10 B2B Social Media Strategies That Work For Any Industry

You wake up, excited about another day of leading your B2B business to new heights. But as you scroll through your social media feeds, anxiety creeps in. Your competitors have cracked the code. They have engagement, likes, comments, and—most importantly—leads and customers. Meanwhile, your posts feel like shouting into a void and asking help of a Digital Marketing Expert.

Here’s how the frustration manifests:

• Overwhelm: You’re swamped with various social media platforms and endless content possibilities.
• Wasted Time: You’ve invested hours, maybe even days, crafting “perfect posts” that barely get a ripple in engagement.
• Cash Drain: You’ve thrown good money after bad with social media tools, outsourced content, and even ads. The ROI? Virtually nonexistent.
• Stagnant Growth: You see your competitors scaling up, and you’re stuck in a plateau.
• Isolation: It feels like you’re the only one who can’t figure this out, leading to a growing sense of discouragement.
• Brand Invisibility: Your brand doesn’t seem to exist in the online world, which eats into your market share.
• Lead Drought: Your lead funnel is drying up, and it’s starting to affect your revenue streams.
• Employee Morale: Your team is disheartened, seeing all their hard work on social media bring in meager results.
• Tarnished Reputation: You know that a lack of social proof can tarnish your brand’s reputation, and you’re scrambling to prevent that.
• Missed Opportunities: While you’re wrestling with social media, other business opportunities are slipping through your fingers.

Here’s a shocker: It’s NOT what you think. It’s not because you don’t post enough, your industry is “boring,” or you haven’t found the perfect hashtag. The problem is a lack of strategy, plain and simple.

You’ve tried solutions like posting more frequently, hopping onto trending hashtags, or outsourcing to freelancers who promise the moon. These methods are like sticking a band-aid on a bullet wound. Why? Because they fail to address the core issue—a lack of a comprehensive, tailored strategy.

The 10-Step Path to B2B Social Media Mastery

1. Set SMART goals

Competition is fierce in today’s digital landscape, but you can turn this challenge into an advantage by learning from your competitors. Watching their strategies can provide valuable insights into market trends, customer preferences, and even gaps your business could fill.

Goal: To gain a competitive edge through detailed competitive analysis.

Specific:

We will perform a monthly competitive analysis by using tools like SEMrush, Google Alerts, and BuzzSumo to monitor competitors’ social media activities. This includes tracking their posting frequency, type of content shared, engagement rates, and any shifts in strategy or messaging.

Measurable:

Our aim is to identify at least three actionable insights per month that can be implemented into our social media strategy.

Attainable:

In the past, when we adjusted our social media tactics based on competitor analysis, we saw a 10% increase in engagement. This makes the goal realistic and achievable.

Relevant:

Understanding competitors’ strengths and weaknesses can provide us with opportunities to enhance our own social media strategy, which is essential for long-term growth and brand differentiation.

Time-Bound:

We will conduct this analysis by the 15th of every month and implement at least one change based on the findings by the 20th of the same month.

SMART Goal:

By the 15th of every month, we will identify at least three actionable insights from a detailed competitive analysis of our top 5 competitors, aiming to implement at least one change that will contribute to our social media strategy and drive a 10% increase in engagement by the 20th of the same month.

2. Monitor Your Competition

In today’s digital landscape, your competitors are just a click away. Social media platforms offer an invaluable window into their marketing initiatives. For businesses with scale, this kind of competitive intelligence is standard practice. Understanding their marketing tactics—especially those that are reaping results—gives you a unique vantage point.

However, monitoring competitors is not about mimicking their moves. It’s about identifying gaps and opportunities in your shared marketplace. For example, if you notice a competitor is neglecting to comment on industry trends or current events that are capturing your audience’s attention, that opens a door for your brand to step in and establish authority.

3. Share original content

While curating content from external sources is a common social media strategy, there’s an undeniable impact that comes from sharing your own, original material. Your audience can often discern between content that genuinely reflects your brand’s voice and values, and posts that serve merely as placeholders to maintain an online presence.

If generating new content daily poses a challenge, it’s perfectly acceptable to dial back your efforts. Focus instead on the platforms where your audience is most engaged and active. After all, it’s better to be genuinely impactful on a few platforms than spread thin and superficial across many.

4. Use Multimedia

Marketers keenly watch when social media platforms unveil new features, as each one presents an opportunity to improve social media engagement. From Instagram Stories to Twitter polls and LinkedIn slideshows, leveraging these multimedia options can elevate your brand’s presence.

Incorporating various types of media into your social posts not only keeps your content fresh but also captivates your audience’s attention more effectively.

Consider your own social media scrolling habits. A feed full of text-only posts would likely lose your interest rather quickly. What keeps platforms like Twitter engaging is the variety. Within seconds, you can encounter memes, videos, gifs, polls, and more. Aim to offer a similar level of diversity in your own social media content to maintain audience interest and engagement.

5. Spotlight Your Team Members

Whether you’re a large corporation or a small start-up, showcasing your employees on social media adds a human touch to your brand. This strategy is equally effective for B2B marketers and B2C companies; after all, businesses are made up of people, and people like doing business with other people they can relate to.

Employee spotlights aren’t just about humanizing your brand; they’re also an effective means of employer branding. By showcasing your team, you empower them to become ambassadors for your company, encouraging them to share these spotlights within their own social channels. This not only boosts morale but can also expand your brand’s reach.

