“Always, remember that behind the logo are humans.” This quote captures how Social Media Breakfast speaker, Anh Nguyen, sees Social Media in B2B interactions. Anh, owner of Amplified Marketing, along with Kristina Halloran, Supervisor & Content Marketing Manager at Insperity shared their tips for personalizing a social media strategy to create consistent and effective Business-to-Business communications.
Educate your target audience via social media. Kristina stressed that Insperity offers helpful information not just promotion. To be effective, understanding your audience is key. Research why is the audience coming to us and create effective personas. The content should drive traffic to the site. In the case of Insperity, 60% of website traffic is from the blog.
Show clients value. Majority of traffic to @Insperity comes through blogs. #SMBHOU
— Suzy Hartgrove (@kitdog) September 9, 2016
Talking GOALS. First, make content educational. Second, make it push people to the website. Third, track it, yo. #SMBHOU
— Black Sheep (@ShearCreativity) September 9, 2016
Measure, Measure, Measure
Great content is a start but without measurement, it won't help communicate the brand's ROI. For that, you must measure. Every shared link has a trackable tag. Use Google how to create parameter links for the different mediums. The links will be very long but you can shorten them on Bit.ly and GA will still understand it.
https://twitter.com/cfohlin/status/774249710236360704
Anh added that it is important to educate the clients about how to use these analytic tools. She uses Sprout Social to aid in posting and tracking. There are other tracking software apps out there, as well.
You can't do it all!
Isolate what you do best and stick with those platforms. Insperity started with blogging, which caused some fear in some of the clients. They were afraid that trade secrets were being shared. Work with stakeholders and explain why sharing some information can create organic searching and seeking out of the site.
Blogging is not giving away secrets that build your brand but it does starts conversations #SMBHOU #B2BSocialMedia
— Rashida (@Rashida48) September 9, 2016
You don't have to do it all. Provide an amazing resource, be strategic and do what you're best at. @Insperity #SMBHOU
— Mila ✨ (@thehangrywoman) September 9, 2016
Slow growth… amp up your experience with one social channel, before moving to the next. #SMBHOU
— SnapStream ✂️ (@SnapStream) September 9, 2016
When you become an expert on one channel, you can transfer that expertise to another channel. According to Anh, you don’t have to use a channel just because a channel is out there. Find your audience.
LinkedIn and Twitter are very important platforms for #B2B marketing. #smbhou @AnhTNguyen
— Lisa Henley Jones (@lisahenleyjones) September 9, 2016
Have a different strategy for each platform – @kamichat @AnhTNguyen #SMBHOU #socialmedia
— sarahshah (@sarahshah) September 9, 2016
Think out of the box
It’s not about broadcasting, especially when content can be boring. According to Anh, it’s okay to share information that has nothing to do with the product. It helps the audience looks to you as an expert. Be creative with how you find content. Sharing helpful information that has nothing to do with promoting your product can give your audience a “warm fuzzy” according to Anh.
Social media content isn't about broadcasting. It's about sharing content that's important to your customers. @AnhTNguyen #SMBHOU
— Sandra Fernandez (@SandraSays) September 9, 2016
It's not about talking about yourself but talking about things that interest your audience #SMBHOU #B2BMarketing
— Rashida (@Rashida48) September 9, 2016
https://twitter.com/FullStack_Ash/status/774254595052670977
Insperity utilizes the staff as SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) in content creation. They look to subjects in the news, etc. and consider what they would tell their client about that topic. They don’t write simply to jump on a popular topic (noise), rather they look to add value.
Value, value, value, value. Provide it, y'all. #SMBHOU
— Mila ✨ (@thehangrywoman) September 9, 2016
@kamichat recommends @buffer to find content #SMBHOU pic.twitter.com/w6LxN9HUpQ
— Cheval John, Social Media Professional (@chevd80) September 9, 2016
"When you educate your audience you build an enormous amount of trust," @KHalloran1121. Trust does change everything! #SMBHOU
— Val (@ValAroundTown) September 9, 2016
At the end of the day, it's that relationship that matters. Nurture it. Give value and yes, email is still a thing.