In our previous article we spoke about why B2b marketing via social media is a good idea, but also touched on how difficult it is for marketers to convince the company SEO of the same thing. If you are a marketer that is well aware of the benefits your company will receive by using this particular strategy, but are one of those with a stubborn boss, read on to find a few tips that you can use to break him or her down and get them on board the B2b social media bandwagon.
When you target the consumer, the idea is usually to get a general idea of what it is they are looking for, creating a set of demographics that are functional, but not always entirely accurate. B2B marketers are able to dig a whole lot deeper into those demographics to gain a clear insight into the desires, habits, and behavior patterns of each and every prospect they chase. If a CEO will sign off on a marketing campaign based on a loose set of B2C data, just imagine how quickly he will be on board when you can present the detailed personas on every potential lead.
B2B companies are generally the ones who are the major innovators in any given industry, and it is they who create the next great thing for B2C businesses to provide to the general public. If your company is on the cutting edge of creating these new ideas and concepts, what better way to educate prospects than through social media. Since you already probably have a relationship of sorts with these prospects, your new innovations will not have to be delivered through a hard sell process. Being able to showcase your company’s ingenuity and depth of knowledge via social media can be a major boon and really help the bottom line.
CEO Jan Johansson before the press conference – SCA © by SCA Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget
It’s the bottom line that is generally first and foremost in the mind of the average CEO, so being able to convince him that you can generate great leads at a significantly reduced budget is something that is sure to get a positive response. Marketers often struggle with keeping the cost per lead under control and since there are very little costs associated with social media marketing, that cost per lead ratio can drop significantly whilst also generating an increase in revenues. The fact that you are building solid relationships helps contribute to those boosts in revenue. Sales cycles can often be long and drawn out, which makes maintaining a healthy relationship with all your customers that much more important.
These arguments should be enough to sway any boss into embracing B2b marketing via social media, although you may still encounter one more road block. Some bosses will question whether you have the experience to manage a marketing strategy that is still relatively new. The answer is that you have already maintained those social connections, albeit in different ways. Newsletters, press releases and other print campaigns are not all that different from the social media method, so make sure that your boss is aware that the transition will be a smooth one.
Now, before you read this and go running off to present your findings to the boss, you’ll want to be sure that B2B social media marketing is a good fit for your business. That is something we will discuss in our next article.
