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If you run a B2B business, it’s still important to use social media as part of your marketing strategy. That being said, there are some rules to follow, regardless of what industry you’re in, in order for any social marketing you do to be as effective as possible. While this is by no means an exhaustive list, there are five rules you should always be sure to follow.
1) Focus on More than Just Followers
Sure, having a lot of followers can seem like a great thing, but simply having the numbers may not translate into how much business you’re doing.
Some businesses pay for followers so that they simply have a higher number listed, but all that does is create faux engagement – you don’t actually have that many followers, and those fake followers won’t somehow generate any real business. Instead of focusing simply on the number of people following your page, focus on giving people a reason to follow it. Post good content, and people will stick around.
2) Always Maintain Quality Over Quantity
You may think that posting to all of your accounts – Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc. – as much as possible is the key to getting exposure and clicks. That’s not true, though.
Rather than updating your followers with new content constantly, post quality, interesting content several times a week only. Limit posting to once a day for most platforms, as otherwise your posts can start to seem spammy.
People might like your business, but they won’t enjoy reading updates too often or being made to feel like they’re being marketed to. Give them content that they’ll actually be interested in checking out, and they’ll be more likely to keep following you.
3) Engage With Followers as Much as Possible
People like following brands that, even if they’re big, still feel “small.” In other words, they like to know that the brand cares that they’re there. For you, that means trying to engage with them as much as possible. Respond to tweets, answer questions on your Facebook page, and do what you can to enhance the user experience.
The less your visitors feel like just a number, the better. Social networks are the best place to establish your company’s personality, so use that to your advantage.
4) If You’re Not Seeing Results, Rethink Your Strategy
Many companies will stick to their initial marketing plans to a T, even if those plans aren’t giving them the returns they want or need. If a certain plan is not generating any business, regroup.
Create a new plan, or change the course of the one you’re currently working with. Don’t let a stale, ineffective plan hold you back, when all you may need is just to tweak the existing ideas. Don’t be afraid to make bold moves – posting the same old things can get tired for followers.
Make sure to keep content fresh, and don’t only post things you created – sharing relevant content from other businesses can be helpful as well. It’s also important to create specific goals – not vague ideas like “get more followers.” Creating specific goals will allow you to track the amount of time and money you have to invest in getting a return.
5) Don’t Post Everything to Every Network
Social network marketing is a valuable tool, however it’s important to learn that each network has its own “personality,” of sorts. It’s essential to learn the lifetime of a post on each network – for instance, a tweet on Twitter is said to have a lifespan of roughly one hour.
That means after an hour, not many more people will see the tweet. Different social networks have different lifespans for posts, so it’s important you learn which content will be best for which network.
Facebook posts should be somewhat more engaging and personal than Twitter posts – Facebook is speaking directly to your followers, while Twitter can be a bit more impersonal with the use of hashtags and other marketing strategies. Take the time to learn about what sort of content should go where, and stick to those guidelines in order to reach the right type of customer.
