B2B Social Media Marketing Bridges Awareness and Conversation
B2Bs and B2Cs face unique challenges in digital marketing. And while they both have access to the same tools and tactics, B2B marketers have been much slower in the adoption of social media as a primary communication channel.
Perhaps social media seems less effective for business-to-business marketers, given their longer sales cycle and main objective of lead generation, or at least more difficult to directly attribute to sales. But research shows that consumers are using social media for communication and research. Smart B2B marketers know that integrating social media into their marketing mix is not only essential; it can be a driving factor for conversions.
After all, social media is about 1-to-1 communication. B2Bs can use the social channel to nurture leads by consistently sharing useful, educational content, like: 
- White papers
- Infographics
- Video presentations
- Case studies
Social media also supports your search marketing efforts, helping drive traffic to your site. And don’t forget about reputation management. If people are talking about your brand online, and there’s a good chance they are, you need to listen and interact when appropriate, particularly when they are voicing complaints.
Social media may not be the platform for “closing the deal,” but as Kyle explained in his B2B marketing white paper, it can “build trust among your prospects and create a community of customers who rely on your business for thought leadership and insight.” Social media can become a bridge between awareness and a conversation.
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Comments
When I worked with the monstrously BtoB Xerox, they/we worked incredibly hard at “thought leadership” in the categories they served. Big PR expense, events, independent analysts, white papers… major importance.
For smaller B to B’s, the blog-social effort, if well targeted and “strategized” can be extremely cost effective for the brand AND lead gen.
Of course, the trick is, do they actually have “leadership thoughts”!
I agree, B2B marketers should take advantage of the free marketing that social media has to offer. Just think of the networking that it can bring! If you like other businesses and they like you, you’ll be exposed to some of the other businesses that they do business with and vice versa which can expand your network potentially bringing you more clients.