B2B Social Media Strategies for 2019

Considering the second quarter of 2019 is about to come to an end, I thought it would be great to cover a few B2B social media strategies to help you boost your performance and give you some ideas to test through the end of the year.

Let’s dig in:

1. Paid Social Media for B2B

Social media is such a crowded space, with both companies and users posting all day long. In fact, there are approximately 3.2 billion people who use social media, some of which spend more than an hour and a half on social platforms every day, according to Emarsys.

So what’s the best way to promote your content and get a quick but effective ROI? Run social ads!

Of course, not all platform will work for your audience (ex. Facebook prefers to show users content published by their friends and family rather than by companies). Do some research to figure out where your audience is and what content resonates with them before launching your campaign.

2. Video for B2B

The B2B buyers’ journey is long, and often several users are involved. Thus, you have to create unique content for each stage of the funnel.

Why video? Research suggests that 59% of B2B executives prefer to watch a video than read text, and viewers retain 95% of a message when they view it in a video compared to 10% when read in text.

Video doesn’t have to be expensive, especially if you have a very technical audience where information is scarce. Work with your company thought leaders or program managers to create videos that discuss your audience’s pain points and how to solve daily challenges.

3. Test New Platforms

Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are the platforms B2B marketers usually go to for promoting news or industry insights, but they can be expensive. It’s also hard to get your content across such a crowded space.

Take advantage of new, less crowded platforms like Quora or Pinterest. Here is a brief description of how you can use these platforms:

• Quora: This platform is great to target the top and middle of the funnel users. How? Well, you can target people asking generic questions that represent symptoms of the issue your product or service solves– this would target that top funnel who knows there’s an issue but doesn’t know what the solution would look like.

To target middle of the funnel prospects, look for questions where people are asking for software, services, and tools, among others. You might even find users directly commenting about your brand or how your competitors’ compare to you.

Quora also offers advertising opportunities for targeting users across all stages of the funnel. Here’s a podcast I did about the results we have seen using Quora on B2B.

• Pinterest: Have you created tons of infographics and now don’t know where to place them? Use Pinterest for showcasing those high-value graphics that condense a lot of information in a digestible manner.

Are thought leaders in your company who constantly attend or speak at conferences? Then set up a board that covers all events you or your company participated on.

The idea of Pinterest for B2B is to show the lifestyle of your company. It provides that human touch while also showcasing your content.

4. What are other advertisers finding successful?

I reached out to some advertisers on Twitter and here are some of my favorite answers:

• Ryan Anderson: Finds success when sharing informational content rather than sending users to a bottom of the funnel page and I couldn’t agree more! People on social media are casually scrolling, hence show them a piece of content that talks about the issues they might be facing or productivity hacks.
• Andrew Foxwell: Recommends using Instagram stories for prospecting. I love this tip because you can then remarket or re-engage with the users who took an action or perform traditional remarketing.
• Betsy Hindman: She shared a wonderful idea of using lookalikes to exclude users instead of including them. What does that mean? Well if you are running ads on Facebook, Twitter or Quora (among others) and you have a list of bad emails you have received, then create a lookalike audience based on those “trash leads” and exclude them from your campaigns.

Key Takeaways

B2B marketers should take advantage of social media channels to directly communicate with users about their pain points. It’s also a great place to share insights, trends and even a little of your company culture.

Also, always try new things. Just because a platform might be small or new, it doesn’t mean your audience is not there. Always keep trying.

Is there anything working for you already in 2019? Please share your insights here or on my Twitter account!