Even though B2B lead generation might seem to be a mystery to many inexperienced marketers, avid B2B marketers have realized that successful B2B lead generation is mostly made up of activities that revolve around the use of social media. Most B2B marketers have declared that social media is the main channel for them to generate leads, while email marketing and content are following close by.
The Expansion of Social Media in the B2B Environment
While in 2011, according to a MarketingSherpa Social Marketing Report, only 54% of B2B marketers were measuring the impact social media had on their companies, in 2015 over 81% of B2B marketers measure their results on social media. 84% of B2B marketers now use social media, according to Aberdeen, while 68% of all B2B companies make the most out of landing pages together with social media marketing to boost their sales. (https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics).
To really grasp the importance of social media in the competitive B2B world, enter this site: https://socialmediab2b.com/2015/06/b2b-social-media-statistics-platform-usage/.
The Key to Success
While some B2B marketers have found social media to be a truly effective marketing strategy for success, others are still timidly looking for results. The difference here lies in their intention and expectations. A company whose intention is to prove themselves as a guru in the industry can have much more success than a company that simply want to generate leads.
If you want to be successful with social media, your main focus should not be to generate leads, but to connect with potential clients and to provide value to your target niche. Once you establish yourself as an authority in your industry, leads will automatically come pouring in. Sometimes this process might take months until fruition, but it is definitely worth to wait.
Top Most Powerful Social Media Strategies
As a B2B marketer, you can leverage the knowledge and creativity of other B2B professionals to establish yourself as an authority in your niche and get your B2B lead generation to the next level. Here are some of the most powerful social media tips to use today.
Jonathan Gebauer, CEO at Explode B2B, recently declared that he has found out that integrating content marketing into social media marketing has an 80% success ratio. The best way to establish yourself as an authority in your niche is to provide valuable content to specific groups of people, on various target groups. Content can range from videos and articles to whitepapers and infographics.
According to Gebauer, the goal with his unique strategy is to help companies position themselves as experts in the market. Content can be easily spread via different social media channels to increase the company’s output and make potential buyers aware of its existence.
To make the most out of social media marketing to boost your brand image, you need to develop a wide variety of content, use strong calls-to-action complemented by LSI keywords and also share your content and tell others to do the same.
The best platform for B2B marketers is LinkedIn. However, this doesn’t mean Facebook or Twitter are unimportant. Let’s take a look at how you can maximize your impact on each distinct social media platform:
- Facebook: if you have used Google Adwords before, you should start using Facebook Ads. This tool is absolutely gorgeous when it comes to segmentation, personalization and ROI. In addition to that, you need to have a personalized Facebook Business page to stay connected with your fans.
- Twitter: this on growing network is probably one of the easiest tools to connect with network partners in your industry. Twitter is not only a great place to find out important things or read the latest news, but a network that enables you to “hijack” a trend or important news and grab the attention of prospects.
- LinkedIn: this is the primarily network used by B2B professionals. This is where you need to forge new connections and be helpful to potential clients. By positioning yourself as a leader in specific groups, B2B prospects will automatically come to you for answers and even for joint ventures.
Your LinkedIn company page is of paramount importance, especially as this is the place where you need to convince your prospects that you are genuinely interested about their needs. Optimize your LinkedIn page for search and post original content that can be shared by both your staff and visitors.
Hashtags represent a modern way to improve the visibility of your posts on all social media channels. Every industry has its own specific hashtags which you can use to dramatically grow your impact online and attract a more relevant audience to your site. Here is how to identify the best hashtags to use in your industry: https://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-strategy/how-to-identify-relevant-hashtags-for-your-business.
Another great B2B lead generation method is to post throughout the day when your audience is more likely to be online. This time it’s ok to experiment and see which time of the day your audience is more likely to click your posts. You can also use Facebook Insights or other analytics tools to discover when you should post in order to enjoy maximum impact.
Q&A portals are probably the best when it comes to showing thought leadership. Be there where your B2B clients are looking for help. Be specific about the topics you are available to respond to. You can’t know everything, and you must not leave the impression that you are a guru in all areas.
The Bottom Line
There are many other useful B2B lead generation methods that can enable you to make the most out of social media. You can post regularly on your blog, build social relationships through contests and webinars, sponsor online events, promote sequential offers and use smart networking.
Social media has skyrocketed in popularity and power. Use it in your B2B journey to gain a competitive advantage in your niche and to stand out in the crowd – your success is guaranteed by using social media marketing like a professional.
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