Business to Business - Social Marketing Strategy - Part 3

Informative not selling posts

Social media is just that, it's social. That means your goal is to have your brand seen by the businesses that you will eventually be approaching for sales. Social media users are far more likely to purchase a product or service if they have seen the brand pop up in posts on their social media feeds. It’s better if you can attract positive attention from other users by sharing helpful information and contributing valuable insights to conversations and it is shared. A compliment from a fellow social media user will carry far more weight than you touting your own benefits. When potential clients see your brand on social media, even in passing, it plants the seed for brand awareness and recognition for when you do contact them to make the sale.

This approach takes longer and requires planning and strategy, but it is lasting and over time, it will aggressively grow your B2B marketing exposure. So how do you get started?

Developing the Strategic Social Media Plan

• Determine the voice of expertise you want to showcase 
• Research topics and content which are relevant and trending to your brand 
• Set up a schedule for frequent, consistent comments with a branded message 
• Leave relevant comments and encourage and engage others 
• Identify potential target audience you want to engage with 

Each platform has different target audiences and different ways you engage

• Twitter – follow, retweet and reply on key tweets and retweet, hashtagging
• LinkedIn – Connect, like, share comment, join groups or start your own
• Facebook – friend, likes, join groups, share, comment 
• Pinterest – follow, pin, repin, comment, like, send
• YouTube – Post video, like share, tag
• Instagram – follow, share, like, comment on photos

People turn to social media to learn from other expert users. Position your brand as a valued contributor of information. This bolsters your visibility among potential clients and reinforces your brand’s expert status. This allows you to build relationships and communicate directly with potential clients without the pressures of selling. It builds recognition so when you do go to sell, you're connecting as a familiar contact, not making another cold call.