Why Posting on LinkedIn Matters for your B2B Social Media Strategy

There are many social media platforms available, but it can be hard to know which platform is best to focus your marketing efforts on. For your Business to Business (B2B) social media strategy to be a success, you should think carefully about your clients and target audience. It is also important to know the benefits of each platform, this can help to develop an effective social media strategy.

You may have already heard a lot of advice on the platforms you ‘need’ to be active on. As a B2B business, it’s important not to fall into the ‘shiny new object’ syndrome. This can waste time and resources by trying to build a presence on newer, or more visual, platforms (TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest – we’re looking at you!) when others are much more suitable.

There’s a lot of discussion online on whether B2B’s should be on these types of platforms, which until now, have consisted mainly of personal accounts, or those ran by Business to Consumer companies. It’s tempting to rush to get a foot in the door, but don’t neglect the traditional, B2B friendly platforms.

As a social media marketing agency we  advise our clients to establish a solid presence on platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter (and depending on the products or services your B2B sells, possibly Instagram too) before branching out elsewhere.

Why is Posting on the Right Social Media Platform Important?

When it comes to posting on social media, in all honesty, there’s little point if you’re posting to the wrong audience. When your target is other businesses, you’ll want to be focused on the platforms where these businesses ‘hang out’ online.

Creating content, posting, and engaging your audience takes time and money. That’s why it’s important to ensure you’re posting on the right platforms. Social media marketing is one of the most cost-effective types of digital marketing there is. However, if you want to get a good return on the investment of your efforts, your B2B social media strategy needs to be effective.

The Benefits of Posting on the Right Social Media Platform Include:

• Reaching a bigger audience – more of your ideal clients will be online if you’re using the right platforms.
• Higher return on investment.
• More social shares, which leads to greater ‘social proof’.
• More organic traffic to your site and/or blog.
• Increased conversion rates, and improved brand awareness.

Even if you’re active on a few platforms, we’d advise that you focus on building your presence on one platform at a time. But which one should you choose?

 

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The Best Platform for B2B Social Media Strategy

If you’re a B2B there’s one social media platform you really should be on, and that’s LinkedIn. This platform is a powerful tool for social selling. It has done a lot of work in recent years to shed its image as an overly serious platform focused only on job-seeking and network-building.

Of course, this is still an integral part of LinkedIn. In addition, networking has inarguable benefits in marketing and lead generation. However, the platform has become much more content-friendly, and this combined with it’s business-focused roots makes it the ideal place for B2B social media marketing.

LinkedIn also still allows for organic reach, due to the fact that of the 800 million users on the platform, only a small percentage (comparatively speaking) share regular content. This means your content is far more likely to be seen and noticed by the people who count.

There’s also much more opportunity for engagement with followers, and a very real opportunity for you to establish yourself as a thought-leader in your field. Do this through carefully curated content, and thoughtful engagement with other business leaders in your sector.

What Should you Post on LinkedIn?

There’s a host of benefits to posting on LinkedIn. Here are some of the main ones:

• It can help you establish thought-leadership. When it comes to thought leadership content, think valuable, educational and insightful. Get this right, and followers will come back for more.
• It lets you maintain a constant presence. Regular posting on LinkedIn means you’ll have an increased presence in your audience’s timelines, and remain in the forefront of their minds.
• It helps increase brand awareness. On LinkedIn, your presence and engagement, more so than your profile, is what builds your brand.
• It boosts engagement with both current followers, as well as prospects. Engaging with your current followers can help you forge new prospects and connections through them liking or sharing your content.

But what should you post? The good news is that LinkedIn has long dropped the image of being a ‘boring’ platform. There’s now a huge variety of content being shared, from videos to memes, and micro-blogs to interactive polls.

However, remember to tailor your content to your ideal audience. If you’re a marketing agency your content will probably look very different to that of a software company. Be inspired by other posts and content by all means, but keep that ideal client in mind.

That Being Said, the Following Types of Content do Well on the Platform:

• Micro-blogs of 40,000characters or less
• Links to white papers, eBooks and other downloadable resources
• Case studies and testimonials
• Video content (both short and medium length)
• Infographics and striking images
• Product or service reviews
• How-to or list posts

Regardless of the Type of Content you’re Posting, it’s a Good Idea to Adhere to the Following Best Practices:

1. Make sure your post is well-written, and grammatically correct. Be clear and direct, and triple-check that everything is correct. Don’t be sloppy – it comes across as unprofessional.
2. Don’t be boring. Think fresh, engaging, and informative, and let your personality come through.
3. Publish original, thought leadership content. It’s a sure-fire way to help you grow your audience.
4. Don’t be ‘salesy’. It’s tempting to sell the benefits of your service to your audience. But don’t. This type of content is a big turn-off for the majority of audiences, and doesn’t perform well on LinkedIn.
5. Use quality images or video content. You can include 1 or 2 images per post or have videos of less than 2 minutes. It’s best to link to longer-form content.

A link to your product page or website should form part of any promotional post. Effectively, this is a CTA to readers to find out more.

“But what about point 4?” we hear you cry…

We’re not being contradictory here. Promotional doesn’t always equal salesy. Case studies, testimonials, and product reviews are all examples of how to promote your product or service without being pushy.

Still Need Convincing?

Here’s some stats highlighting the power of LinkedIn:

• LinkedIn is responsible for over 50% of social media traffic to B2B sites and blogs.
• Businesses posting regularly on LinkedIn (once a week or more) often double their engagement levels.
• Over 30% of decision makers use LinkedIn to research before they buy a product or sign up for business services.

It’s a no-brainer. Savvy B2B marketers use LinkedIn as a key part of their social media strategy strategies because it effectively expands professional networks.

Don’t wait – take advantage of all that the platform has to offer – from brand-building, the expansion of your network, and most importantly, the opportunity for more leads and conversions.

For more information on how to use LinkedIn, and why it is an important business tool, contact us here or through the form below.