to keywords and phrases, which can be searched on Twitter. Use industry relevant
hashtags, which refer to the topics you are posting about.
Retweet
If this were an email, it would be called forwarding. Retweet the tweets of others to share useful information
on your profile.
Trending topics
If a topic is trending, it’s deemed popular in that moment of time. Trending topics are continually updated
and usually reflect newsworthy stories.
The @ sign
On Twitter, the @ sign usually precedes a username and will link directly to that user’s account.
Hashtags for every day of the week
Common hastags used per day, which prove popular to be involved with as a business are #MondayMotivation,
#TestimonialTuesday, #WednesdayWisdom, #ThrowbackThursday and #FollowFriday
Page 10HOW TO U S E T W I TTER FOR B 2 B
77% of B2B companies are actively using Twitter to promote their business, but only 40% are getting more customers through
this platform. So what are the others doing wrong?
D O N ’ T J U S T P R O M OT E L EA R N H OW TO GET FOL L OWERS
YOU R B U S I N E SS Source the key influencers in your industry and follow them
Build up an active following by offering useful information and their followers. Those you follow are likely to follow
for your potential customers, whilst only plugging you in return. Join in conversations and try to use industry
your company on occasion. The more you send out keywords with the hashtag (#) to ensure your tweets
advertisement-based tweets, the likelier you are are seen.
to be unfollowed.
E N GAG E R E G U L A R LY DON ’T L EAVE I T TO T H E T EA BOY
Scheduling tweeting and incorporating it into your every day Don’t pass off the responsibility to every work experience
working routine will ensure you maintain a consistent presence kid who comes into your office. Twitter is about having a
online. Don’t start off with a flurry of tweets and then ignore voice and communicating with your audience. You know your
Twitter for days on end. company and the industry, so use your experience to become
a social media kingpin.
Page 11CHAPTER 4 B2B Facebook Page 12
B2B F AC E B O O K
Facebook is by far the most popular global social media platform, launched famously by Mark Zuckerberg from his Harvard
dormitory in 2004. It is now available in 101 languages and users can create a personalised profile and share messages, pictures
and videos directly with their friends online.
Facebook tends to have a more personal touch than Twitter and many users set privacy controls on their profile to limit access
to just their Facebook friends.
FA CE B O O K L A N G U A G E
Likes
Facebook ‘likes’ are essentially a user positively engaging with something you’ve posted. This could be a status,
picture or even a link to your website.
Status
This is probably your most important tool on Facebook; your audience can see everything you post, which then
appears on their homepage (news feed). Think carefully whenever updating your status.
Tagging
You can tag friends on Facebook in pictures or status updates, so they’ll receive a notification and it’ll appear
on their news feed (depending on their privacy settings).
News Feed
For everyone logging into Facebook, this is what will be seen first - think of it as a website homepage.
The news feed is a collection of the latest statuses and photos from friends and liked pages.
Share
Sharing content allows you to offer more to friends and followers. You can share status updates, pictures
and even videos. Create shareable content and you’ll reach a larger audience.
Stories
Facebook stories allow users to share images or videos for 24 hours.
Page 13HOW TO U S E F A C EB OOK FOR B 2 B
There are over two billion active users on Facebook, which means there is a fantastic opportunity to connect with
your target market. Here’s our top four tips to help you get started:
S HAR E E N G A G I N G A N D B UI L D YOUR FA N B A S E
US E F U L C O N T E N T The best Facebook businesses are able to grow their fan
base by offering a sneak peak of exclusive content, before
The more content you provide your target audience with, the
asking the user to ‘like’ the page to see more. This is known
better chance you’ll have of catapulting yourself to becoming
as ‘fan-gating’ and can easily be set-up from your
an industry influencer. Any type of content can be shared,
page’s settings.
including facts, pictures and videos - just make sure everything
is on topic and on brand.