For example, instead of simply sharing a photo of a new product, why not post a picture of the team behind its creation? This kind of content is more likely to be shared by those featured, extending your message to their networks and creating a ripple effect of engagement.

6. Have A Distinguished Brand Voice

Every time you post content, whether it’s a social media update, a blog entry, or a web page, it’s an opportunity to showcase your unique brand voice. Similar to how your logo serves as a visual representation of your brand, your voice should be instantly recognizable to your audience.

Consistency is key. Your brand’s voice should align across all marketing channels, from your website to your social media platforms. This could mean employing a specific tone, whether it’s playful, formal, authoritative, or irreverent. Brands like Wendy’s have carved out a niche for themselves on social media by adopting a voice distinct from their competitors.

To find your brand’s unique voice, start by analyzing your existing content—review your past blog posts, scrutinize your web pages, and look at your social media history. What tone are you already employing? What emotions are you eliciting? Once you recognize a pattern, keep that tone consistent across your social media channels.

Establishing a distinct voice isn’t just about being memorable—it’s also a powerful tool for setting your brand apart in a competitive landscape.

7. Offer Support

Imagine sending a tweet to a company about a service issue, only for it to go unanswered. That kind of neglect doesn’t just frustrate existing customers; it also sends a negative signal to potential customers. While not every company may have the resources to maintain a dedicated customer support channel on social media, promptly acknowledging and addressing customer concerns is a must.

Being vigilant about customer service inquiries on social media not only offers a chance to mend existing customer relationships but also acts as a demonstration to prospective clients that you’ll be available when they need assistance.

Reacting quickly to customer queries or complaints isn’t merely damage control; it’s an opportunity to reinforce your brand’s commitment to customer satisfaction, making it a winning strategy for retaining current clients and attracting new ones.

8. Maintain Consistency

Managing a consistent presence across various social platforms can be a daunting task, especially when it involves daily postings. Rather than spreading yourself thin by posting hastily crafted content, focus on delivering high-quality, impactful posts that genuinely engage your audience.

Instead of publishing lackluster updates or merely sharing article links with little context, opt for thoughtful, meaningful posts that contribute to the broader conversation. A single, well-articulated tweet can be far more impactful than multiple rushed ones.

To ensure a steady posting rhythm, consider developing a content calendar and using social media management tools to schedule your posts in advance. This approach will not only help you maintain consistency but also allow you the time to create content that truly resonates with your audience.

9. Experiment With Content and Posting Times

Once you’ve established a regular posting schedule, the next stage involves optimizing your approach through experimentation. Contrary to common belief, there’s no one-size-fits-all strategy for social media success; what works for one brand may not necessarily work for another. Hence, the importance of running controlled tests to discover what specifically appeals to your audience.

Types of Experiments You Can Run:

• Copy Testing: Vary the language style in your posts, using questions in some and presenting statistics in others, to evaluate which method draws more engagement.
• Link Positioning: If you usually place links at the end of your posts, try positioning them at the beginning or in the middle. Monitor click-through rates to determine the most effective placement.
• Emoji Use: Test whether adding emojis to your posts enhances engagement. Sometimes a well-placed emoji can add the right amount of flair to capture attention.
• Posting Frequency: Both over-posting and under-posting can have negative effects. Experiment with posting more or less frequently to gauge the impact on your engagement rates.
• Content Types: If you’ve been focusing primarily on text posts, consider diversifying into video or image-based content. Use a small advertising budget to promote these different types of posts and assess which one drives higher engagement.
• Audience Segmentation: If your social media platforms offer this feature, segment your audience and tailor your posts to different demographics. Examine how these specific groups react compared to your general audience.
• Hashtag Experimentation: Use different numbers and types of hashtags to identify the optimal number that increases your post’s visibility without making it look like spam.
• Engagement Focus: Allocate specific times to interact with your audience by responding to comments, messages, or mentions. Measure if this increased interaction correlates with a rise in followers or engagement.

Why Experimentation Matters

Running these experiments allows you to collect valuable data on your audience’s preferences. You can then use these insights to fine-tune your strategy. The goal is to build a set of ‘personalized best practices’ that align more closely with your audience’s behaviors and needs, rather than relying solely on generic industry standards. This nuanced approach is key to standing out in a crowded social media landscape.

10. Engage in Conversation

Remember, social media platforms were originally designed to facilitate human connections, not just to serve as marketing channels. Although businesses have carved out a significant space for themselves on these platforms, the fundamental essence of social interaction remains.

Avoid being that intrusive brand that disrupts the user experience with overly promotional content. Instead, aim to engage your audience in meaningful conversations that add value to their social media feeds. Make your brand an enriching addition rather than an unwelcome interruption.

Conclusion:

To sum up, these 10 universal B2B social media strategies offer a robust framework for any industry. From setting SMART goals to engaging in genuine conversations, these tactics provide the essentials for improving your social media effectiveness.

Adapt and implement these strategies to better connect with your audience, differentiate from competitors, and achieve tangible results. It’s all about being strategic, consistent, and customer-centric to drive success on social media platforms.

For more insights on tailored B2B social media strategies that can transform your business, feel free to reach out to us. We’re here to help you succeed.

• September 04 , 2023
• Rushik Shah