Top 5 Reasons B2B Social Media Strategies Fail – And How to Avoid Them

B2B marketers and business leaders - let's talk about the elephant in the room – organic marketing on social media. It's not just about posting and having a "presence" while running paid ads; it’s about being strategic and leveraging the power of social media to drive actual goals and tangible results for your business and brand. Now, I know what you're thinking - organic social media doesn't work for us because B2B has a longer buying cycle, there a several people involved in the purchase decision, yada yada - yea I know.

But here's what else I know....

I know that the issues with getting results from organic social media efforts has nothing to do with being a B2B marketer, and everything to do with how B2B marketers view social media as a marketing channel. I know this because I am a B2B marketer and everything I'm about to share with you is based on real world experience. And, I'm willing to bet 10% ROI on a generic Facebook ad for business coaches that at least one of these things I mention will resonate with you. But enough for the intro - let's get into the real talk.

Here are the top 5 reasons organic B2B social media strategies fail:

Reason 1: Picking the Wrong Platform Playground

- Here's the Deal: Location, location location. It's not just important in real estate, it matters for where your brand shows up on social media, too. Did you know? A whopping 80% of B2B leads from social media are from LinkedIn. Yet, we're often focused on creating content targeted to more "popular" social media networks like Instagram or TikTok. I mean after all 'people buy from people' and those platforms are where people build amazing personal brands and connections, right?

Time for a reality check. Yes, people do build amazing personal brands and connections there, and the majority of those people are in fact selling to people: self-employed people, microbusiness owners and single member LLCs. BUT, most B2B marketers aren't selling to people, we're selling to representatives of business entities. They love funny videos and motivational content like the next person, but it doesn't motivate them to spend a chunk of their budget on our services.

What does? Thought-leadership content, brand credibility and social proof. Social proof that can just as easily be a case study or a respected industry certification as it is a screenshot of a testimonial from an unnamed client in the DMs.

So what I am saying? I'm saying that it's fun and okay to hang out with the cool kids, but LinkedIn and YouTube are where it's at for organic (and paid) B2B social media brand building. Don't believe me? Google it. Or if you message me and you're super nice, I'll shoot you some stats from my much too expensive Statista B2B marketing and social media marketing reports. What's more, LinkedIn just 1 Billion users, it's popularity is growing and not just for recruiters and job seekers. Start taking it more seriously as the leader of your social media strategy rather than an afterthought to repurpose content, and you'll be surprised at the results.

Reason 2: Your Brand Voice – Keeping it 'Real' Authentic

- Straight Talk: Ever came across a brand that feels like its having an identity crisis? Yea, me too. Why does this happen? One word, one syllable, plural: trends. Trends are amazing on social media and they are a great way to connect with your audience, BUT, when the trends don't make sense for your brand's overall messaging and tone it's best to skip them.

Know what else is trendy on social media? Influencer marketing. B2B brands don't venture much into this category, but when you do, you have to be sure that the influencer's messaging and tone aligns with yours in a way that feels natural, or else neither of your audiences will be pleased. (Read the room before you run an influencer campaign...literally.) Toyota and Lamborghini both have a lot of followers and both are leaders in the automobile industry - but they don't have the same brand messaging or audience. Think deeper before you partner with a influencer to collaborate with on social media.

And last but not least, let's talk political and social statements. You don't have to issue a statement about everything that happens in the world. This is especially true if it doesn't align with your mission, vision or industry. Not only is this not authentic - it's a quick way to get canceled even if you're on the most popular side of a debate. Today's world is about putting your money and actions where your mouth is, not your posts. So if you're not ready to step up, just shut up. Sounds a little harsh, but I promise it's tough love.

Authenticity isn’t just a buzzword; it’s the foundation of trust. If you can't keep it real - for real - nobody will let you know you're fake faster than social media. Rather you go viral for the wrong reasons, or its crickets in the engagement because no one cares (or really knows) what you have to say - its a bad look either way.

Reason 3: Position Yourself as the Go-To Expert

- A Little Secret: Here’s a nugget for you – 55% of B2B buyers lean on thought leadership to vet companies. So, let's get our wisdom out there. You and I both know that it's about a buyer's journey more than it is a sales funnel for B2B marketing, and part of that journey is discovery. 67% of B2B buyers do that part on their own. They're not looking for people to regurgitate the same information they've already found on Google by themselves, they're looking for something different.