GE T AS M U C H I N F O R M AT I O N C OMP L EMEN T
A S YO U C A N EXI S T I NG S T R AT EGI ES
Social media is, after all, a platform to connect with more Facebook is an excellent way of engaging with your customers,
customers. So, at some point you’ll want to drive them to your but don’t just use this as your only social media tool. There are
website. Linking to blog posts is one way to do this and you many other ways to interact with your audience and Facebook
could also open up competitions, whereby you capture the should just be one part of your overall digital marketing
user’s email address. You can use this at a later date when strategy. Combine Facebook with blog articles, emails, eBooks
creating an email campaign. and presentations to reach a larger audience.
Page 14CHAPTER 5 B2B Instagram Page 15
B2B I N S TA G R A M
With over 800 million users, Instagram is a huge social platform which has the potential for your brand to reach a wide audience.
It differs to other social media websites as you are unable to post links; leaving your images to do all the talking.
T E L L YO U R S TO R Y ES TA B L I S H C ONN EC T I ONS
Use Instagram to tell your story, as part of your wider Unlike other social media platforms, Instagram is used less
marketing strategy. Instagram is a great way to demonstrate for driving web traffic and more for building and maintaining
your brand’s personality and values, rather than just promote brand awareness. It’s a great platform for grabbing the
your products. attention of prospective clients in their leisure time.
S HOW A L E S S S E R I O U S S I D E I MP R OVE EMP L OYER B R A N DI NG
TO YO U R B R A N D If you’re in the process of recruiting, social media can be a
great way to help attract the right applicants. If you follow
Give people an insight into your company culture by offering our previous tip and build up a feed of ‘behind the scenes’ type
a behind-the-scenes look at what goes on. Demonstrating that posts, applicants will gain an insight into your company culture
you’ve got nothing to hide is a way of humanising your brand. and the right people will apply to work for you.
B2C brands thrive on being relatable through social media -
your B2B brand should too!
B2B P INT E RE S T
Like Instagram, Pinterest is another image-led social network. Its most popular posts are related to food and drink,
DIY and events. If you would like more information on how suitable Pinterest is for your brand, get in touch
and we can talk you through it!
Page 16CHAPTER 6
B2B Google+
Page 17B2B GOO G L E +
Google+ isn’t like other social media channels. Not only can businesses use it to build their online presence, but it also offers
the advantage of maximising visibility on Google search results. This means your website will appear higher on search results
and, in turn, increase visitors and page views.
GOO GL E + L AN G U A G E
Circles
Circles are a targeted content sharing feature to help maintain a niche following. It gives you
control over who you share content with and how you consume it yourself.
Influencers
Influencers are people you have added to a selected Circle. The more you interact with them,
the better chance you have of capturing their attention.
Communities
Communities are discussion groups where you can listen to what others are saying
and join in conversations.
Hangouts
Hangouts allow a user to host and record a video conference with up to ten people.
You can connect with others at any time, in any place!
Page 18HOW TO U S E G O O GLE+ FOR B 2 B
D E MON S T R AT E YO U R E X P E R T I S E TA R GET A S EGMENT ED
Take part in community discussions by leaving A UDI EN C E
informative comments which prompt responses from others.
Categorise your contacts based on factors like your
relationship with them, their interests and what you
want to share with them.
IMPR O V E T R A F F I C ENGA GE W I T H I N FL UENC ERS
React to a piece of their content you find interesting,
TO YO U R W E B S I T E and you will begin to build a valuable relationship.
As Google+ is owned by Google, your chances of receiving
highly targeted visitors to your website via organic search results
will increase.
C O N N E C T I N N E W WAY S R EA C H NEW C US TOMERS
Why not host an informative Q&A hangout? You can Create communities to reach different audiences and
record the hangout and post it online, resulting in great collaborate with others on topics your company
content to publish across your other platforms! is passionate about.
Page 19CHAPTER 7 B2B Video Page 20
B2B V I D E O
Live video is becoming more and more popular in the B2B space. In 2016, 80% of consumers said they would rather watch
a brand’s live video than read a blog and 82% prefer live video to other social posts. Here’s the basics:
YOUT U B E F AC EB OOK L I VE S N A P C H AT
YouTube began as an entertainment Facebook’s Live Video feature allows Snapchat is a mobile-only video and
platform and is now essentially a search users to stream video content live to image messaging platform and has over
engine. Videos on YouTube are accessible their audience. Viewers can like, share 191 million active daily users. Content
24/7, making them a great source of and leave comments on the video, sent between users disappears after 10
information for potential customers. resulting in a two-way conversation seconds. If it is added as part of a user’s
with your company and other viewers. ‘story’, it disappears after 24 hours.
