How-to Guide:B2B Social Media Marketing (Part III)

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How-to

Guide

Kenneth has enjoyed a marketing career both agency and client side. With over seven years experience writing B2B and B2C copy, Kenneth has created content for a wide variety of industries.

Enthusiastic about all things copy, he has a proven track record of creating content capable of generating leads, sales and revenue.

In the role of Head of Content at Really B2B (a Sunday Times Top 100 firm and ranked agency in B2B Marketing’s Agency League), Kenneth is responsible for creating a strong brand personality and crafting content for our B2B clients which generates action and solid ROI.

Kenneth is passionate about writing that gets results.

The AuthorKenneth Connolly

www.reallyb2b.com

The activities mentioned above are great pastimes when you’re not at work. But what happens when you are? Is there a place for Facebook and YouTube in the world of B2B marketing? Of course there is, that’s why we’ve written this guide.

In this final instalment of our Social Media Marketing series we’ll talk about how to create your profiles, gain followers, create engagement, use keywords to generate web traffic and of course turn prospects into leads and sales.

Whether you want to ‘Like’ an update, ‘poke’ a friend or simply watch someone play an instrument made from plumbing pipe... Facebook and YouTube have you covered.

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• Over 1 Billion (1,000,000,000+): Total Facebook users worldwide• 11 percent: Percentage of people on earth who use Facebook• 600 Million (600,000,000): People who access Facebook with their mobile

The savvy marketers out there will know that when it comes to B2B marketing, LinkedIn is the better tool thanks to its ability to offer better access to B2B decision-makers. But, with statistics like those mentioned above, it is safe to say that only a fool would ignore the behemoth that is Facebook.

Here at Really B2B, we’ve always appreciated that Facebook is a valuable lead generation tool as long as the metrics and KPIs are correct. This approach has meant that not only have we generated leads through this social media site for our clients, but we’ve managed to convert these leads to customers too.

How-to: Facebook

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Use Facebook to gain the trust of your prospects and prove that you are a company they should work with

When you start your Facebook page, you have to understand that this may be the first impression you get to make on someone who has discovered you via the social media site. Therefore, this page has to embody everything about your brand. Here are a few things to remember:

• Make sure you maintain brand identity by using only colours from your branding guidelines

• Always make sure your brand name is written and formatted correctly throughout

• Include your company logo• Provide information on your company’s products/services• Include your contact details• Be sure to mention the purpose of the Facebook account• Add images that represent the professionalism of your

company. Don’t add photos of your Managing Director drunk and dancing in a car park

The long-term benefits of your Facebook account are that you can show your brand personality, gain the trust of your prospects and prove that you are a company they should work with. So, always be professional.

The problem with first impressions is that you only get to make one... so make it count. 

Facebook: Business Page Creation

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Offer ebooks and white papers in exchange for Likes

It’s interesting how ‘Likes’ have become so important to our decision-making process. How many times have you visited a company’s Facebook page, saw that they have very few Likes and then thought, ‘they must be terrible’. I do this regularly, but what you have to remember is that people are going to do it to your Facebook page too... so you better get some Likes.

Thankfully, there are ways to generate Likes and the resources you need are all around you:

• Actively encourage colleagues and employees to Like the page

• Invite business partners, agencies and suppliers to Like the page

• Connect with all existing customers and leads and ask them to Like it too

• Add Facebook connect links to ALL of your marketing communications, email signatures and business cards

Once you start your inbound marketing strategy and begin to create large pieces of content such as ebooks and white papers, offer these in exchange for Likes. Email your database and say that the first hundred people to Like your Facebook page will receive an exclusive ebook or report. Not only does it add exclusivity to your content, but will generate Likes for your page too.

Facebook: Gaining Likes

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The benefit of Facebook Ads is that you can target only the people who may be interested in your ad based on the data they entered

“43% of B2B companies acquired customers from Facebook” - Business2Community

Let’s just clarify that when we are talking about Facebook Ads, we are referring to the ‘Sponsored’ ads which appear on the right hand side of your page. These are a fantastic way to promote your company and not because of the reason you might think.

When we mentioned earlier that Facebook has over a billion users, you may have thought ‘it would be great if all of those people could see my ad’. But in actual fact, the benefit of Facebook Ads is that you can target only the people who may be interested in your ad based on the data they entered.

You’ve probably heard about Google Ads and keyword-rich advertising, but with Facebook, it’s slightly different. The reason for this is because instead of targeting keywords or phrases people might search for, you are instead going to target specific people based on their profile data such as:

• Age (and even birthday) • Location • Gender • Education level

Facebook: Using Facebook Ads

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By targeting people based on their profile data you can increase your Clickthrough Rate and lead generation potential

The information on the last page may be enough for B2C marketing, but it’s not segmented enough for B2B. So, Facebook also allows you to target prospects using the following data as well:

• Workplace • Interests and hobbies • Industry

This means that if, for example, you are trying to get your advertisement in front of Fleet Managers in the UK, you could set up your ads to only appear on the profiles of UK-based individuals with interests and Likes in ‘Fleet Management’.

This campaign would be run on a CPC (Cost Per Click) basis, meaning you would only incur a charge when someone clicks on your ad.By specifically targeting these individuals you can increase your Clickthrough Rate and lead generation potential.

