How to use social media for b2 b marketing

Zhilei ZouSocial Media Marketing

How to Use Social Media for B2B Marketing

Business-to-business (B2B) describes commerce transactions between businesses, such as between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer. Contrasting terms are business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-government (B2G). B2B (Business to Business) Branding is a term used in marketing.

B2B

Source: Wikipedia

B2B Vs B2C in Social Media

Source: the report by Sametrix

Many B2B businesses are ignoring the consumer insights that social media can provide, according to a report by SatmetrixRead more: http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2012/7970/b2b-brands-trail-b2c-in-social-media-monitoring-follow-up#ixzz2E7RhZGtq

1. Defining Your Target Audience

When developing your B2B strategy for social media, the place to start out is to find out where other businesses are going.

Derek Edmond, a managing partner at Waltham, Mass.-based B2B marketing firm KoMarketing Associates

“Most of these sites even have an advanced search option, so that you can scour through regions and titles”

2. Monitoring Before You Act

Once you have defined your target audience and started developing your B2B contacts, don't immediately start spamming your latest press releases, says Edmond. The key is to contribute to the conversation before you jump in trying to market services.

Before you start aggressively pursuing your strategy, you should also be monitoring what people are saying about your company by setting up an account with Google Alerts and searching social media sites with tools like Radian6, Salesforce.com or Social Mention.

3. Communicating Your Message

“One of your primary goals in your marketing strategy should be to offer resources and knowledge to your followers. The key is provide value through thought leadership.“

David Armano, senior vice president of digital marketing firm Edelman Digital

•Posting Reports and PresentationsIf your company has recently completed an industry-related report or presentation, for example, publish it on SlideShare and post a link to it on Twitter.

•Initiating Interaction on LinkedInAnother great way to provide knowledge while marketing your company is to join groups on LinkedIn and start relevant conversations.LinkedIn Q&A Session

•Organizing Eventsone of the most helpful tools social media offers in terms of B2B marketing is the ability to effectively organize events. SOBcon, a convention that brings together leaders in social media, is a great example of how to leverage social media to build a following around an upcoming event.

4. Being Cautious Throughout Your Marketing

Throughout your marketing efforts, keep in mind that social media shouldn't be thought of as a direct sales tool with B2B clients, or you'll end up disappointed.

Edmond of KoMarketing Associates,

Edmond also advises marketers to be careful when directly soliciting social media users as you respond to their posts, because you could end up getting overlooked as a spammer. Instead, try to relate your message to an existing conversation that is happening.

"If you know your case study is going to address a particular problem in the industry," Edmond says, "Wait for it to come up, then interrelate that issue into your post."

5.Using Analytics to Measure Your Marketing Efforts

With any online marketing strategy, it's imperative to have some type of analytics tool is in place that will help you set goals and measure the success of your actions.

"Where are people leaving, and where are they coming in?" says Edmond. "What are the search terms or key words they are using to get to your site? These are the questions analytics tools help you to answer."Edmond advises using tools like Google Analytics, Omniture, or Marketo to measure the quality of your traffic and put conversion methods in place. HootSuite, a Twitter application, also has an analytics tool that allows you to track and measure the effectiveness of your tweets.

As you develop and refine your B2B marketing strategy, Edmond says, don't forget that providing answers to peers and potential customers is arguably the most effective social media marketing tactic.

The data comes from the 2012 State Of Digital Marketing report from WebMarketing123, a California-based digital marketing agency

Sales & Leads From Social Media SitesPart of the survey asked which social media sites generated leads or sales:

Reference

Marketing land, Survey: Facebook Best For B2C Sales and Leads; LinkedIn For B2B http://marketingland.com/survey-facebook-best-for-b2c-sales-linkedin-for-b2b-20219 Social Media B2B, Exploring the impact of Social Media on B2B Companies http://socialmediab2b.com/ B to B Social Media: Seeking the Community for Practice http://www.godfrey.com/~/media/Files/White%20Papers/B2B-Social-Media-WP.pdf Marketing Profs, B2B Brands Trail B2C in Social Media Monitoring, Follow-Up http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2012/7970/b2b-brands-trail-b2c-in-social-media-monitoring-follow-up Safko Lon. 2010. Social Media Bible. Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New JerseyISBN: 978-0-470-62397-8(paper)