I N STA G R A M S TO RI ES I GT V
Instagram Stories is an extension of Instagram TV for business is a stand
Instagram, in video form. Like Snapchat, alone video app, where users can share
users can stream live footage, or upload 15 second to 60 minute video's on
a sequence of images or videos that their channel.
disappear after 24 hours.
Authentically promote your brand
Video is a great way of demonstrating your product or service, while creating relevant and useful content for potential and
existing customers. How-To videos are incredibly popular and are an easy way for your company to build up credibility.
Deliver bitesize messages
Although Snapchat, Instagram Stories and IGTV lack the ability to target different people, they are great platforms for
telling short stories quickly, to an already engaged audience.
Start conversations
YouTube and Facebook Live allow users to talk to your brand, and each other, to express their opinion on the content you
have posted. Use video to ask questions, encourage debates and open a dialogue between you and your audience.
Would you like to experiment with video, but you’re not sure where to start?
The Realia team is full of ideas, so get in touch if you would like some help.
Page 21CHAPTER 8 How to structure a social media campaign Page 22
STEP ONE: UNDERSTAND YOUR AUDIENCE
For any campaign to be successful, you need a fundamental understanding of your customers. Ideally, you’ll profile your customers
and decide on the best way to target them with your online campaign.
What factors do you need to consider?
Firstly, what is the key problem your customer is facing and how can you resolve it? Secondly, what is going to be the overriding factor
for a business choosing your product/service over a competitor?
For any successful social media campaign, your goal is to convey both of these questions and answers effectively, ensuring your brand
is visible and in mind.
How will you communicate?
This will depend on how your profile is set-up and will be either:
• as yourself, representing the brand
• directly as the brand/company.
Both approaches can be extremely successful and if possible, it’s best to take both into consideration. Each time you engage on social
media you’ll want your brand to leave a positive impression.
No matter who you connect with, on the other side of the computer will be a person who is looking to relate to you.
Page 23STEP TWO: DEFINE YO UR GOALS
The B2B marketing world isn’t straightforward. There will always be difficulties but these can be resolved by setting goals for each
campaign. Not only should you be thinking in terms of sales (although this is of course your ultimate goal); you also want to ensure
each touching point with your potential customers is successful and leads are successfully nurtured along the road to becoming a sale.
To work out the success of a social media campaign, ask yourself these questions:
As we’ve already mentioned, your business thrives on sales and with any campaign this is where you need to truly focus your attention.
However, by answering the questions above you can easily refine your campaigns and change certain aspects to further assist potential
and existing customers.
Page 24STEP THREE: MEASURE YOUR SUCCESS
How can you work out the success of any campaign without having a means for analysing success rates? Of course, what counts as being
successful will differ from company to company and, depending on your campaign’s goals, a different factor may well apply.
To measure your own success, look to integrate both volume and value principles. Volume is a way to measure growth and engagement
with your target audience, whilst value is essentially your bottom line.
For volume, factors that’ll have an effect on overall success include:
• The volume of click-throughs to your website or landing page
• An increase in email subscriptions or number of content downloads
• The growth in followers and fans on your social media pages
• The amount of likes, shares or favourites your online content receives
By analysing this data, you can find where along the sales path potential customers are veering off. You’ll rarely find a one-to-one sales
ratio for each click-through, so assessing your volume can give you a better understanding of where improvements can be made.
With the value, you’re simply looking at sales numbers.
• How many leads have been generated from a campaign and how many sales were there as a result?
• When assessing this, consider lead quality. Do leads have all the information they need to make a decision right now?
• Or are they still in the decision process and haven’t been fully converted?
With value metrics, you’ll be able to calculate your ROI and ascertain exactly how successful your campaigns are. You can tweak your
future campaigns accordingly and make changes to improve success rates.
