The Power of B2B Social Media Marketing: Why It Matters

B2C powerhouses such as Coca-Cola, Crocs, and Nike often dominate social media with their viral posts. However, when it comes to B2B companies like Salesforce, achieving the same level of virality is a different story.

Does this mean that social media is irrelevant to B2B companies? That’s far from true. Sprout Social shows that 88% of customers are likely to patronize a brand after reading reviews on social media. This only means one thing, B2B companies can use social media more.

However, it’s not just enough for B2B companies to incorporate social media marketing in their content strategy. You should also learn to make the most of social platforms to attract ideal customers.

In this article, you’ll discover why B2B companies need social media and how they can maximize it as a tool.

7 reasons why social media matters to B2B Companies

Given that social media content has the power to influence 84% of C-level and VP-level decision-makers, and 64% of marketers agree that it is an effective lead-generation tool, it’s evident that social media is a key driver for businesses looking to connect with their audience.

This highlights the importance of investing significantly in B2B social media marketing and underscores the need to explore its potential as a powerful business tool.

1. Expands brand reach

More than half of the world’s population uses social media, and the average time is 2hr 31min. According to Hubspot, social media remains the top marketing channel to leverage.

After a long day at work, professionals often find themselves engaging in their regular activities, which frequently involve using social media.

If one of your goals is to increase brand awareness, you can explore different forms of content like videos, infographics, or carousels to reach your target audience.

Creating authentic content that shows your company’s vision will help you stand out among competitors and reach professionals where they spend time.

An example of a B2B brand that leveraged social media is Adobe. Using LinkedIn, Adobe gained 3x more pre-event registrations, making them shift the event from in-person to virtual. The brand got over 40 million impressions and 700,000 online views for the Adobe Summit in 2021.

2. Facilitates Deep Connection With Customers

“It’s fascinating how the fundamentals of B2B marketing are the same today as they were 50 years ago. It’s still about relationships although today we have new tools and techniques at our disposal.”- David Meerman Scott, Keynote Speaker, and Bestselling Author.

Every successful B2B enterprise thrives on the strength of relationships, and social media is an effective platform to facilitate such.

On social media, clients reach out with comments, direct messages, and user-generated content. It serves as an avenue for you to know your clients and meet their needs.

When clients can connect deeply with a brand, they’ll choose it over other alternatives and praise it on hilltops.

Take a look at this screenshot of a LinkedIn post I shared, where Payoneer commented to demonstrate their unwavering dedication towards nurturing customer relationships.

3. Encourages Social Listening

The brands that make the most impact on their customers are the ones that listen. Social media is a medium that helps you gain feedback from your customers and also understand their behavior. This way, you can create more products and services tailored to customer needs.

Another major barrier with B2B companies involves finding the ideal language to use when interacting with customers. Social media helps you pick up your audience’s lingo to create content that truly resonates with their needs.

4. Enhances Customer Support

When customers encounter challenges when using a B2B solution, they need an avenue that helps them get help easily. Although many companies have email support, phone support, and live chat features, social media is another avenue where customers can be truly delighted.

Since customers spend most of their time on social media, it makes strategic sense for brands to leverage this platform to offer effective solutions to increase customer retention.

Slack uses its Twitter account to not only share information about the updates on the software but also to help customers solve their problems.

5. Humanizes Brands

“Even with B2B, the recipient is still a person, so we have to humanize our brand.” — Ryan Quinn, Head of Sales, Salutary Data.

Before, brands could remain faceless, unknown, and invisible, creating products behind the shadows. However, people now want to connect with brands deeper, which involves knowing those behind an organization.

According to Sprout Social, 72% of people connect with brands when their employers are active on social media. Your audience on social media is interested in the founder, employers, and the success stories of those who have used your brand. This creates a human effect.

Shopify posts interesting videos on Instagram with the theme “Walk Through Failure (WTF)” that shows how entrepreneurs overcome hard times. This content resonates deeply with their audience since they can relate to the struggles of other people like them and also gain advice to scale their businesses.

6. Boosts SEO

One of the ways B2B companies can increase website traffic is through social media posts. Since there’s a limited character count that you can post on social media, you can always refer your customers to your website so they can get the actual juice you’re providing.

When your brand has an active social media page, it better positions you as an authority for search engines and individuals. Semrush, a marketing company, uses infographics and carousels to engage customers on LinkedIn and drive website traffic.

7. Improves Content Distribution

Creating content only for your website will only take you so far. You need to distribute content on social media platforms to drive traffic to your website. This approach enables you to repurpose your content and effectively reach your ideal customer base.

The sales cycle for B2B enterprises is long, but content distribution can help you gain leads, nurture them and build trust with your potential clients. This can boost sales if done correctly,

Conclusion

B2C companies have long since dominated the social media space. However, B2B companies have begun to see the need to incorporate it into their social media strategy to smoothen their customer’s journey.

Since LinkedIn is the most used B2B social media platform, businesses are making better efforts to gain visibility and reach professionals there.

Your social media platform can increase brand awareness, boost SEO, improve content distribution, and even boost sales in the long run. B2B brands need a solid social media marketing strategy to achieve these results.