5 Reasons B2B Companies Use Social Media

Posted by CSW Corp on Oct 5, 2011 in Blog, Featured, Uncategorized | 0 comments

A major marketing pitfall for companies is to assume participation in Social Media Marketing is optional.

Do you have a great online presence with an up to date website? If not, a potential client may consider your company irrelevant. What is your social media presence? If you do not have an active Facebook page, Twitter account, or LinkedIn profile others could perceive you as having no expertise or nothing to contribute. Worse, your prospects may think you lack vision or understanding of the communication opportunities with social media channels.

Five reasons Inbound Marketing (Social Media Marketing) is important for B2B Companies:

1. Search is increasingly important for B2B companies as prospective clients utilize online resources to gain information prior to purchase. Expect prospects to use social media channels to gather information. Companies have multiple social media channels to publish content prospects can review as a resource when they begin their search.

2. B2B companies have visibility into each layer of the purchase funnel. Companies know when a prospect becomes a lead and later converts into a client. Social media provides for ongoing engagement during the sales process and continues later to develop client loyalty.

3. Social media channels allow companies to repurpose content to extend reach to clients and prospects. Example: Divide a white paper into several blogs and post on the company website. Announce each blog on Twitter with a link back to the website and additionally post on Facebook. Social media channels allow companies to repackage their thought leadership.

4. The prospect base for B2B companies is smaller than for B2C companies. Consequently, the importance of magnifying your brand presence increases with fewer potential prospects.

5. Email is a bridge to social media channels. A Facebook ‘Like’ is as important as an email ‘opt in’ allowing companies different touch methods to inform and engage clients. The goal becomes using email to encourage a Facebook ‘like’ or the reverse to have Facebook ‘likes’ to opt in for company email newsletters.

In today’s B2B marketplace it’s important to be relevant and to converse in multiple ways. Companies must have a presence where their clients and prospects interact. Otherwise, you are not even aware of the conversation.

Scott F. McFadden, Ph.D. is President of CSW Corp.