How To Use Social Media To Optimize Your B2B Marketing Strategy?
B2B Marketing has redefined the way companies do business. Gone are the days when business was all about contacting potential partners, fixing appointments and then making a deal. Now, it’s all about searching a B2B marketplace for potential buyers and suppliers and choosing the best out of the lot.
B2B marketplaces are a platform where buyers and sellers from across the world can connect with one another and market their products and services on a global scale. Marketing your business on a B2B marketplace has substantial advantages.
Since B2B marketplaces are frequented only by people who are serious about doing business, you will be marketing your products and services to highly targeted audiences. This significantly increases your chances of making a sale.
You can showcase your products and services to businesses across the world and have access to a international audience. If you are a buyer, then you would get to choose from a variety of potential international suppliers.
B2B marketplaces have strong webmasters and moderators who keep a steady eye to examine the credibility of all businesses registered on the portal. This ensures that the portal contains only professional businesses and minimizes the chances of any fraud.
How to use Social Media?
What is the one thing in common between Social Media and B2B Marketing? Conversations.
Both such mediums rely heavily on effective communication, with the aim of businesses building a brand name in the market. Most companies who have a steady web presence have a B2B marketing strategy as well as a social media strategy. If both strategies are merged together, the result can be doubly powerful.
B2B marketing focuses on generating leads while Social Media activities seek to build a powerful online reputation for the business. If a business has a strong online reputation and is popular on the web, then it would automatically attract more leads.
Here are some tips to employ Social Media to add advantage to your B2B marketing scheme:
Generate More Leads
Social media can act as a excellent platform for lead generation. Join websites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. and join communities pertaining to your niche industry. Listen to what people are talking about there. This will give you a better understanding of the needs and requirements of your target audience. Armed with this knowledge, you can make your B2B marketing strategies more productive.
Analyze the Online Conversations
Become part of conversations carried out in your niche industries and think about what people are talking about. When you get to know others’ needs and requirements, you get a better direction for your B2B marketing. You can revise your business keywords and be more up-to-date with market trends. In addition, you can also see what your competitors are up to.
Create a catchy platform
Social media survives on communication. In order to instigate dialogue you need to create a catchy platform. Discussions about the run-of-the mill stuff will do no good. Rather, talk about something new or controversial so that you get instant attention. Remember, once you are in the limelight, social media can do wonders for you. . And this would be an added advantage to your B2B marketing efforts.
Sabra Easterday is the founder-director of MatchB2B, an online bidding platform for service providers. She nurtures a keen interest in International businesses and Government agencies and has vast knowledge about the business opportunities and ways to extract their full benefits.