Social media marketing for B2B companies

You don’t have to be Coca Cola, Nike or Dove. You don’t have to have a sexy, internationally recognized brand. You don’t have to be a consumer-based business. You don’t have to reach millions of people on a daily basis. Big or small, all businesses can benefit from social media marketing.

So why is it that so many business-to-business (B2B) companies think they don’t count?

In all likelihood, they get tripped up by the word “social”, as it implies generic, mass audiences. If reaching millions was the only function of social media, it would make sense for said companies to ignore them altogether. But that’s not the case. In reality, social media marketing is simply a tool to engage with potential customers via online communities—even if it’s only 20 people.

As a Social Media Strategist at motum b2b, Mark Whiting sees the hesitation all too often. At his Toronto-based B2B marketing firm, one of Whiting’s jobs is to show clients how an online approach to marketing is applicable to everyone.

His explanation is simple. “I like to explain it to as ‘conversational media’,” he says. “I think it makes more sense. People need to see social media marketing as a dialogue that takes place over the internet. And that is what all markets are calling for: an opportunity for two-way communication about a product or service. The idea of a conversation cuts through a lot of the jargon.”

It’s not baggage per se, but social media does carry with it buzz words that can be intimidating when you’re not familiar with the terms. When we hear about social media, it tends to be affiliated with sites like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook—all of which are social media technologies that can be useful marketing tools, but aren’t necessarily fitting for every business.

“Let’s face it, if you run a B2B company that deals in a limited sphere of professionals, making a Facebook application with your logo on it is probably useless,” Whiting says. “Having said that, you can have an effective online program that lets you converse with your target audience. You just have to use technology they are comfortable with.”

Emphasizing old-school techniques

The social aspect of business isn’t new. If you think about it, relationships and conversations have been fundamental to business for millennia. The only difference is what used to happen face-to-face, now has an opportunity to take place in web communities.

“For niche-market companies, business deals rarely result from a commercial or billboard,” Whiting reasons. “More often than not, contracts are signed after rapport is built and maintained through various conversations. So when we think of social media, we try to think of it as the digital analogue to the discussions that might happen at a trade show. People can be talking across the showroom floor of a digital landscape using social tools.”

Corporate blogs, for example, can be useful to exchange ideas about industry issues, new technologies, commodity pricing or government mandates. If industry experts blog weekly and make themselves available for discussion, it’s easy to get a conversation going between someone who is the solution seeker and the solution provider.

Does social media make in-person communication obsolete? Absolutely not. It’s just one another way that businesses can use to hear and be heard. Joining online communities should not quash other communication efforts.

Why bother?

Aside from being extremely cheap, social media marketing has tremendous value for several reasons. For starters, most Canadians are regularly online. In fact, according to Internet World Stats, there are 28 million internet users in this country, representing 84.3 per cent of our total population.
On top of sheer volume, the way people use the internet has dramatically changed. Since the dawn of the Web 2.0 movement—that is, the second generation of web development and design, characterized by communication, information sharing and collaboration—a static website isn’t enough anymore. Users are looking for an interactive web experience, not just page of information.

“As the demographic of Canadian industries get younger, more and more clients, potential investors and future employees will be doing research online,” explains Whiting. “Even if they don’t contact the company directly, people will research in every way they can.”
While it’s true that B2B companies don’t want to reach 28 million Canadians, they probably don’t want to miss out on the few solid relationships either. And, to Whiting, that’s the point. If you’re not involved; you’re missing out. He says that somewhere in the backwaters of the World Wide Web, someone is talking about issues that your company could speak to.

“The conversation is going on whether you’re in it or not,” he laughs. “Companies should be active in discussions because it gets their name out there and it allows them to take more control over what’s being said about their product or industry. If, for example, a study reports technology X is better than Y and your company is on either side, that debate will happen in the digital space. So, you can either participate or let people talk around you. The important part is to find the web communities where the conversations are happening and get involved to advance your position in there.”

Where to begin

For companies that want to get involved in the dialogue, Whiting recommends they first assess where the conversations are going on in the sales process and extend the ways to have those conversations.

“If your contact is only a phone number on your website, consider setting up a Q&A feedback form,” Whiting suggests. “From there, you could try running a blog or news space, even if it’s only updated every week or month. Once you have a blog, you’ll realize how easy it is to engage with other people who are doing similar things in the industry and you can start using your website as vehicle for initiating conversation. You can even follow other industry blogs and become a regular contributor there.”

“If you find that your company broadcasts news regularly, you might even consider Twitter—a site where you can send bits of information to your subscribers about what you’re doing. If your posts are significant to your industry, you might be surprised how many people in your field will be interested. It makes you instantly available to both ask and answer questions.”

One way to get employees within a company out there is to make them accessible by LinkedIn—a business-oriented social networking site. LinkedIn allows users to profile their company, network with other professionals, update news items and position themselves as an authority in their industry.

“You don’t have to use all of these technologies at the same time,” says Whiting. “Just pick one and use it well. Make it a part of your plan in a minor way and once that becomes comfortable, branch out.”

Whatever the approach, it’s important not to be disingenuous. A common misconception is that businesses can pay someone to do it for them. Whiting adds, “the internet is really good at sniffing out those who are being paid to speak the company line. As a rule, audiences care a lot more about what an expert says than a PR person.” Besides, it defeats the point of taking the time to build genuine relationships and have real conversations, which are the very foundations of social media.

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