Social media marketing is an excellent tactic to establish credibility and generate sales with just a few clicks. Or, so is the case for business-to-consumer (B2C) brands. Global business-to-business (B2B) brands, on the other hand, can leverage their online presence to nurture long-term customer relationships and impart industry-specific knowledge.
In this blog post, we’ll discuss 5 factors that every global B2B business must consider before investing in social marketing.
Many people or businesses have significant doubts about investing in social media marketing for their B2B business. It often follows a pattern like this:
1. Relevance to B2B Audience
Q: “We are targeting ‘business,’ not ‘individuals.’ How is it possible to reach our relevant audience through social media?”
I understand that we are targeting “businesses,” not just “individual customers.” However, have you ever thought about who decides to “buy” or “use” your B2B product?
The larger the company, the more likely it is that the actual buyer or prospect for your service or product would be from C-level to managerial levels. Even C-level executives use social media. So, when you consider this, even in conservative markets like South Korea and Japan, there is a huge chance to build your online presence and create quality “leads” to generate more “leads.”
The first step I recommend for you to generate leads through social media is “LinkedIn or Blog with an SEO strategy,” especially if you are in a conservative market.
2. Measurable ROI
Q: “How can we ‘measure’ ROI through Social Media? How do we make sure that we don’t spend for nothing?”
It’s crucial to measure return on investment (ROI), especially if you have significant doubts about social media marketing for a B2B business.
If you’re only getting likes, shares, comments, and reach for $100K spent, that’s not our goal for social media marketing. Social media marketing has its own process.
At the beginning of social media marketing, typically within the first 1-3 months, depending on the frequency of content posting, there is an initial ‘awareness’ phase.
During this phase, people begin to notice your account. As they discover and like your content, they are likely to engage with it and eventually follow your account. Subsequently, by consistently sharing content with strategic calls to action (CTAs) like ‘check out the link in my bio’ or ‘Read this article via the link in my bio,’ you can generate ‘profile link clicks.’ This prompts users to visit your website and explore your sales funnels. If the content resonates with them and aligns with your offer, they may proceed to request a call or make a purchase, becoming your valued customer.
In short, we can measure ROI with link clicks, traffic from social media, and conversion rates from those people.
3. Time and Resource Investment
Q: “We don’t have any marketing professionals in our company, nor do we think it’s very important to put much time and effort into it. Is it really worth it? Actually, we tried it before and the result was not good.”
I understand that time and money matter the most. However, do you have any further ideas to take your business to the next level? Are you not stuck somewhere and need something new to break the current situation?
The doubt could go away once you put some effort into market research, including competitors’ marketing approaches in your country and also globally. This way, you can decide which direction your business should follow with some baby steps.
If you’re unsure about how to craft your marketing plan through market research, you will find huge help in this newsletter: Steal a 9-Figure Global Marketing Strategy and Make It Yours
Alternatively, feel free to take advantage of a credit from me. Use the link below to apply for your customized marketing plan for free: https://hyeinyoon.wufoo.com/forms/mmfv0901y9voqn/
4. Content Relevance and Quality
Q: “I’m not really sure if our industrial content would resonate with the target audience. How can we create relevant yet high-quality content by avoiding too technical content?”
You can check out the below website to find what your target audience needs help with and what content ideas you need to cover. You can use them for free.
- https://answerthepublic.com
- TikTok Search/ TikTok Trend
- Google(or your local search engine) Search/ Trend
- Google(or your local search engine) Keyword Planner
Once you have the content ideas, make sure to check your competitors’ social media accounts and other relevant accounts to generate the right content for your target audience.
5. Risk of Negative Feedback
Q: “What if we receive negative feedback from our content? What if we damage the reputation we’ve built?
I won’t claim that you won’t receive any negative comments for your content because social media allows for “freedom of expression.”
However, if we start receiving negative comments because the content covers a controversial topic, it often goes viral. This is because the algorithm deems it “engaging content” due to the comment transactions.
Again, I’m not suggesting that we should “ruin” our reputation, but how about leveraging our viral content? If it’s not about breaking the law or expressing severely wrong opinions, and we simply posted a slightly controversial topic that garnered both disagreement and agreement, we can create additional content by using those comments to generate more engagement. This could take the form of funny reels or other supplementary resources to further serve our audience.
Ultimately, the decision of whether to engage in social media marketing for your B2B business is yours to make.
However, I can guarantee you that as time passes, it will become increasingly challenging to garner engagement, as it will eventually become a saturated market (a red ocean).
Talk soon,
Hyein
I'm an award-winning global marketing expert running HY Marketing in South Korea. We help businesses succeed in South Korea, Japan, and English-speaking markets through SEO, social media, and paid ads.
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