What do I mean by different? I mean a different perspective, a unique process or an out-of-the-box solution. Something that says, hey, I know exactly what you're talking about and here's what I think about it and why. Your content shouldn't bet Insights, trends, hot takes – let’s make them know our name for all the right reasons. Social media is an ocean filled with content, to stand out you'll have to do more than reshare the latest industry articles and repurpose that one video every six months that got really good engagement because the CEO was showing off his gym routine.

Don't be afraid to challenge the status quo. If you think something in your industry is broken, talk about why and ways you're fixing it. Give your audience a fresh outlook on an old conversation. And one thing always helps a brand stand out as an authority, give real value. Not your basic, run-of-the-mill tips, but something your audience can really sink their teeth into and take action with to start seeing real results.

Think of social media as an ideal place to generate demand for your products and services, and then create a content strategy that focuses on sharing those things that will create the demand with your audience.

Reason 4: Let the Numbers Lead

- Data Talks: Men lie, women lie, but numbers don't lie. As social media marketers we know this. We are always relying on numbers to show off how well we've done. Views, impressions, reach? We traded the old vanity metrics for some new ones here lately, but I digress. I want to talk about the fact that while we know the importance of knowing and understanding our numbers, only about 45% of marketers are truly harnessing the power of analytics. Let’s not leave this gold unmined.

First things first, stop relying on social media platforms to give you metrics that matter. While these numbers don't lie, they don't exactly tell the truth, either. More like - leaving things out on purpose. For example, if I create a post for a client and it gets 50k impressions when their posts normally receive around 5k impression I can throw some pretty amazing stats out there. 10x the number of impressions on their posts, increased engagement by 650% from the previous posts (which maybe had 100 engagements total), etc. But what have I done for the client? Did I lead any traffic to the website? Did I get any calls booked? Did I increase ticket sales for their upcoming product launch event? Get the CEO a spot on an industry podcast?

No, marketing isn't sales, but it should provide opportunities for positive business results. To do that on social media we look at our purpose behind creating content and set real goals for what we want. For example, if the goal of a post about B2B marketing fails on social media is tied to a business goal to increase my credibility in this space, and my KPI is a 25% growth in followers within the marketing industry in 6 months - now we're talking.

Now, we can look at the post with 50k impressions and say that it drove 500 profile visits and 125 new people followed me and 75 of those people were in the B2B marketing industry. Now we know how we're performing. Remember, the data is available, it's all in how you use it that matters.

Reason 5: It's All About the Conversation

- Engage, Don’t Just Broadcast: For the life of me, I will never understand why marketers don't seem to grasp the importance of engaging from business profiles. Business profiles are not billboards or sales catalogs - they're social media profiles, and quality engagement makes or breaks their viability as a valuable marketing channel for your brand.

There's a huge misconception that the algorithm doesn't prioritize business pages and content. Wrong! The algorithm doesn't prioritize anything that its users don't prioritize. And why would anyone on any platform (including LinkedIn) engage with a page that doesn't engage with them?

In the words of every social media guru circa late 2020 and early 2021 'don't post and ghost'...yea that applies across the board, not just for personal brands. On LinkedIn you can get away with posting on your company page as little as 1x a week and still see some okay reach, but if you're not logging in and engaging from that page it won't do much good.

LinkedIn company pages convert at MUCH HIGHER rate than personal profiles (yep - look that one up, too, if you don't believe me), but because they are so underutilized most never see the benefit of the company pages and all of the amazing features LinkedIn offers with them.

Each comment and each interaction is a chance to connect. What's more - because it's a company page you're expected to participate in targeted conversations and engagement without people thinking its "oh so salesy", and if you want to grow the almighty brand awareness - well you have to make people aware of your brand. So engage freely.

Alright, let’s bring it home: Social media for B2B isn’t a walk in the park, but it's not rocket science either. It’s about being on the right platforms, speaking your truth, sharing your smarts, diving into the data, and, most importantly, engaging. Let’s stop making excuses as to why it doesn't work and change the narrative by showing that it absolutely does - it just looks a little different for us than it does for everyone else.

Remember what I said about engaging? It's your turn now (bonus points if you answer this question from your company page). What’s worked for you in the B2B social media arena? Any lessons learned the hard way? Share your stories, tips, or questions below – let’s make this a two-way street!