Social media for B2B: Why your company should embrace it

When you think about brands who use social media successfully, the ones that first come to mind are most likely B2C companies. The B2B brands tend to be in the minority, which is a shame since SoMe offers a huge amount of opportunities. And even for B2B, the focus of social media is the same as in B2C — people!

B2B companies generally give two reasons for not using too much of their marketing and sales budgets on social media — up until now, they have either ignored social meida it or haven't managed to comprehend its full potential, thinking it won't work for them, or they have not been able to understand and implement it effectively. But by choosing to ignore social media in 2021, these companies risk missing out on vital opportunities.

First of all, social media is not only for fashion brands and beauty companies — every company has a potential online audience. The challenges is finding that group of social media users who are interested in your industry.

B2B is not dull. This seems to be a typical, recurring misconception, especially among B2B brands themselves. However, you might want to put some extra effort into finding an interesting angle for your business, in addition to the fundamental basics like doing your research right. Setting the strategy straight is always crucial since you don't want to waste energy and resources trying to spread all over the place. When defining the goals and process for your social media strategy and execution plan, never underestimate having a clearly appointed owner of it all, because it takes time and effort to continuously maintain and stay on top of what you are communicating. 

You should also select your social channels wisely, depending on the message and target group. In this article, you'll find some helpful information on which platform to choose.

And what about content format? Well, versatility is always good, but do focus a little extra on video content. Video is still gaining popularity and impact, which you can read more about videos impact here. It's easy to grasp and share and is not dependent on just the spoken language (meaning translations are not always necessary). Use it to share short customer success stories to tell how your company has helped others solve their problems.

The past year has, of course, sparked a jump in social media consumption. We spend more time at home, and with more of us working from home, social channels are becoming increasingly important as the window to the outside world. A tip is to read the 2020 report from GWI to find out what's happening online (and where) — some of the main observations were:

• A notable rise in social media usage, due to Covid-19
• Virtual events, video, and live content are taking centre stage
• Consumers have an increasing need for online social interaction, which will most likely affect brand engagement

If you're working at a B2B company that isn't using social media to its full potential, get started - you're missing a chance to reach a large audience that is waiting to hear from you. If you need some more information on using social media as a B2B brand, take a look at our extensive social media guide for some additional resources.

We also have a free PDF social media guide available, which gives you concrete instructions for developing a social media plan and creating a social content calendar — click the button below to get it.