Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn have begun to revitalise the industry of business to business (B2B) marketing. The popularity of these services has made B2B a powerful marketing tool with some significant advantages over business to consumer (B2C) marketing models. It’s no longer a question of how B2B can work with the social explosion, but how to use these services to make it thrive.
Imagine a traditional marketing model, where a business with millions of customers needs to advertise its product. It spends effort and resources developing an ad campaign and website, which serves as a one-way channel to communicate with potential customers. The B2B marketing strategy would involve a focused effort to have more interactive conversations with a smaller, high-value audience.
Interaction is the primary advantage of social media in B2B marketing. In B2C marketing, unidirectional communication with customers might be sufficient, because they are not necessarily risking much by purchasing a single unit of your product. This model is not appropriate when a business client wishes to make a large order, and requires several meetings to discuss whether your product meets their specifications.
Imagine you are buying a single chocolate bar. You might be interested in the quality, and have a certain price in mind. However, it isn’t worth investigating in great detail because if you are unsatisfied, it doesn’t represent a large financial risk. If you are a business buying ten thousand chocolate bars a month, suddenly you may develop much more detailed questions, and expect to negotiate within a narrow price range.
Social media represents an opportunity to provide this high level of customer support. When marketing to businesses, it is absolutely essential for your brand to differentiate itself from the competition. One of the best ways to do this is to show that you are available to provide customer support in a quick and professional manner.
However, social media can be a double-edged sword. Any appearance of a disorganised response to a client’s questions, or insufficient knowledge of available products, is published on a public forum. As a result, it’s important to control who answers a client’s questions on social media and how they are answered.
Using data-driven methods to verify the effectiveness of your customer support staff on social media is a good way to ensure that you are using this tool to its full advantage. By carefully considering the responses and activity levels on different social media, you can determine how well this tool is functioning in an objective manner. This knowledge empowers you to make any necessary adjustments, and is made possible by the lean and effective nature of B2B marketing.
The most important lesson about B2B marketing with social media is rather subtle. The real advantage lies beyond the fact that it represents a readily available advertising and metrics tool. It represents an opportunity to engage in meaningful interactions with clients that set your brand apart from the competition. It is a first-rate customer service tool that lets you successfully show business clients that their confidence in your enterprise is well-placed.
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