July 20, 2023
We know B2B social has merit – the cynical senior marketers have been put in their place – but why is it so successful and how does social, the somewhat chaotic media platform, actually build trustworthy perceptions for brands?
When we consider the sheer volume of people who use social and the number of platforms people use – along with the brands that use it too – you start to see a new picture. You’re actually more likely to be perceived as untrustworthy if you’re not using social than if you are – and that definitely goes for companies. LinkedIn, twitter – even Instagram now (and perhaps Threads further down the line) have thousands upon thousands of companies.
And it’s not just about presence, it’s about delivery and frequency of posting that paints a picture. It’s a key arm of your marketing arsenal – it builds trust in itself for presence alone. But trust doesn’t secure a purchase, content is king in the land of social. In fact – let’s just remind ourselves of a few key things…
What we know social cannot do on its own:
- Close the deal. Social can enable, but sales talent is needed to nurture and convert
- Deliver pipeline without content effort
- Deliver insights and learnings, without input or effort
- Run on its own. It’s not a ‘set it and forget it’
- Deliver for you if all your content is sales focused
What we know social can do is:
- Foster meaningful interactions with prospects
- Develop initial two-way conversations
- Enhance your personal reputation and influence
- Develop pipeline opportunities for your sales talent to develop and convert
- Trigger initial attention from prospects and customer
Why social is important:
- Over 90% of B2B buyers are now active on social and will consult their channels before making a purchase
- 9 in 10 C-suite execs feel thought-leadership builds trust in an organisation
- B2B buyers and between 80 – 90% of C-level execs consult social before making a purchasing decision
- Over 90% of B2B buyers are willing to engage with sales reps who are seen as an industry thought leader
The proof is in the pudding. We lean on social for authenticity, but don’t let visitors find a blank page. You can dead-end people as well as take them further – if you have organic content filled pages, driving traffic to website but in a less salesy manner, you’re on to something. Consider the ‘awareness > consideration > decision’ journey of a buyer and plan your content out in such a way that fits. Trigger with head turning content, nudge and nurture their feelings with engaging thought-leadership and then push them to value exchange with free, but imperative information that will help them do their job better.
This sequential storytelling method has many successful cases behind it.
Looking to implement a new B2B strategy, or have bounds of content but not sure how to implement it? Contact us today.