Page 25STEP FOUR: CHOOSE A UNIQUE SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN
Your goals and strategy will also differ depending on your industry, the price point of your product/service and even the target market.
What would be successful for one company, can be viewed as a failure for others. Whilst this eBook is designed to give you a social media
insight, it’s important to tailor your own campaigns accordingly.
There are some growing trends that have surfaced over the last few years and you should certainly consider the following when
it comes to improving your social media presence and campaigns.
KE E P T R A C K O F C ON N EC T YOUR C ONT EN T
YO U R C O M P E T I T I O N A C R OS S DI FFER EN T P L AT FOR M S
More and more competitors for your business seem Your content marketing should always be linked to
to enter the market on a yearly basis, which is why social media. Ensure you’re creating content that’s easily
social media has grown in importance. shareable online.
BRU S H UP ON YO U R K N O W L E D GE FI ND A P L AT FOR M T H AT
Get to grips with all the language of the social media platforms S UI T S YOU
you’re using and learn to talk to your audience in a way LinkedIn is without a doubt your best choice, but
that resonates with them. don’t limit yourself. Twitter is an excellent platform to explore
and some B2B businesses find success on Facebook and
Instagram. You may even find niche forums online for your
particular industry, so create a profile and get yourself out there.
Page 26CHAPTER 9 Social Media: Your Takeaway Points Page 27
SOCIAL MEDIA: YOUR TAKEAWAY POINTS
Social media is now a way of life and the quicker you can get to grips with this valuable tool, the better your business will succeed
online. Believe it or not, social media has been around for over a decade – so if you haven't already, now is the time to get started!
OK - fair enough it has mostly be promoted as a B2C tool, but now we’ve opened your eyes to how large a role social media can play
in your B2B strategy. It’s startling, but many B2B companies still aren’t coming to terms with social media, so get ahead of the game
and start using the tips outlined in this guide.
Not sure you should be wasting your time with tweeting, liking and sharing?
BO O S T YO U R S E O P R O S P E C T S P R OVE W H Y YOU’R E T H E BEST
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) remains important for any business, Social media gives you an opportunity to assert yourself as the
whether it’s B2B or B2C. Nowadays your social media activities will have industry expert. Create an editorial calendar of exciting content
an effect on your search rankings, so everything is cross-referenced. you can share with your customers online and showcase why your
Optimise all posts, Meta data and keywords to improve your website’s SEO business is the ‘go-to’ place. The more emphasis you place online,
and Google’s ‘crawling’ robots will push you up the pecking order. the likelier you will be to engage with industry influencers who’ll
link to your content.
F O R M R EL AT I ONS H I P S W I T H
YO UR C US TOMER S
Social media provides a welcome opportunity to further your
relationships by posting useful data, sharing information and just
chatting in an informal way on a day-to-day basis.
L E ARN M O R E A B O U T I NC R EA S E YOUR
YO U R C U STO M E R S B R A N D AWA R ENES S
By keeping your customers close, you’ll be able to create With an excellent social media presence, you’ll increase brand
new products or services that are directly beneficial to them. awareness and encourage customers to visit your website and
With Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn you can discover what recommend you to others. Successful B2B companies on social
customers like and dislike, whilst understanding their media put questions to their followers and encourage them
lifestyle in general. to think or react accordingly.
Page 28W HAT D O YOU N EED
F R OM YO U R A G EN CY?
A good job,
delivered on time
Nice people
to deal with
ROI
Inspired creativity that
surprises & delights
On budget Service that goes
above and beyond
On brief
Access to the
Loyalty right skills
Responsiveness
Sales Reactivation
We have created a unique performance model that links our remuneration directly to the achievement of your objectives.
The benefits of the Realia Performance Model include...
• Committed KPIs around agency performance
• Clear definition of what is important to you as a client
• Establishment of measurable campaign objectives
• A shared emotional and financial commitment to good outcomes.
To find out more about the Realia Performance Model
please call 01303 262101 or visit www.realiamarketing.co.ukYou can also read
