Social media remains a massive missed opportunity for most B2B businesses. That is a punchy first sentence … but alas oh so true. Most businesses still see social media as ‘something for the young’, the land of influencers and for B2C only.
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
Social media, for many organizations, is either unused or misused. Too often it is seen as another traditional sales and marketing channel. In LinkedIn, for example, how often do you see somebody touting their products ‘amazing’ features, sharing ‘cool’ demo’s, maybe pictures of their booth at shows. On and on. And always there is that “contact us for more information’ line.
And guess how most of us react. By quickly moving on!
But there is a better way.
B2B Social Media Secrets
Secrets adds a sense of mystery to this next section. But nothing here is rocket science. This is all somewhat obvious. But let me share with you things we have learned by experimenting with social media led sales and marketing over many years.
Given the B2B nature of LinkedIn, for this post we will focus here. In future articles we will broaden this discussion to other social media channels.
LinkedIn begins with people. That is, you start by creating your LinkedIn page. From here you can (if you so choose) create a company page. This is an important distinction. It means that LinkedIn is centred on individuals. Too many people forget this crucially important fact.
Personal brand is critical to LinkedIn . Personal brand means you. It does not mean your company brand, product or solution. It means you.
Traditional marketing is impersonal. Traditional marketing remains the mainstay of large (company) brands and products. The logic is as follows: “If we knock on enough doors, we hope to connect with the ‘right person’ to whom we can sell”. But guess what, the stats show that this is a less and less effective approach. Cold outreach is a dying approach to selling. Sellers embracing mass outreach tactics with spammy emails, for example, see an abysmal 1% response rate, and it erodes brand equity.
Social derives from the Latin word socii or “allies”. Social can be expressed in many ways: interaction, community, shared values. A loud megaphone (too often a traditional sales and marketing tactic) used to shout a message to a group hoping somebody pricks up their ears is not social, nor is it very effective.
We buy from people we know and trust. And that is at the core of social media. Those we identify with and follow are those we are most likely buy from. And that is why your personal brand is such a core part of social media marketing and sales. More to come on personal brand in future posts. Let’s get to that list of social media secrets. There are 4:
- Social – Build your community and network through your personal brand and engagement
- Social media led marketing – Through original content which educates and informs; tell your story. In our case at Spatial Advisers our why is – “In everything we do, we believe in challenging existing thinking, perspectives and approaches. We believe in challenging the status quo”. My own personal brand is centered on this same why and I share content which has this at its heart.
- Social media led sales – Building relationships and trust leading to action. Remember in LinkedIn you are able to see anybody who interacts with you and your content (shares, profile views, likes, comments). You know who they are, their job title and background. This is the nirvana of traditional sales and marketing … and exactly why traditional sales and marketing can be so expensive.
- Cadence – Staying connected and relevant is critical. Buyers are not always in the market. But staying connected and ready for when they are in the market is crucial. Social media in combination with traditional marketing methods keeps you ‘front of mind’.
I’ll expand on these topics in coming weeks. But I hope this is a good starter to get you thinking about building a B2B social media sales and marketing engine.
Spatial Advisers are a social media led B2B sales and marketing company.