
7 ways B2B marketers can find success in social media
by Traci Hendrix, 31 May 2017
Have a Plan
If you’re new to the world of social, don’t be intimidated; this is your time to show your brand peers your thought leadership and relevance in your industry. It all starts with laying out your social strategy. Start with an organic approach, meaning no company dollars behind the content. For most brands, it’s easiest to start with a monthly content calendar. Depending on your line of work, be sure to choose the appropriate platform to publish your content. For instance, a financial institution may not have images fitting for Pinterest, where as a clothing wholesale company would benefit from having a profile on the catalogue-esque platform. Knowing what to post is as important as knowing where to post, so take inventory of your media material and post based on trends or themes in your area of expertise. Tools such as Hootsuite can help you visualize and schedule your content as frequent as you see fit (or have content for). Posts should include brand-built material such as blogs, case studies and news featuring your company. Sprinkling in third party material will also strengthen your credibility within the industry. After creating your initial presence on social platforms, it’s time to put your money where your digital mouth is. Again, depending on the platform you choose, determining what to promote should be based on its organic performance as well as relevance to the goal you wish to achieve. A current B2B client has implemented this social strategy for both organic and paid efforts. When an organic post generated high engagement volume (ER%), efficient CPC (or substitute with CTR%) and highest monthly website referrals, it was deemed successful, and the post would then be put into the paid cadence. Once promoted, overall site visits increased 129%, driving the overall cost per site visit down 30% year-over-year.Have Staff to Execute Plan
The plan is only as good as having the ability to press the “Post” button. Whether it’s someone on your marketing team or an agency, your plan should include someone to put your plan into action. A social presence isn’t built on its own, so having someone to dedicate their time to grooming and feeding your social profile is necessary to a successful account. A recent eMarketer study found that the larger the company, the larger the need to have multiple full-time staff members on the social team became. Nearly half of large companies have multiple people running the social ship, and companies of all sizes with 1 full-time social staff member ranged from 15-30%.
Produce Useful, Relevant Content to Go with Plan
By putting different department minds together, your company is able to mold an effective social and overarching marketing plan. Within this plan, knowing what your audience has engaged with in the past in all aspects of media will be helpful for shaping out what to share. Case studies can have multiple team members’ results and project you as an efficient company in the field. Conducting a competitive analysis can give you a good idea what your rivals are sharing and how effective their social efforts are. Tools like RivalIQ can reveal other brands’ engagement rate and what’s working within the target audience. Use platform insights. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest all have an analytics interface for you to learn about your audience and what gets them involved in your brand. Take these insights, such as best times to post and demographics, and use these tactics for both organic scheduling and paid targeting. Nothing is more timely and relevant than live events. Incorporating live video on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram can elevate your business to the top of your audience’s feeds. If you’re hosting a webcast or live Q&A, make sure you use a consistent hashtag to get users involved and track engagement. If it is industry related, use invitational text to ensure businesses who will benefit from your content will attend. For long term benefit, consider creating a webpage or blog post that will retain SEO value from your live event and all the promotion you put into it.Show Your Personality as a Brand
Be an example to other like brands that having fun isn’t out of style, and you can do it all while staying within your brand’s established voice. A security client took this idea and turned out a piece of content which was intriguing, informative and aesthetically appealing to their B2B audience. When the client published the comic-style infographic on real world security issues and rising trends, overall click through rate increased from an average .3% to .6% compared to posting content with simple stock images. This tactic allowed the client to differentiate themselves from competitors by putting a new, comprehensible spin on cybersecurity and the threats facing all organizations.Reuse!
Your plan may consist of a monthly content calendar, but if you don’t have enough original pieces to share, recycle! Many news articles, blogs, white papers, reports or even landing pages can be reshared throughout the month (as long as it’s still relevant) with fresh post copy presenting a new angle for the same content. Here are a couple ways you can “go green” with your content.-
User Generated Content
BKV’s B2B client utilized this tactic after being featured in a Facebook Live event. The company who hosted the event gave approval to download and share on their flagship account in order to gain and measure exposure and engagement. The client put a small budget toward promoting this video but earned a sizeable increase in total actions (554% more than a static post and 96% lower cost per action). -
Multi-Purpose Media
The above-mentioned comic infographic BKV’s client produced contained multiple components which could be sectioned out and used as standalone images. These portions of the larger infographic contained specific statistics, eye-catching numbers and colorful pops of image design so each post with a different section was new information but relevant to the overarching theme.
