Why Social Media is Important for B2B Marketing

More and more, businesses are realizing the importance of social media to boost website traffic, connect with their customers, and generate leads. B2C companies like Starbucks have utilized their social media presence to send fans to their stores, collect ideas, and converse with their fans. However, B2B companies are usually a little more reluctant to get on board. But while such businesses usually have a more targeted audience, this shouldn’t stop any good B2B marketer from developing a social media strategy that will work wonders for them. Here are the top three reasons why every B2B marketing strategy should include social media.

Other businesses are already there.

86% of marketers said that social media was an important part of their businesses marketing strategy, according to the 2013 Social Media Marketing Industry Report. So while you may not have as broad of an audience as Starbucks, this means that there is a good chance the businesses you want to target will already be active on the social media platforms that you choose. An especially popular platform for other businesses is Linkedin. In fact, the Content Marketing Institute says that 91% of B2B marketers use Linkedin.

It gives you an “in”.

Social media gives you a unique opportunity to do an unasked-for favor for a targeted business. Something as simple as a re-tweet will allow them to see your name, and have a positive association with you. Over time, it’s likely that they will start reciprocating. This provides a great beginning for a continued relationship. This method can also get you some great word-of-mouth marketing when you turn your followers into your brand champions.

You can’t afford not to.

If you aren’t using social media to connect with your target audience, then you competition certainly is. Not only is this one of the most affordable ways to grow brand recognition, it also produces high results. 75% of marketers in the 2013 Social Media Marketing Industry Report reported positive results in terms of traffic increase and 64%+ of marketers see lead generation benefits. It’s one of the most low risk, high reward marketing methods that there is.

If you need help getting started with social media, formulating a strategy, or managing your online presence, then don’t be afraid to ask a qualified agency, like Th!nk, for help. We can do as much or as little as you need.

Pinterest for Bloggers

As of the latest reports, Pinterest has increased to 70 million users and has been keeping a steady incline. They also recently introduced advertising, which is expected to have a big impact on their growth. It’s a site where users are easily categorized into niches via their interests. It’s also a site where something that users find “pinteresting” can easily go viral. In spite of this, I have found that quite a few bloggers are missing the opportunity to promote their blogs on this website. Believe it or not, Pinterest could be the one site you are missing that could bring a large amount of traffic to your blog. Here are the top two reasons why you should be on Pinterest if you are a blogger.

Topic research

Keeping the subject of your blogs interesting and relevant is a good blogger’s top priority, but it’s sometimes a bit tricky to find out if your readers are getting what they want from you. Here’s where Pinterest comes in. Every time you post a new blog, pin it. Then, every once in a while go to pinterest.com/source/(your URL here). Every pin that originates from your site will be listed. You can see what other people have been pinning, what’s trending at a particular time, or maybe whether or not you should do a part two to a particularly engaging blog post. You can find out what your audience relates to and what *cringe* didn’t really work for them. You can also check out what people are pinning from other blogs, and get ideas that way. Just don’t tell them I gave you permission to spy on them!

SEO benefits

It should come as no surprise that pinning your content with the right keywords linking back to your domain will give you a boost in your SEO efforts. With a few little tweaks, your Pinterest page will be able to help you increase your rankings and referral traffic. Here are a few changes you should make:

-Choose a relevant, easy-to-remember keyword for your username. Preferably the name of your blog’s domain, if you were wise enough to choose such a keyword for your domain. Don’t use your name unless you are pretty popular already (like Lady Gaga, if she blogged).

-Use the “about me” section to your advantage. Use keywords again, but write for an audience. Don’t make it spammy. It will help people find you.

-Make sure any pictures you upload are named. Not: IMG_000292.jpg. Instead: PrettyButterfly.jpg. This changes what the alt text on the picture is, and helps in search results.

-Use interesting, creative, keyword-infused title for all of your pin boards, and fill in the 500 character description for each pin board.

-Don’t use short links for your pins, and, again, fill out the description! Descriptions are your friends.

-Last but not least: verify your website and add a “pin it” button to all of your blog posts for others who want to manually share.

Additionally, don’t be afraid to get involved with your followers. They would be pretty flattered if you repinned or liked one of their pins as well. Answer comments, and follow all of the other general, good-behavior rules for social media. Convinced? Ok, good. Get pinning!

 photo credit: theilr via photopin cc