In my last post, I discussed different ways to enhance content marketing for the B2B environment. This week, I am taking content marketing one step further.
Once you have produced a quality piece of content - whether that be a scientific/scholarly article, a blog post or even a report - how can you then convert that content into a successful social media marketing campaign for the ever challenging B2B marketing spectrum?
Remember: in B2B marketing, the target audience is generally more knowledgeable on subject matter and is more likely to detect when content is merely a mass marketing effort.
Before diving in, it is important to know the difference between content and social media marketing in B2B and what the end goal is. In content marketing, you are producing a quality deliverable targeted towards a very specific audience that will showcase your expertise and spark debate or interest among this audience. In other words, the content is more "personal" than in a B2C approach. B2B social media marketing is getting that content to your targeted audience through your various networks and sparking a "Call to Action" (download an article, follow a link to a website, request more info, etc).
Therefore, in this post, I go over the Dos and DON'Ts of converting content marketing into social media marketing.
DO Give a Teaser
If your posting an article or blog on a social media profile like LinkedIn and Twitter, don't just simply type in the title and post. Lead your audience in with a surprising fact or a question they can only know the answer to if they open your post. Make them curious!
DON'T Give it All Away Up-Front
In some ways, less can be more. Intrigue your audience and lure them into your content, but don't give away the contents of your article in your status update. Avoid a 5 line summary of your article that not only bores the audience, but probably gives them enough information to not even open your content.
DO Maximize LinkedIn
I still think the best social media platform for B2B content marketing is LinkedIn. Not only can you share via company pages and personal profiles, you can share content in industry specific groups where people are actually looking for new content to read and debate. If you are posting content to groups, share it in a educational way rather than in a "we sell this service" kind of way.
Also, maximize the other professionals in your company. Get your employees to post content.
DON'T Waste as much time on Twitter
Don't spend as much time reaching audience members on Twitter. Post your content, hashtag your post and follow the analytics. In B2B marketing, most of the time you are tweeting to other companies whose marketing person sees your tweets. It's more for branding purposes, so don't waste too much time Direct Tweeting or Direct Messaging others.
DO utilize Call to Actions and Landing Pages
If you are going to post content, make sure people are reading it. Don't let it die in the social media black hole. Include Call to Actions or Landing Pages where you can follow audience interaction. Create a link back to your website or have people download your article via landing page. It's best to create actions that encourages feedback.
DON'T Assume all content is the same
There are many forms of content - scholarly and expert articles, blog posts, infographics, reports, powerpoint presentations and more. Therefore, the type of content influences how you market it. An expert article is more serious content that merits a landing page or call to action, while a blog requires quick publicity post. Know which content is more valuable and which content deserves a well thought out strategy.
DO Take advantage of various forms of social media
Sometimes even the professionals in the B2B realm are tired of reading boring articles. Use new and more exciting forms of social media like Slideshare which allows you to upload Powerpoint presentations or posting infographics to LinkedIn and Twitter. Sometimes less text and more images will make a bigger impact.
DON'T Overload or SPAM
Yes, you can SPAM on social media. For example, don't send a mass message to all 700 of your LinkedIn contacts with your latest company article or blog. It's neither professional nor strategic. And, don't overload your networks with content all day, every day. Keep is clean and professional.
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