Facebook: Using Facebook Ads

Continued

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The other key benefit of a Facebook page is the real-time prospect data

As discussed in our B2B Marketing Survival Guide for 2013, the benefits of social media are to be found in the marketing of other pieces of content and real-time behavioural data. This can then be used to help you improve the personalisation and segmentation of your other communications.

Like the other social media sites I’ve discussed, Facebook is a great opportunity to engage with your prospects, create a community spirit, show thought leadership and maintain your brand’s position at the forefront of people’s minds.

But, the real value comes when you start to market your other pieces of content such as an ebook or white paper. By marketing your latest piece of content on your Facebook page, adding a strong call to action (CTA) and a clickable link to a landing page, the prospects who have already connected with your company page are more likely to click through. Once these prospects download the piece of content in exchange for their details, they become prospect leads.

The other key benefit of a Facebook page is the real-time prospect data which can be coupled with your current marketing activities and database to create a more targeted approach. When a prospect Likes your page or comments on a post, you know they are starting to engage and warm to your company. When you see that they are also reading your blog or downloading pieces of content then you know they are becoming a hot lead and may be open to a follow-up telephone call from your sales team.

Facebook: Best Uses

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Use a tracking tool or marketing software so you can receive more analytical data

As with LinkedIn and Twitter, your standard KPIs need to be updated in order to determine the success of your Facebook activity. To gauge the impact of your Facebook page you need to be measuring data such as:

• Total page Likes • Wall posts• Comments or shares of a particular post• Responses to a question or an event• Mentions of the page in a post• ‘Tagged in a photo’ references to the page• Cost Per Click• Conversion to Like• Cost per Like• Social Reach % - based on the number of friends of Likes who see any

ad

As before, social media sites can only offer so many metrics in order to measure your activity. For example, Facebook only allows you to see the data shown above. However, if you use a tracking tool or marketing software then you can also receive data on the metrics shown below.

• Conversion to download• Cost per download• Leads

By reviewing this data regularly, you will be able to see if your future activity needs to be amended, or if there are certain aspects which you should test in order to improve results. The variables to conduct tests on could include:

• Frequency of posting• Time of day of each posting• Business or social topic of posts

Facebook: Measurements and KPIs

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• 2 Billion (2,000,000,000): YouTube views per day• 829,440: Number of videos uploaded everyday• 1700: Number of years it would take to watch all the video content on YouTube

I was going to briefly discuss what YouTube was, but I doubt there is anyone on earth who doesn’t know, so I’m going to save my breath. All you need to know is that it’s no longer just a place to watch videos of people falling over (although you still can if you fancy a chuckle).

Nowadays, YouTube has evolved from just amateur home videos to include business pages and an array of professional corporate videos and presentations too. This video content is a great way to convey your marketing messages in a short space of time and in an easy to digest format.

By giving your company a ‘face’ and providing content/information without a sales pitch, you can help increase trust in your company and show thought leadership.

And best of all... it’s great for SEO

How-to: YouTube

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An interesting and helpful video on YouTube can have a profound effect on your website traffic

According to searchenginewatch.com, ‘YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google’.

This statistic should give you an indication of how important YouTube is in regards to keywords and targeting your prospects. If you’re not already aware of the keywords your prospects are likely to use, then it’s time to do some research (check out our How-to Guide: Inbound Marketing for more information).

By using keywords in your video title, description and transcripts, your video is more likely to rank well in the YouTube search results page when someone searches for those particular words. And the benefit of your video becomes clear when you include a link back to your website. An interesting and helpful video on YouTube can have a profound effect on your website traffic, if you are using the correct keywords.

Unlike the other social media channels, the metrics and measurements which will help you determine the success of your videos are:

• Number of video views• Number of subscribers

When you think about professional videos you may start worrying about costs, a production team and a catering van... but don’t. Creating a video for your business can be as simple as obtaining a half-decent video camera with a tripod and a good microphone. In some cases, a webcam or smartphone may be just as good. And as for editing your video, this can be done with a cost-effective, off-the-shelf computer program.

YouTube: Uses and Measurements

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Conclusion

In the first how-to guide to B2B Social Media Marketing I included a chart which showed the top 14 social media sites currently used by B2B marketers. I chose to discuss the top 4 in this series of guides because we know, from our own experience, that they are capable of generating leads, sales and revenue.

So, what about the other 10? The simple answer is that if you know your prospects use those other sites and you can find metrics which will determine the ROI and success of marketing on those social media channels, then by all means utilise them.

Some sites will suit your business more than others. For example, Instagram is a social media site based on the sharing of photographs which have been altered using a filter tool. As you can imagine, this may be quite limiting in regards to B2B. However, if you try it and see that you are generating leads and can prove results, then keep going.

There is a huge array of social media sites available today and each one does something slightly different from the others, so be sure to have a look around and check them all out. When doing so, pay particular attention to the following:

• Is it the right platform to promote your business?• Are your competitors operating there? If not, why not?• Are your clients/customers active there? If not, then is it really the right place for you?

The more sites your appear on, the larger your social media presence, and the more places you’ll have to publicise your content.

But remember, the success of your social media activities boils down to leads, sales and revenue. If you can’t measure/prove that these channels are bringing in results, then your time, money and efforts are better spent elsewhere.

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LOOKING FOR BUSINESS GROWTH?If you’re interested in improving your lead generation processes, request a meeting.

We’d love to discuss your objectives and how our social media marketing services can help support your business growth.

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