If social media is seen as a way to allow individuals to connect and share information with each other you would think this plays straight into the B2C arena. So how do B2B companies take advantage?
Following on from a great discussion on the B2B Marketing LinkedIn group here http://bit.ly/dc2M2H should B2B marketing be aimed at the company or individuals in that company?
Social media can help companies connect with individuals within an organisation who may then have the influence to spread positive or negative word of mouth about a brand on or off line.
Educate as individuals
Here's how I think a social media play should work in B2B. The majority of tech savvy individuals are now online and using social media applications for either personal or business use. Rather than bombarding followers, readers, subscribers etc with general noise marketing messages think about how individuals in these organisations would benefit from using your products or service. Then educate them on the personal benefits they and their colleagues would see as well as the overall benefits to their company.
Thought leadership through blogs etc can have an effect but I think the best play here is through peer to peer endorsements. Have a look at how many connections, friends or followers some of your best advocates have online. Then think how you can develop an environment that makes them look like heroes in their community and want to spread the good word about your company. Here are some ideas;
Online community
'Build it and they will come' is the worst thing anyone can do here, users of a community want to feed off each other but also be educated (not sold to) to help drive valued conversations and recommendations. Creating a LinkedIn group is simple, ensuring people stay engaged is more difficult; think of problems your customers face, how they would like to innovate, drive down costs, secure more customers and then educate around these subjects and try and drive interaction amongst community members. Also use the community to thanks customers.
The network effect
Think about each network an individual customer has inside and out of their company and how they may want to position themselves as experts in their field. Ensure your marketing can be passed from person to person easily so they can look like a wealth of knowledge, examples could include;
· Create educational not sales led e-newsletters which allow comments and can be forwarded easily (yes this is social media!)
· Send a newly created case study to your company's Twitter followers
· Develop an e-book outlining individual benefits to customers
· Produce 'How to' guides posted on You Tube
Storytelling
Rather than creating heavy product focused case studies with one or two customer quotes, look at creating a story that shows how your products positively effected both the individual and their company as whole. Ensure testimonials are posted everywhere on your website, group pages, blogs, Twitter pages etc. Then as above ensure they can be spread through each viewers own personal network.
Integrate with CRM
You hopefully have a healthy database of customers and prospects filled with phone numbers and email addresses. How many LinkedIn profiles are on there? What about Twitter profiles? Skype addresses? As social media expands a person's online footprint is more than just the traditional contact info and marketers need to build and utilise these contact details.
So in summary don't allow people to dismiss social media in B2B as irrelevant as it opens up a new plethora of ways to communicate, engage and educate customers and other stakeholders associated with your business.
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