Be Consistent in the Plan
It’s not a trap, stick to the plan. Unless major events come up requiring immediate response or an opportunity presents itself to interject your brand’s perspective, your scheduled content and social efforts will keep things running smoothly and your reporting to show steady results. BKV’s previously mentioned B2B client is provided a monthly calendar, including theme and images, to ensure steady growth in presence and engagement. In 2016, the organic social posts earned 41% higher engagements YoY.Know how to measure success
Every brand has specific KPIs set in place for each department, quarter and campaign. This should be no different for your social media presence.

Newsletter
Get updates; just enter your email below. Simple as that.
-
DRUM Speakeasy Series: Finance Edition
by DRUM, 03 Dec 2019 -
Fintech Q&A
by DRUM, 15 Nov 2019 -
Onboarding Done Right
by DRUM, 15 Nov 2019 -
Experts Roundtable: See What DRUM’s Specialists Recommend for Your Giving Tuesday Strategy
by DRUM, 06 Nov 2019 -
What’s missing in your Giving Tuesday strategy? A convo with DRUM’s eCRM expert.
by Kelley Coram, 06 Nov 2019 -
Mythbusting your Social Strategy for 2020: Our Social Expert Weighs in
by Megan Marks, 06 Nov 2019 -
5 Impactful Web Design Practices for Landing Pages in 2019
by Joshua McKnight, 25 Jun 2019 -
Why Brands Need to Focus on Propensity, Not Personas
by Jonathan Zajicek, 19 Jun 2019 -
Why Video Scalability Should Be A Top Priority For Your Content Budget
by Michael Cruz, 28 May 2019 -
How to Get Your Brand to Produce More Content
by Michael Cruz, 15 May 2019 -
Silo Focus May Cost Brands Millions
by George Wiedemann, 13 May 2019 -
Personalized Video Connects You to Customers
by Rosann Bartle, 30 Apr 2019 -
AI Generated Content : Fast & Affordable Comes at a Cost
by Steve Steger, 18 Mar 2019 -
3 Lesser Known Ways to Leverage Video
by Lyndsay Hoff, 18 Mar 2019 -
When People Start To Get Wealthy Today, What Do They Want From Banks?
by Ben Heiser, 04 Mar 2019 -
Content Tells. Direct Sells.
by Rosann Bartle, 21 Feb 2019 -
Behind the Click: Five Cognitive Biases That Drive Action
by Michelle Gunn, PhD, 12 Feb 2019 -
The Real Game: Google vs. Microsoft
by Jana Ferguson, 05 Feb 2019 -
Did the Super Bowl Ads Live Up to the Hype?
by Steve Steger, 05 Feb 2019 -
Super Bowl Quick Takes
by Lesley Goldberg, 05 Feb 2019 -
Ten Emails I’m Glad I Didn't Have to Read Last Month
by Stephen Steger, 28 Jan 2019 -
The Top Three Tips to Make You King of the SERP This Black Friday and Cyber Monday
by Margaret Davis, 20 Nov 2018 -
Voice applications and natural language are bigger than the kitchen.
by Bryan Knouse, 29 Oct 2018 -
Are you ready for Amazon advertising?
by Debra Wang, 25 Oct 2018 -
Even Mighty Amazon Can’t Deliver on Grocery Delivery
by David Randolph, 15 Aug 2018 -
Google’s ready for Its face-lift
by DRUM Media, 25 Jul 2018 -
Why it’s important to invest in non-branded paid search
by Kelsey Chadwick, 27 Jun 2018 -
Why paid search should be your go-to media
by Katherine Jianas, 18 Jun 2018 -
Why Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal makes me thrilled for the future of content marketing
by Ben Heiser, 21 May 2018 -
YouTube for Nonprofits
by Virginia Doty, 15 May 2018 -
Takeaways from MarTech 2018
by Michael Cruz, Chief Content Officer, 15 May 2018 -
Which do your consumers prefer? Inbox or Mailbox? (Infographic)
by DRUM, 14 May 2018 -
Get smart with Google smart bidding
by Hailee Sosnowski, 27 Apr 2018 -
The amazing power of personalization
by DRUM, 19 Apr 2018 -
Beyond once upon a time: dialogue and the art of storytelling 2.0
by Michelle Gunn, PhD, VP/Creative Director, 17 Apr 2018 -
SEM 101 for Nonprofits
by Jay Reyes & Chase Bender, 12 Apr 2018 -
How to inspire workplace creativity
by Stephen Steger, 03 Apr 2018 -
Local SEO for brands and franchises: Top 3 tips from 15 SEO experts
by Greg Lee, 02 Apr 2018 -
Next steps for advertisers after the Cambridge Analytica Facebook breach
by Traci Hendrix, 26 Mar 2018 -
Are you ready for the GDPR? A guide for advertising agencies
by Jerelle Gainey and Debra Wang, 15 Mar 2018 -
Q&A: Experts dish on the future of paid search
by Chelsea Huston, 06 Mar 2018 -
Why content moments are the key to understanding content marketing
by Ben Heiser, 28 Feb 2018 -
Why bad advertising is a form of bad manners: lessons from a Ugandan storefront
by Scott Johnson, 20 Feb 2018 -
Retailers and the lower funnel trap
by David Randolph, 06 Feb 2018 -
What’s the body language of your content really saying?
