B2B social media marketing can be challenging, especially if you have a limited budget and resources. But that doesn't mean you can't achieve your goals and reach your target audience effectively. In this article, you'll discover some practical tips and tricks to manage your B2B social media marketing on a budget, without compromising on quality or results.
Not all social media platforms are created equal when it comes to B2B marketing. You need to focus on the ones that are most relevant for your industry, niche, and audience. For example, LinkedIn is a great platform for B2B professionals, as it allows you to showcase your expertise, build relationships, and generate leads. Twitter can also be useful for sharing industry news, insights, and opinions, as well as engaging with influencers and prospects. However, you might want to avoid platforms that are more suited for B2C marketing, such as Instagram or TikTok, unless you have a strong visual or creative element to your brand.
One underleveraged secret is to ensure you structure the campaigns in a way that helps the paid social platform leave "learning" as quickly as possible. This includes allocating sufficient budget for campaigns so it can meet minimum data thresholds or consolidating campaign builds. The principle applies to most paid social platforms.
Are we seriously saying that B2B=Twitter and LI, B2C=Meta and TikTok? I really don't think it's as simple as that. With Clearbit, for example, you can apply LI targeting on Facebook. You can then target your professional audience on other channels. What's correct is channels that are most relevant to your persona and audience. Many B2B brands I work with are targeting personas who are not baby boomers or gen x, and are daring (dare I say it, B2C-like) in their approach. All about objectives and asking 'where's the next opportunity, where's my audience'. True omnichannel.
One of the keys to managing your B2B social media marketing on a budget is to plan ahead and create a content calendar. A content calendar is a tool that helps you organize your content strategy, schedule your posts, and track your performance. It can also help you save time, money, and resources, as you can batch produce your content, repurpose existing content, and avoid duplication or inconsistency. A content calendar can be as simple as a spreadsheet or a document, or you can use a software tool or an app to make it easier.
I've implemented '00s of social strategies for clients, both paid and organic. A content calendar works. I've started with learnings from previous client implementation, used insights based on successes and then optimised the approach in a responsive way. I'd recommend segmenting your calendar between BAU, reactive, and campaign activity. Make sure there's no overlap and you're not spamming the channel, which brings numbness to your audience and ineffective performance. Loads of tools that can help, from Buffer to Hootsuite, or I've used an online calendar in Google and shared Outlook to plan the schedule, and collaborate with others. It just works.
Another way to manage your B2B social media marketing on a budget is to optimize your content for each platform and audience. This means you need to tailor your content to the format, tone, and purpose of each channel, as well as the preferences and needs of your followers. For example, you might want to use more images, videos, or infographics on LinkedIn, as they tend to generate more engagement and views. You might also want to use hashtags, mentions, and keywords on Twitter, as they can help you increase your reach and visibility. Additionally, you should always include a clear and compelling call to action on your posts, such as a link to your website, a landing page, or a lead magnet.
Quality content is important. I see so much rehashed content shared that it does not help educate, entertain, or inspire B2B customers. I would seek to create content that answers customers' questions or provides solutions to their pain points. A great place to start learning about customer questions and pain points is from the sales or customer service team. They engage with the customers and can provide the marketing content team with valuable insights for creating meaningful and quality content that fits the organization's customers' needs.
Allen's spot on. Content needs to be considered, humanised and personal. Don't 'spray and pray'. Give value to your audience and cut through. There's a load of noise across SM, so make sure you tailor content to audience needs, not your brand's needs.
User-generated content (UGC) is any content that is created by your customers, fans, or followers, such as reviews, testimonials, case studies, or social media posts. UGC can be a powerful way to manage your B2B social media marketing on a budget, as it can help you boost your credibility, trust, and social proof, as well as generate more organic traffic and leads. UGC can also help you reduce your content creation costs and efforts, as you can simply curate and share the content that your audience creates for you. To leverage UGC, you need to encourage your customers to share their feedback, stories, or experiences with your brand, product, or service, and reward them with incentives, recognition, or appreciation.
Another stakeholder to look at for B2B UGC is the employee force itself. Sharing their work or some thought leadership pieces does help in strengthening the credibility.
If you're successful, strategically, then your audience will want to be part of the conversation. The biggest thing here is credibility - your message carries so much more weight in the community when you've got advocates, and success stories that are organic. Remember to appreciate those who appreciate you!
Finally, to manage your B2B social media marketing on a budget, you need to analyze and improve your performance regularly. You need to measure the impact and effectiveness of your social media strategy, using metrics such as reach, engagement, conversions, and ROI. You also need to identify what works and what doesn't, and make adjustments accordingly. You can use various tools and methods to analyze and improve your B2B social media marketing, such as analytics tools, surveys, polls, or feedback forms. By doing so, you can optimize your budget and resources, and achieve your B2B social media marketing goals.
I've seen so many clients want to get going on socials, keen to put messages out and expecting a huge uplift vs KPIs. But before you implement your strategy, make sure all data points are aligned. Is your tracking set up? That doesn't need to be in a CDP or massive data warehouse. Make sure at a channel level, and at a destination level (website/microsite etc.) your tags are established, firing and recording the insights by engagement path. Look at engagement at the destination. Look at how activity is hitting the outlined goals, and make decisions objectively. Just because you have a following of '000s on LI doesn't mean your success metrics will be greatest.
One of the key points missing when developing a B2B social media marketing strategy is to set clear goals. Establishing goals will help streamline your tactics and reduce wasted time and money. Consider goals such as: 1. Do you want to generate more leads? 2. Drive more unique traffic to your site? 3. Increase brand awareness? 4. Boost sales? Setting clear and measurable goals will help you make the most of your limited resources, be it money, time, or employee hours.