In B2B sometimes we need to remind ourselves that people don’t buy from companies, they buy from people. That’s why why I think social media has a lot of potential for B2B marketers and sellers. Why? Social media tactics are wonderful for building and supporting business relationships and making yourself more available to connect with your current and future customers.
If you are still on the fence or if you are still struggling with how to fully utilize social media, I encourage you to check our Ambal Balakrishnan’s article, “Tips on how B2B marketers should leverage social media.”
In the article Ambal asked me and 6 others to share our thoughts on using social media, and we steer you towards some our favorite reading resources, too.
ClickInsights: Tips on how B2B marketers should leverage social media
Here are some quick highlights from those 7 interviews:
Tip 1: Ardath Albee, a B2B Marketing Strategist for Marketing Interactions, reminds us that in order to reap the biggest benefits we have to be relentlessly generous and stop with the quid pro quo mentality. You’ll become a trusted resource much faster by giving away something of value freely. I love the video she recommends from Gary Vaynerchuck, “Telling Your Story.”
Tip 2: Rebel Brown has been creating strategies and launching companies for over thirty years, and encourages you to think through the purpose of your social media endeavor. Read what she says about the who, what, where and why of the process.
Tip 3: Patsi Krakoff, a journalist who has been working in online content marketing for the last 10 years, says you should use social media to be helpful and to ask for help. She gives you tips for using Twitter and offers some great reading recommendations to help you with content marketing.
Tip 4: Mac McIntosh conducts marketing workshops and seminars, writes for marketing and business publications and is the publisher of Sales Lead Report and Sales Lead Insights. According to Mac, if you want to use social media to generate leads your business will fall into one of three distinct categories. Find out if these apply to your business.
Tip 5: According to Maria Pergolino, an Inbound Marketing Manager at Marketo, social media works best when used in conjunction with all your marketing resources and tools and can provide some extra punch because you discover new ways to share information.
Tip 6: And that leads to the tip you’ll get from yours truly. Explore the platforms your prospects use and listen to what they have to say. Through social media you can learn so much about how to approach your audience. Each time a prospect asks a question or joins a group, you’ll gain valuable insight. With a little patience, you’ll probably be able to figure out where they are in their buying process and what challenges they are facing at the moment.
Tip 7: And last but not least, you’ll hear from Seamus Walsh, author of B2BContent Marketing. According to Seamus, social media is not a panacea. Make social media a part of a well-though out point strategy and realize that you don’t have to be everywhere day one to start where your customers are.
Do you have some words of wisdom for B2B marketers that are ready to take the dive into social media that you can share? Share your comments.
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Great article
It’s a fact that we buy from people not companies.
We can use social media to sell anything even ideas.
thanks
Great article, Brian.
I have been wondering how to use social media for b2b lead generation. I really like your point #6 but it seems very time consuming and takes me away from managing the business and spending a lot of time online on social media sites.
I alo wanted to ask you about this social business networking site: http://www.tradeseam.com. I recently got invited by one of my customers. What are your thoughts about using them to drive more sales leads for my business?
Brian,
You’re right on with point six. Our team has learned so much about our clients and their needs by using social media to participate in online conversations rather than just sell product.
Almost everyone on our team participates in online communities. We also send a weekly summary of industry news and relevant online conversations underway to the whole company.
As a result, blogs, twitter, and linked-in conversations about direct marketing (our field) have informed our product development. And we now have a direct marketing platform that addresses the major needs and problem spots that marketers are expressing online right now.
Kristen
http://www.dukky.com