With over 76% of North Americans using social media, it’s easy to see why marketers lean towards social media to get in front of their audience. After all, we want to go where our prospects are! But, with how competitive social media and marketing is these days, it’s hard to keep up with the crowd. Not to mention coming up with new and exciting B2B social media tactics. That’s exactly why we created this list of the top 10 B2B social media tactics for B2B marketing managers to focus on this year and beyond. First, let’s go over what social channel you should focus on.
Top Social Media Channels You Should Focus On
As a B2B marketing manager, we have the difficult task of choosing the right social media channel(s) to focus on. Here are the best channels for B2B-specific companies.
Without a doubt, LinkedIn is the best social media channel for B2B marketing managers to focus on. This is a highly specific platform that caters to those in business, looking to educate themselves. Your company can post content, articles, videos, and more to help grow your following. On the other hand, your salespeople can also post from their own LinkedIn pages to grow your audience even further. Paid ads are also a great way to target prospects. LinkedIn ads can be tailored to company names, industries, and other firmographics, making them highly specific. But, due to how specific you can get, they can cost a lot more than other social media channels.
Quora
Not many B2B marketing managers would consider Quora as a platform they should use, but with over 300 million monthly active users, it can be a great way to get your company in front of a wide audience. By answering industry-relevant questions on Quora, you can share your industry knowledge and subtly plug your company. The example below is a question from over three years ago, and has continued to collect views. You can include links to your blog articles to get them on your website, or share how your company will solve their problems. If you’re looking to learn more about marketing on Quora, take a look at this article 10 Tips for Quora Marketing.
Threads vs X
On July 5th, 2023, Facebook’s parent company, Meta, launched Threads. Threads is a text-based social media platform that rivals X, formally known as Twitter. Here are a few statistics to help you understand the recent life of these platforms:
- 68% of Threads users are male, with 28% of users between 15 and 23.
- On the other hand, X users are 71% male, with 59% between 25 and 49 users.
Knowing the user demographics of these two platforms, it’s easy to see that X users make up more B2B decision-makers due to the age bracket. Since Twitter rebranded to X, there has been a large drop in daily users, but it still has over 40 million daily active users. If you want to learn more about Threads vs X, take a look at our article Should Your B2B Company User Threads? A How-To Guide. Now that you know about the social media platforms that you should be using, let’s jump right into the top 10 B2B social media tactics.
Top 10 B2B Social Media Tactics
Now that you know more about the best social media channels, let’s jump right into the top 10 B2B social media tactics that your company should be using.
1. Social Selling
Social selling involves using social media to identify, connect, and nurture potential leads. LinkedIn is the ideal platform for social selling, but X can also be used. The goal of social selling is to build trusting and reputable relationships with your followers. By focusing on building trust and loyalty, you will be more likely to retain customers in the long run. Try to send messages, like, and comment on your connection’s posts to keep your name and company at the top of their mind. If you’re looking to take advantage of social selling, take a look at this article 8 Beginner Tips for Social Selling in 2024.
2. Embrace Automation
When we think of automation, oftentimes we don’t think of social media. However, there are a number of ways that you can take advantage of automation when it comes to social media. Tools like Hootsuite can help you schedule multiple different channels at once, taking the manual labor out of scheduling one by one. Additionally, Hootsuite can tell you the best posting times based on previous engagement history and specific platforms. This can help ensure your content is being seen by the right people at the right time.
3. Quality Over Quantity
With AI-generated content on the rise, we have seen companies with a “more is more” mindset. With AI-generated content being easily identifiable, it’s often seen as not authentic and can damage your reputation if not done right. That’s exactly why it’s more important than ever to put out high-quality content instead of a high volume of content. If your team can only publish two posts a week but they are high-quality, that is much better than posting generic content five times a week.
