Is a digital presence necessary for B2B companies? Absolutely yes, 100% it is and this includes social media. However, certain questions must be answered to make a B2B company’s presence on social media meaningful.
The most important questions to answer are:
What content should be prioritized?
Why should a B2B company put thought and effort into having an intentional digital presence?
How should a B2B company put effort into having a meaningful digital presence?
The What
First, let’s answer the “What.” What content should a B2B company highlight?
Qualifications
Every B2B company’s digital presence should be a digital portfolio to highlight qualifications, licenses, awards and industry-specific certifications. It is important to demonstrate expertise in your industry, and showcase the effort your company puts into being knowledgeable.
Products/Services
Sharing product features and benefits allows the audience to become familiar with the problems your company can solve. However, in order to do this effectively, B2B companies should use a website to document the products and services provided to customers. And then, once there are landing pages with complete descriptions and outlined features and benefits, these products or services should be promoted on social media.
Social Proof
Social proof includes reviews and testimonials from previous customers, partners, or other people and entities that have experience interacting with your company. Sharing social media posts where previous clients praise your work adds weight to any claims of quality or expertise that you make.
Company Culture
B2B company culture includes activities that team members partake in. It showcases teamwork and togetherness, community involvement, or an investment in employee development. A group photo of a virtual hang out adds a personal touch to a company’s social media. These are the faces behind the company and the photos can be included on both social media and the company’s website.
Case Studies
Case studies are write ups about positive outcomes delivered for previous clients. A client shares how they were helped. By writing and promoting case studies, a company can prove they can do successful work for future clients.
The Why
Now let’s answer the “Why.” Why should a company work to build a strong digital presence? One of the primary purposes of social media for businesses is to drive traffic to a company’s website. Social media often accomplishes these goals differently depending on the company and the industry.
Brand Awareness
Driving brand awareness will always be a foundational purpose of social media participation. A strong digital presence with regular brand management and visual consistency helps clients recall, recognize and relate to the brand.
Increase Audience
A strong digital presence can be used to grow your audience through engagement. Engaging with potential customers online increases website and social media account reach. Increased reach and engagement can support website traffic by creating links between social media and the website.
SEO
SEO increases traffic to a website through keyword optimization. Having a strong digital presence that weaves consistent keyword phrases throughout social media and website content helps a B2B company improve their search results.
The How
Lastly, let’s answer the “How.” How do you build a meaningful B2B social media presence?
Website
The foundation of a corporate digital presence is a website. The website should prominently include a mission statement, the core beliefs and values of the company. Who are you? What do you do? How do you do it?
Know Your Audience
Who are you catering to? It is important to define the segment of your audience that is expected to be interested in your services. Knowing your audience is more than just knowing the demographics. It’s identifying and communicating about the problems that your company can solve.
Communicate Your Offering
A company’s website and social media is a place to showcase products and services. Your digital presence should clearly describe what you have to offer and how you are different from alternatives.
Content
How does content help build a B2B social presence? Content communicates your company’s offerings while building brand recognition, growing audience engagement and may result in lead generation. Quality content like branded imagery, newsletters, videos and blogs are how these social marketing goals are achieved.
Branded Imagery
B2B companies need branded content including a logo and header images to use on social media. This content needs to be intentional and consistent in its branding implementation. By strategically posting branded content, a company’s audience will grow more familiar with the brand.
Newsletter
A company’s website and social media should include regularly posted new content. For instance, a newsletter can be sent out via email and excerpted on social media. Certain questions that should be answered before building a newsletter are “What is your digital relationship with your clients?” “Do you have an email list?” “How are you currently in touch with current and previous clients?” If a company is unable to answer these questions, they may not be ready to build a newsletter. Once you have a contact list built, you can start designing your newsletter.
Video
Videos are an additional way to strengthen a digital relationship with new and former clients. It’s best to use video when making introductory videos.Introductory videos can be included on a B2B companies’ website or their YouTube page. These videos can tell previous and potential clients about products and services.
Blog
A blog is a great ingredient in creating a company’s digital presence. A B2B blog will include articles and videos for readers. The purpose of sharing a blog post, much like social media, is to attract readers to the website where they can further familiarize themselves with the company.
Conclusion
Company social media accounts didn’t always exist and weren’t always necessary. However, in today’s day and age, especially during this global pandemic, most companies are required to have a strong digital presence. All social media accounts need to be regularly updated. This is another way a client gains access to a company.
Do you need guidance in building your company’s brand so that you can have a strong digital presence?
Gladiator Consulting is a fractional CMO and business planning consulting company that can help you give your company the strong foundation it needs to become an industry leader.
