A recent LinkedIn study found that 75% of B2B buyers and 84% of C-level executives use social media to research potential vendors and inform purchasing decisions. While B2B companies are not necessarily in the business of connecting with individuals through social media, they must still craft an effective social media strategy to reach decision-makers in their industry.
Establishing a memorable, identifiable voice in a busy industry is daunting, but with enough practice, B2B companies can cut through the noise and find their social media sweet spot. Let’s explore 5 ways B2B companies can leverage social media to unlock its full potential.
Build Excitement Around Big Announcements
There’s no better way to spread key messages and news than via social media. Everfox, a cybersecurity company dedicated to delivering defense-grade solutions, recently launched its new brand. To amplify the news and build excitement around the launch, Everfox shared a series of posts to its LinkedIn channel showcasing its sales kickoff event.
Unlike your typical sales kickoff, Everfox had world-renowned speakers take the stage, t-shirt guns shooting merch across the room, and energetic employees ready to start the next chapter decked out in matching swag. Everfox’s use of lively, professional photos invites its network to share in the team’s excitement while sparking curiosity around what’s next to come.
Drive Event Awareness and Attendance
Promoting events on social media may seem like an obvious tactic, but what B2B companies often fail to do is make people actually want to come. Creating a strong hook that draws in attendance from partners, industry peers, and the media is crucial.
Appian, a cloud computing and enterprise software company, has nailed down a compelling hook for their annual Appian World event: “We’re leaving AI hype in 2023, and focusing on its real-world impact and application from here on out.”
By alluding to a shift in focus for 2024, sharing an exciting promo video, and emphasizing that the event is open to all, Appian not only gives insight into what the event will cover, but also keeps their network intrigued enough to increase their interest in attending.
Promote your Employees and Boost Internal Engagement
B2B companies must create content that will provide genuine value throughout every stage of the customers’ journey. Employee-focused content does just that by driving initial awareness of the company’s mission and culture.
AREP regularly spotlights employees to applaud their professional accomplishments, provide insight into their day-to-day roles, and share an internal perspective on what makes AREP different.
Employee-focused content also boosts employee engagement, which is a common goal among B2B companies. To get your employees involved and actively engaging on social media, consider playing into their competitive side by gamifying engagement through a points or rewards system. Employees will be more inclined to engage actively if their engagement can benefit them.
Use Holidays to Highlight your Culture
Companies use social media to share sentiment around holidays, but these posts are often only intended to check a box. B2B companies should proactively think about upcoming holidays to ensure their posts are meaningful and have a clear connection to their brand and customers. If a holiday does not resonate directly with your organization, opting out of posting is more than okay.
Atlas Air, a major American cargo airline and aircraft lessor, frequently honors holidays and shares why the holiday matters to the company. Through storytelling in its captions, like its post for this year’s International Women’s Day, Atlas emphasizes company values and offers its audience a window into its history and team culture.
Bring It All Together
The final step to finding and maintaining your social media sweet spot is to continuously measure and track content’s performance and adjust as needed. Monitoring key metrics such as engagement, leads generated, and conversion rates allows B2B companies to see what’s working and what’s not. Organizations should use this data to refine their strategy and improve results over time.
