I have recently been in the middle of some great discussions regarding social media. A number of the discussions have been between moderate-sized business owners with a B-to-B business model.
It is not coincidence that the takeaway from many of these discussions was that a majority of content regarding social media (the how-to’s, the why’s, the where’s) focus and provide advice for companies operating in a Business to Consumer world. Anecdotes and real-world examples rotate around buzz marketing, identifying “uber” influencers and direct touch customer support. Most success stories include bigger organizations like Pepsi, Motorola or Virgin Mobile.
So, Business to Business marketers are asking the right questions: what is the ROI for a B to B organization with regards to social media campaigns? Since the primary goal of B to B is not necessarily gathering individual consumer loyalty, how can an organization capitalize on these new channels?
There is plenty of opportunity for B to B businesses to promote and establish themselves in the social mediasphere to great effect:
- Establish the organization as a Subject Matter Expert. Blogs are the perfect vehicle to create editorial on your industry (you’re currently reading an editorial on social media, on a blog, go figure). Facebook is a perfect vehicle to highlight those editorials and to highlight current industry events. This type of content creation exhibits the company’s interest, or passion, in what they do.
- Showcase / Review new products and programs. All social media channels are great outlets to introduce new items to your readers. From new widgets to new financial tools, a social media channel can get the word out effectively.
- Search Optimization. The more links pointing back to your website, the better. The more keyword-rich content with references to your organization, the better. Social media channels provide another opportunity to promote your web presence to search engines. This isn’t to say one should create blogs specifically for keyword search – it is to say that along the path of creating content that company prospects and clients want to read, the natural writing should contain the keywords you are targeting.
- Showcase successes, case studies and white papers. Press releases are overkill for some news. Social media helps a company promote and display the fruits of its labor. It is also a good channel for promoting the press releases of the bigger wins.
- Thought Leadership. Every industry landscape changes over time. The ongoing dialogue around these changes are priceless. The discussion and new thought when speaking with customers, prospects, industry professionals and even competitors sparks the type of ideas that are worth editorializing. This type of content creation stakes you and your company out as a thought leader in your space.
B to B organizations have a right to ask what’s in it for them when it comes to a Social Media campaign. The answer: plenty.
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