B2B Social Media: Are You Exploiting Social Media Effectively?

The B2B Social Media Site Made for Business B2B Social Media Are you using the right social media platform(s) for B2B? Are you maximizing your use of social media to stay ahead of the competition? A growing number of B2B businesses have adopted social media. In fact, 88% of B2B marketers employ social media today. I’m sure you didn't jump on the social media bandwagon because everyone else is doing it. There are better reasons to engage socially.  Here are some of the main benefits that likely motivated your business to participate socially. SEO: Social media is highly searchable. Real time information: It’s fast – beneficial for time-pressed executives. Sticky: It can be extremely memorable and compelling… potentially viral. Entertainment: Given available graphic, audio, and video tools, social media promotes fun. There’s more, but these are among the main reasons businesses decide to get social. This month, I’ll pull back the curtain on social media platforms that work well with B2B. I’ll review: (1) LinkedIn and SlideShare; (2) Google+ and Blogger; (3) Twitter and Facebook; and (4) YouTube and Pinterest. Some of these seem to be ideally suited for B2B, whereas others seem more appropriate for B2C companies. I’ll drill down into each one showing you what they offer and how you can exploit them effectively.  Warning. Each platform has strengths and weaknesses. Adopting all of these isn't the answer. Engaging socially is one thing.  However, effective employment is another. Instead, you’ll want to understand what each one can do for your unique situation.  The real secret lies in finding the right mix. Today, we’ll look at LinkedIn and SlideShare. LinkedIn: Social Media Made for B2B  Alexa ranks LinkedIn as the 9th most popular site in the U.S. and 13th globally. More importantly, this site is a professional network linking business people worldwide. It bills itself as “the world’s largest professional network”. This site is made with businesses in mind. 83% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn for content marketing. LinkedIn is 277% more effective for lead generation than Facebook and Twitter. 87% of LinkedIn users trust the site's product-related information.   Social Media Tools for B2B Marketers LinkedIn has evolved into a premier publishing platform. B2B businesses can publish posts on their company pages and develop unique content using SlideShare. You can easily share your content with your network and your groups. Company Pages – Your Company’s Homepage on LinkedIn Everyone knows about LinkedIn’s personal pages and personal profiles. But businesses make their money on LinkedIn’s company pages.  You may not be aware, but Google lists company pages within the first 2 pages of its results. Wayne Breitbarth, a LinkedIn guru, says this is “free-money” for small- and mid-sized businesses. Here companies have something like a mini-website that builds their brand. Company pages list a business’s summary mission statement, size, company type, industry, and contact information. It’s your calling card. How popular are company pages? There are more than 4 million company pages and the number is growing. Additionally, companies can submit updates (similar to blog posts) to update visitors on any aspect of the business. Some businesses hit the bull’s eye with their company pages.  See what B2B companies like SAP, FEDEX, and Maersk do with their company pages. SlideShare – B2B Social Media Made Fast and Easy Another popular feature on LinkedIn is SlideShare. Previously, this ranked as one of the most popular websites, before being bought by LinkedIn in May 2012. As its name implies, businesses share content with slides. They make it easy for you as SlideShare integrates seamlessly with LinkedIn. It’s a content publishing and sharing platform rolled into one. Available to you are the all the members in your network, including those in groups you’ve joined. Beyond that, thanks to SlideShare’s share-ability, your content can go viral. Here are the benefits you get with LinkedIn and SlideShare: Target-ability – Easily zero in on the “right” audience.                     Reach – Virtually unlimited – over 200 countries and territories. SEO – Boost your find-ability on LinkedIn and accelerate your online growth. Effectiveness – 77% of B2B marketers have acquired a customer through LinkedIn. Content variety – LinkedIn has it all: Long-form; short-form; audio; video; infographic. Thought leadership – Readily promote thought leadership within your industry. Usage/Stickiness – The average visitor spends 17 minutes/month on LinkedIn. LinkedIn for Mobile – 45% of users access LinkedIn using mobile devices. The bottom line is that LinkedIn is a feature-rich social media platform that caters to B2B businesses. Its versatility, ease of use and speed make this a winner. Organic Advertising that Boosts Your Social Media Presence  LinkedIn is a versatile B2B social media site that offers advertising as well as marketing solutions. Similar to Google AdWords, LinkedIn features “Sponsored Updates”. It follows basically the same rules and parameters as AdWords campaigns.  As you publish company updates, those will be viewed by your professional network. Sponsored updates gives your posts added juice. Now your ads will go beyond your immediate network.  And LinkedIn’s superior targeting features extend your reach to a “target-rich” environment. Sponsored updates also comes with a set of useful analytics. You can easily fine tune your ads to improve your ROI. This B2B social media site has best of breed online tools businesses need to compete and thrive in the B2B space. LinkedIn’s organic advertising is the perfect complement to its content publishing platform. LinkedIn’s Trends for B2B Social Media Hands down, LinkedIn is the B2B business person’s favorite site to connect and do business. Despite other sites attempting to make inroads in the business space, LinkedIn will continue to dominate in B2B social media. Both the number of users and time spent on LinkedIn continue to grow.  It remains popular for generating leads: 93% of marketers say LinkedIn is most effective for B2B lead generation. According to Wayne Breitbarth, company page usage increased from 24% to 57%. Another interesting and compelling fact is that Google uses LinkedIn. Google has 3.2 million followers and over 59,000 employees on LinkedIn. That’s an endorsement that bodes well for its future. But before wrapping up, let’s see what users think about LinkedIn. Seventy percent of users give LinkedIn high marks – a 4 or 5 with 5 being the highest rating. They cite connecting with C-level executives among one greatest advantages.  If you’re trying to build your business, expand it, and increase sales and revenues, then networking with senior executives is critical. And LinkedIn clearly delivers on that. Conclusion It’s no wonder almost 90% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn. This social media site is made for B2B businesses. It has a superb content publishing platform and a superior content distribution tool. Add to that effective organic advertising, and you a powerful social media tool. This the preferred B2B social media site, bar none. The only question you need to ask yourself is whether you're exploiting social media effectively. It starts with getting the right mix of social media platforms. Is LinkedIn is a key part of your social media marketing mix? If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me by phone or by email. Comments? Let me know what you think by commenting directly on my blog. Thanks and have a great week! Alex Milo B2B Copywriter and Consultant “Helping Transportation and Logistics Companies Generate Leads with Compelling Content” Phone: 256-886-4684 LinkedIn Google+ www.b2bcopywriting-alexmilo.com P.S. Next week, we'll explore Google+ and Blogger.