Why social media is working for B2B companies

If you have a B2B small business, you need social media marketing in your overall mix. Recent research has revealed that well over 90% of all B2B companies, regardless of size, are finding that a solid social media marketing strategy is effectively working to expand their brand awareness.

•  The major cited reasons for why small B2B businesses are making the social media investment include an increase in traffic to their sites or stores and the opportunity to foster and build a base of fans that is going to be loyal to their products and services.
• B2B businesses are finding that social media marketing development is offering the opportunity to connect directly with customers and potential customers. B2B is for the long term and social media marketing offers them a tool to extend their brand loyalty and traffic.
• Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter continue to be the major three platforms at which B2B businesses are finding the most success followed closely by blog content. Instagram, however has begun to become a serious player for B2B companies and many are finding success there.
• Spending on ads as a part of social media marketing has vastly increased from year to year with Facebook, by a large margin, leading all platforms. Nearly 95% of all B2B companies are using original content as the main attraction at their platforms. In addition, content and video from other sites is being included in the mix as is graphic content such as infographics.
• The major challenges facing a successful social media marketing campaign are time, no strategic plan at all and difficulty in being able to determine an exact ROI for a specific campaign.
• Moving into the coming year, there are some additional strategies to keep in mind. First, hire a professional firm to handle your SEO and social media marketing. Also, forget being everywhere. Closely measure your progress and only use those platforms that are driving traffic and extending your brand awareness. Finally, mix up your content offerings and increase you overall advertising across the platforms you are using.

-Written by Kevin Sawyer