4. Monitor Your Metrics
Marketers often get caught up in executing tasks, without looking back on what worked the best. Using analytics tools like Hootsuite can help you track key metrics like engagement, impressions, and clicks. On the other hand, website analytics tools like Google Analytics and Visitor Queue can help you figure out if you’re getting website visitors and conversions from your social posts.
5. Influencer Marketing
Sometimes we tend to think that influencer marketing is strictly for B2C organizations. But, that’s simply untrue. Try to identify influencers in your industry and collaborate with them to amplify your message. Influencers can provide authentic endorsements, increase brand visibility, and make your organization seem more credible. You can also include some sort of promo code to help track the success of your campaigns and reward your influencers for their hard work. Keep in mind that you’ll need to do a thorough background check on your influencers to ensure their voice aligns with your brand and that they haven’t landed themselves in trouble in the past. If you’re not sold on influencer marketing, take a look at this case study on How monday.com Smashed Benchmarks with B2B Influencer Marketing.
6. Employee Advocacy
Your employees are your best advocates. Encourage your team to share company updates, industry insights, and behind-the-scenes glimpses on their personal LinkedIn profile. This can bring a human element to your brand. And, it will extend the reach of your brand to their network, potentially bringing in more leads. While employee advocacy is an amazing way to get your company’s name out there, it can also be a great way to help recruit. This is because potential candidates might see these personalized messages and see what a great place to work it is.
7. Social Responsibility
64% of consumers feel that a brand’s social responsibility efforts are important to them. And, this number is only expected to rise over the next few years. Since consumers are becoming increasingly conscious of sustainability and social responsibility, it can be a great opportunity to share what your company does online. Showcase eco-friendly business practices, community initiatives, and corporate social responsibility efforts that resonate with your audience. When you share content like this online, oftentimes it’ll receive the best engagement! While it may not be company-specific, it can help a consumer choose between your company and a competitor.
8. Leveraging AI
We are experiencing a flood of AI-generated content. But, AI is not always a negative thing. Of course, you can use AI to assist in your content creation. However, I recommend not relying on AI entirely, and still checking the quality of the content before publishing. One of the best ways that B2B companies can leverage AI is to analyze algorithms, customer behavior, and preferences. This can help you build more personalized content, tailored to what your audience is interested in.
9. Diversify Your Content
No one wants to see the exact same type of content over and over again. That’s why it’s important to diversify your content. I recommend sharing static images, blog articles, videos, and text posts to ensure you’re content doesn’t get repetitive. By doing this, you are more likely to cater to everyone’s needs, since not everyone wants to watch a video and not everyone wants to read a blog.
10. Check on Your Competitors and Industry Leaders
Without keeping up with your competitors and industry leaders, it’s hard to know what is trending and doing well. I recommend following software companies like HubSpot, Mailchimp, Hootsuite, and Salesforce to see what they are doing. This can give you inspiration for your own content, and ensure your content stays fresh and relevant. Enterprise-sized software companies like these often have the best of the best working on their marketing team, so their ideas are usually well thought out and the industry standard. Additionally, keeping tabs on your competitors can help you see what they are doing, what kind of engagement they receive, and if they get any negative feedback.
How to Tell If Your Social Media Marketing is Attracting the Right Audience
While using website analytics tools like Google Analytics can show you how many visitors are acquired from social media, you have no clue who they are. That’s where Visitor Queue can help. Visitor Queue works in a similar way to Google Analytics, but can also identify the companies that visit your website. As a B2B company, this information can help you see if your social media marketing, or other types of marketing, are attracting the right audience. Additionally, we provide employee contact information to help you reach out and see if they found what they were looking for. Start a 14-day free trial of Visitor Queue today and start identifying your website traffic.
Final Words
As we all know, social media is not easy. Especially in the B2B world, it can be challenging to come up with new and exciting ways to entice your audience and keep them engaged. By using the best social media channels, and tactics mentioned above, you have a better chance of keeping your audience engaged and coming back for more. As always, if you have any questions about Visitor Queue, do not hesitate to reach out.