B2Bers, are you feeling left out in the social media world? We’ve got great news for you; social media marketing is The Place To Be for your business-to-business marketing.
How can you use social media to generate B2B leads?
On Traditional Platforms: Your leads aren’t going to search your brand on Facebook first, they’re going to Linkedin. As a social media platform centred on professional relationships it’s necessary to cultivate an enticing profile and recommendations. Polish your bio, post unique content, join and interact with appropriate groups, and ask for recommendations. You’re competing with the best, act like you belong there (because you do).
Those same tactics are appropriate for your B2B Facebook strategy. Who’s to say that a staffer of the company you plan to approach isn’t already following you on Facebook? As with Linkedin, attend all of your social media profiles with a polished bio, by posting unique content – including product and service information, as a company it’s perfectly acceptable to peddle your wares here – and interact with the community.
Word to the wise: If you don’t have the resources to map out marketing strategies across platforms (platform-specific tweaking is the best path to success), do a study to find out where your ideal prospects hang out and concentrate there to start.
By Commenting on Blogs: You read industry blogs, blogs by and about the competition, insider information, and random stuff that’s just interesting. If there is a comment section, the author wants to hear from you. Get your comment on…line!
The payoff isn’t with fellow readers necessarily, but the bloggers themselves. A lot of bloggers are freelancer writers who add to their source list regularly. By becoming a familiar, professional commenter you greatly increase your chances of being quoted in future pieces across any number of websites and publications.
Set your username to include your company “Sanjeev Rajput, Cheesiest Cheese of The Marketing Multi-tool”. Craft comments worth reading. Be brief, on-topic, and conversational. Comment with an analogy about how the advice in the post worked for you, how it didn’t, or with additional resources you think people who read the blog post would benefit from. Be your friendly, awesome self.
In Answering Questions on Forums: No one likes unsolicited advice, but there is a plethora of places online where people are actively soliciting advice. Reddit, Quora, Yahoo Answers and a gazillion industry-specific forums exist purely to let the public post their questions and get answers.
If individuals are bothering to investigate your industry, there is a good chance they’re conducting research on who in your industry to hire, or they may be in need of your services in the future. Regardless, your industry means something to these question-askers, but they aren’t professionals and they’re looking for what you sell.
When you join a forum make sure you read the rules and play by them. If you can put your company name in your signature, go for it. Answer questions as you would your own customers, (without giving away trade secrets of course). Attract new clients with your stellar people and industry skills.
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