Social media has proven to be one of the most powerful tools in marketing, yet many B2B companies are still uncertain about creating a strategic plan for using it.

There’s something about the separation between B2C and B2B in the social media world. That seems to be holding B2B companies back. The truth is that there is an incredible amount of opportunity within social media platforms for business and customer-focused companies alike.

Having content go out on your platforms is great, but the days of the ‘spray and pray strategy’ are long behind us. Having a targeted and well-thought-out strategy is essential to the success of your B2B social media marketing efforts.

Essential Steps to Crafting the Perfect B2B Social Media Strategy Plan

Step 1: Set Goals

Before you can get started on putting together content for your B2B social media strategy plan, or even choosing your channels, you will want to set goals. Setting goals will help you to outline what you are trying to achieve and give you a line of sight toward your expected outcome.

While you can certainly have multiple goals, all goals should be specific, realistic, measurable, and prioritized. For example: “To increase online sales from 3 per month to 15 per month.”

Set your desired conversion, whether it is something like getting link clicks or form downloads, and think about how you will get your audience to participate.

It’s also wise to set KPIs (key performance indicators) that can help you to gauge whether or not your ongoing performance is good enough to achieve your bigger goals in the end.

Step 2: Choose Your Channels

Not every social media channel is going to be right for your business, especially with B2B marketing. Think about your targeted audience and develop an audience persona for a clear vision of who you are creating content for.

Who is this person and what are they looking for? Understanding what platform makes the most sense to the group or individual you are targeting will help you to decide which platforms your business should be on as well.

Step 3: Create Content for Your Audience

Once you’ve established your goals and your preferred channels you will need to start creating and posting content to those channels.

As a B2B company, there are many different types of content that you can utilize and benefit from. Be sure to present your product or service in a way that will help your customer rather than sell to them. You can provide “how-to’s”, tips & tricks, and expert knowledge.

Other ideas for your B2B focused content include:

• Infographics
• Testimonials and reviews
• Showing your product or service in action
• Video
• Case studies and client success stories
• Incorporating real employees into your social media content
• Talking about subjects that relate to or are important to your specific audience

Even though your B2B social media strategy plan will be created to market from one business to another, the connection you make is still human to human. Show personality in your content and don’t be afraid to express yourself on a more individual level.

It’s also important to stick to your company’s branding when creating content. By using the same colors, fonts, and even voice in the copy of your content, you create a consistent messaging and therefore better brand association.

Lastly, remember that quality is always more important than quantity when creating your social media content. More isn’t always better and your audience will value your opinion much more. If you take the time to ensure the information you are sharing is high quality.

Step 4: Engage with Your Audience

Your B2B social media strategy plan doesn’t stop at creating and posting your own content. You should have a plan set in place to be continuously interacting and engaging with your audience as often as possible.

Share, comment on, and like customer/industry-related content, and provide your support to any questions that customers or potential customers might have. Try to be helpful without expecting anything in return. Your audience will appreciate and remember your efforts.

Step 5: Evaluate and Adjust

Once you have started creating, posting, and engaging on social media you will want to take a step back in order to evaluate your work.

Think about what is working and what isn’t, and make adjustments to your strategy based on those results. This period of evaluating and adjusting is something you will want to make a part of your social media strategy so that your efforts are best put to use. Don’t be afraid to make changes and use trial & error to figure out what is most effective for your business.

Coming up with an effective social media strategy for your B2B company has the potential to take it to the next level. Let’s recap these 5 essential steps:

1. Set Goals
2. Choose Your Channels
3. Create Content for Your Audience
4. Engage with Your Audience
5. Evaluate and Adjust

Looking for some help in developing the right B2B social media strategy plan for your business? Asset Digital Communications can help you put together an effective strategy that will get you the results you’re looking for. Contact us today!