5 Reasons B2B Brands Should Be on Social Media

Posted by Branding Breakthroughs / Brand, Brand Promise, Brand Strategy, Branding, Communications, Marketing, Messaging

One of the most common questions I get as a brand strategist is whether a B2B brand should be on social media. There is a common misconception that social media only benefits consumer brands. The truth is … social media can equally benefit both consumer and business-to-business brands if a clearly thought out and well written social media strategy is in place. There are at least five solid strategic reasons why B2B companies should be on social media.

One.

The single most important benefit of social media for B2B marketers is the opportunity to increase awareness of your brand. Consider the following awareness-to-loyalty continuum. Without awareness, a prospect doesn’t even know you exist, so how could they consider purchasing you? Social media is a cost-effective means to increase awareness among individuals you believe are your core prospects.

Two.

As a B2B business, you are not reaching out to the 321 million people that live in the United States … a feat that a consumer brand may have to realistically consider. Instead, you are reaching out to a finite group of individuals. The key is to discover which social media channels your prospective target is frequenting. Gone are the days when the number of followers you have on social media is the lynch pin to success. If you have 500 followers but they are exactly the type of individuals you are trying to connect with, that lower number of followers may be a virtual goldmine.

Three.

Each channel serves a purpose and, therefore, should be selected on the basis of your specific needs. Many articles talk about the big three for B2B: LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. While these channels may represent a good starting point, they may not be the most appropriate channels for your business.

LinkedIn provides a perfect forum to connect with other like-minded individuals in your industry. Join a special interest group to talk about industry trends, ask customers to endorse your brand or to write a recommendation, publish original content to establish your company as a thought leader or find young professionals who share your company’s passion to hire for that open position.
Twitter is a terrific channel to establish thought leadership by using industry hashtags or a special hashtag you have created to showcase something specific to your company. It is also a great way to remain plugged in to industry news and happenings. Follow industry leaders to understand which issues and topics are top-of-mind and tweet relevant and important topics to individuals that will begin to turn to you for advice.
Facebook is a good forum to showcase your corporate culture, engage with customers on a personal level and show a little bit of the fun side of your personality.
YouTube is a perfect platform for brand storytelling or how-to videos that help your brand come alive.
While the jury may still be out on the overall effectiveness of Google+ as a networking forum, there is one thing that is irrefutably true – it elevates your brand in Google search, providing an easier way for current and prospective customers to find you.
If you work on a particularly visual brand, perhaps Instagram or Pinterest will provide you the perfect forum to connect with others looking for infographics, how-to pictures or suggestions on how to use your brand in unexpected ways.

Four.

How do you stand out from your competitors? As President Mike Crawford of marketing firm M/C/C points out, “As a B2B business using social media, your goal is to position the company as an industry leader.” If you have a blog on your website and are struggling to get people to read it, social media provides a forum to broadcast your content. So much of what is shared on social media is regurgitated information, so original content can really break through the clutter and establish your brand as a thought leader, helping to build credibility and trust in your overall brand.

Five.

But, the most convincing reason to use social media as a B2B company is that, plainly and simply, it works. Research conducted by the Content Marketing Institute shares a number of very impactful statistics.

Over four-in-five B2B marketers (86%) use content marketing to reach their targets and social media is a prime way to distribute that content.
Over half of B2B marketers use five social media platforms – LinkedIn (91%), Twitter (88%), Facebook (84%), YouTube (72%) and Google+ (64%) and usage of all these channels is on the rise.
While there is certainly room to optimize their usage of social media, B2B marketers believe that LinkedIn (63%), Twitter (55%) and YouTube (48%) have proven to be effective for their businesses.

Should you make a decision to move forward with social media, do not tiptoe into the effort. Making a half-hearted attempt to engage in social media can set you up for greater damage than doing nothing at all. (See: Are You A Drive-By Social Media Marketer)

Throughout this process, please keep in mind that building a loyal social media following takes time. Services that offer you thousands of followers for a small price merely populate your follower count with individuals that are not your core target.

Evaluate. Plan. Provide adequate resources. Take the time to execute properly. You will not regret it.

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28
Jul

Sometimes You Just Need to Nurture Your Creativity

Posted by Branding Breakthroughs / Brand Personality, Communications, Passion

These days, there seems to be an insatiable desire to link everything we do on social media back to ROI, a statistic or something else that helps move your business forward in a dollars-and-cents kind of way.