by Zoë Courtman-Smith, 31 Jan 2018 -
10 things to look for in enterprise SEO software: 2018 tool review
by Greg Lee, 30 Jan 2018 -
The top 3 PPC marketing search engines of 2018
by Debra Wang and Vladimir Bradic, 26 Jan 2018 -
How new changes to Google Grant will affect your nonprofit
by Shelby Huckeba, 19 Jan 2018 -
Latest Giving Tuesday campaign ideas from marketing-minded nonprofits
by Adam Binkley, Jay Reyes and Ruby Wustrak, 18 Jan 2018 -
State of Social in 2018
by Ashley Reed, 17 Jan 2018 -
Top 7 posts of 2017
by Jamie Wigington, 17 Jan 2018 -
How should SEM experts prepare for voice search? [INFOGRAPHIC]
by DRUM, 17 Jan 2018 -
7 Digital trends that will change how you market in 2018
by DRUM Media, 17 Jan 2018 -
What advertisers need to know about Apple's intelligent tracking prevention
by Jerelle Gainey, 06 Oct 2017 -
Using direct mail to reactivate online customers
by Rosann Bartle, 22 Sep 2017 -
Bing shop ‘til you drop
by Hailee Sosnowski, 14 Aug 2017 -
Finding a web design process that works
by Todd Chambers, 02 Aug 2017 -
3 Commandments for creating incredibly engaging content
by Ben Heiser, 02 Aug 2017 -
Twitter ads and targeting techniques that work
by Annie Green, 27 Jul 2017 -
5 benefits of paid social advertising
by Karina Khemani, 14 Jul 2017 -
Oh snap! Snapchat just upped their ad game
by Traci Hendrix, 12 Jul 2017 -
Dying is easy, comedy is hard
by Scott Johnson, 10 Jul 2017 -
Marketing and the meteor test
by Scott Johnson, 05 Jul 2017 -
The value of local SEO (Even when your customers aren't)
by Gregory Lee, 23 Jun 2017 -
The best Facebook ad types and targeting options for driving sales
by Annie Green, 15 Jun 2017 -
Linking online marketing to offline consumer behavior
by Heather Roach, 08 Jun 2017 -
To push a nonprofit's mission, you have to push with passion
by Nicole Bendel, 05 Jun 2017 -
Google’s data-driven attribution: what you need to know
by Kimberly Honore, 23 May 2017 -
The skinny on Yahoo's native search retargeting feature
by Shelby Huckeba, 15 May 2017 -
Why you should always include brand search in your digital strategy
by Katherine Jianas, 04 May 2017 -
How to use content marketing to finally unify marketing strategies
by Gregory Lee, 16 Apr 2017 -
5 things we learned at Google’s “Search in 2017 & Beyond” event
by Kimberly Honore, 05 Apr 2017 -
To sell to the ego, you gotta talk to the id.
by Zoe Courtman-Smith, 04 Apr 2017 -
Social listening inspires smarter business strategies
by Alicia Trahan, 03 Apr 2017 -
Brand safety: how programmatic partners protect our clients' brands
by Brittany Altman, 31 Mar 2017 -
How inactive subscribers can affect deliverability
by Billy McNair, 27 Mar 2017 -
5 reasons to insist on 1st party data for CRM targeting
by Samantha Halpin, 22 Mar 2017 -
Conversation, not content, is king
by Scott Johnson, 15 Mar 2017