How many new prospects did you generate on Twitter?
Did your LinkedIn article show how knowledgeable you are?
Did your Facebook post make people want to work for you?

Now, don’t get me wrong, I agree that there has to be a purpose for it all at the end of the day. Why spend countless hours and brain cells working on something if it doesn’t elevate your business in a quantifiable way?

But lately, I can’t help but wonder if we are missing some of the really important ‘soft’ benefits of engaging in social media.

Like creativity, for example.

Posting to your social media account can allow you to flex your creative muscle and to solve some of those business problems that have been nagging you for days.

Branding Breakthroughs may be dedicated to advancing our client’s understanding of branding, but let’s be real … creativity is a critically important component of crafting an insightful and inspiring brand strategy.

For us, outlets like Tumblr and Instagram provide the opportunity to go beyond the day-to-day business workings (which can get tedious at times) and express ourselves in a way that brings new clarity and vision to the work at hand.

If you read any of the many articles written on breaking through creative blocks – like this one at Creative Bloq or this one at Fast Company – you see some common threads. Take a stroll around the neighborhood. Snap some photos. Draw a picture. Write aimlessly. Commune with nature. It is through these creative outlets that our brains are allowed to free float and to, sometimes miraculously, come up with a solution to a problem that has stumped us.

Perhaps Jill Davis is on to something when she says, “The waves of the sea help me get back to me.”

So, don’t be afraid to use a social media channel like Tumblr, Instagram or Pinterest to feed your intellectual curiosity and to nurture your creativity.

It may pay off for you in unexpectedly wonderful ways.

To see how Branding Breakthroughs nurtures their creativity, check out our Tumbler, Instagram and Pinterest accounts. You will notice each still pays off our brand by delivering consistent imagery in a voice that is in total alignment with who we are.

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05
Jun

Are You A Drive-By Social Media Marketer?

Posted by Branding Breakthroughs / Brand, Brand Equity, Brand Personality, Brand Proimise, Brand Strategy, Branding, Communications, Consumers, Experience

According to Pew Research Center, 74% of internet users are on social networking sites. With numbers that high, it’s not surprising that 80% of Fortune 500 companies have a presence on social media (Source: Simply Measured).

But, just because companies and individuals have a Facebook or Twitter account doesn’t necessarily mean they are actively engaged. In fact, most social media marketers would likely agree that there is a whole lot of one-way communication going on in the social sphere.

You see a great article, you post it.
You hear some breaking news, you share it.
You see a great recipe, you pin it.

But, how often do you actually carry on a conversation with someone on social media? (Other than on your personal Facebook account, of course.)

Chances are … not very often.

So, why do 74% of internet users the world over even bother? Perhaps, for many, the answer is because ‘everyone’s doing it.’

This reminds me of a question my mom used to ask me when I was a kid. I would insist I needed a certain brand of jeans or specific style of shoes because – everyone sing along – “Everyone has them, Mom” to which she would promptly ask,

“If everyone else walked off a cliff, would you follow them?”

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am a huge proponent of social media. I believe it is a great channel to learn about new developments, to share your expertise with others and to nurture relationships with your customers.

But, here’s the rub.

Too many companies are on social media because ‘everyone’s doing it’ rather than because they have made a premeditated decision to meet their target in that space and to engage with them.

A study conducted by Convince & Convert revealed that 70% of consumer complaints on Twitter are actually ignored.

70%

I don’t know about you, but I find that statistic alarming.

In their article, “The Value of Complaints,” the author shares,

“96% of unhappy customers don’t complain, however 91% of those will simply leave and never come back.”

When you think about the ease of tweeting at a brand or the ability to easily vent frustrations on Facebook, social media instantly becomes an extremely important customer service channel. Perhaps, that 96% of non-complainers will begin to shrink as people turn to social media for quick solutions to their brand problems. To then be ignored, well, I think you know the ending to that story.

What is the moral to this story?

“If you are a drive-by social media marketer, you could be doing a greater disservice to your brand than if you were not on social media at all.”

Your mere presence on a site indicates a willingness to engage with customers. If you ignore their comments, you are not only missing a golden opportunity to connect with them, but also fueling a potentially volatile situation.

So, let me ask you … are you willing to walk off a cliff just because everyone is doing it?

If your answer is yes, perhaps you need to rethink your strategy.

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Tag: Social Media