From Likes to Leads: Harnessing Social Media Marketing (SMM) For Business
There’s no doubt that Social Media Marketing (SMM) is a must for businesses large and small. The question is not whether to be on social media but how to do it right. If you want the highest return on investment for your social media spend, this is for you! Today, we’re letting out all the secrets of what every business-to-business (B2B) marketer should know about brand and company pages on social media.
Optimising Social Media Pages (As a Brand)
B2B social media can be a potent tool for connecting, engaging, and building lasting relationships. It requires a clear understanding of the social media landscape, the platforms you will use and the best strategies to drive your unique goals.
Arguably, the biggest “rookie error” is not optimising correctly. Audiences across generational cohorts (even boomers) expect certain things from brands on various social media platforms.
Before we dive into more about each social media platform, let’s look at the essentials of SMM.
1. Use a Business Profile
Your audience knows the difference between business and personal profiles.
The distinction is so clear these days that using the wrong profile simply looks poor. It’s hard to build trust with your audience when it shows the brand has no clue what it’s doing on socials. It feels uncomfortable, like your grandmother saying, “fo’ shizzle.”
Hint: If you’re “friending” people on Facebook, you have a personal page, not a business one.
2. Complete Your Profile
Don’t ghost potential customers with incomplete information.
One of the bywords of SMM is authenticity. People want to deal with a real brand—and in the age of scams and clickbait—they need to.
Publish your complete business details. It looks shady when there’s little to no information, as though the company is a fly-by-night or doesn’t want to be contacted.
3. Capitalise on business-building features.
Leverage the features that are there to help you achieve more!
Instagram, Facebook, X (previously Twitter)—you name it—every platform wants you to get leads. After all, if your business grows, your advertising budget will too!
It’s essential to learn about and master the automation, promotion, and analytical features that come with a business account. They are designed to support business.
An example is Facebook Messenger’s auto-replies. This is a fantastic tool to acknowledge customers and manage their expectations while you field their enquiry and get the right answer.
4. Get More Mileage for Your Content Marketing
What is everyone on social media for? Great content!
Content marketing is the biggest component of SMM. This is where your blogs, infographics, podcasts, etc., grow legs.
Regularly publishing consistently high-quality content is how you build a community. As more people interact with your content, the social media platform’s algorithm will serve your content to more targets.
Note the words “regular” and “consistent”. Haphazard or disjointed messaging will damage your SMM efforts.
5. Giving and Receiving Social Proof Through SMM
Social Media has a massive $21.1 billion influence.
The name says it all: social. The whole point of these platforms is for people to engage with one another and your brand. What started as friends sharing reviews and asking for advice has turned into a global influencer market estimated to be $21.1 billion in 2023. 1
You’re missing out on tremendous opportunities if you don’t build reviews, engagement and research into your SMM strategy. Use the platforms to extend customer service, gather feedback and testimonials, and showcase reviews and ratings.
6. To SMM To Give Your SEM a Kick
Optimised SMM will send your Search Engine Marketing soaring!
Another reason you want your SMM to perform at its best is because it bolsters your Search Engine Marketing—SEM.
SEM uses paid advertising to increase the visibility of a website in search engine results pages (SERPs)—a large part of that is via social media platforms. Did you know that YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world? 2
Use your SEM to your advantage by linking your social media platforms! Add your various handles to each of your profiles. For example, adding your X and Instagram handles to your LinkedIn page. Remember that Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp are part of the Meta ecosystem like YouTube is part of Google’s. Don’t be afraid to add all the ways people can find and connect with your brand.
Business Marketing and The Top Social Media Platforms
When choosing social media platforms for your SMM, consider the unique audience each attracts and its features. This is a high-level look at what the top social media platforms bring to business marketing.
LinkedIn is for professional networking and focuses on business-related activities. This makes it the leading B2B marketing channel. LinkedIn ads are generally more expensive than Facebook ads, but they can be more effective for reaching a specific target audience of professionals and decision-makers in particular industries.
Facebook is the largest social media platform and not to be missed because it has the numbers. For many people, Facebook is the only social media account they have. You will probably get the most eyeballs from FB. Facebook ads tend to have a lower cost per click than LinkedIn ads, making it a more cost-effective option for businesses with a broader target audience.
Instagram is a visual platform requiring a photo or a video for each post. It has a younger audience and is more effective for building brand image and engagement. It has a higher engagement rate per post than Facebook, making it a better option for campaign benchmarking.
X (Previously Twitter)
X is a fast-paced platform that is more effective for sharing informational and succinct snippets. X advertising is typically more expensive than Facebook, but engagement rates for ads can be much higher than Facebook’s average CTR.
YouTube
YouTube has two billion active users watching billions of hours of video content daily. It is highly effective for video marketing and reaching a broad audience. YouTube is part of the Google family, so finding customers works similarly to Google search. Only the advertising is less competitive, so it works out cheaper.
Delve into More Resources or Let Us Do the Heavy-Lifting
We are passionate about SMM and digital marketing, which is why we have created many blogs and podcasts on social media and more!
Take a look through these related posts:
1 Influencer Marketing Hub, 17 Key Influencer Marketing Statistics to Fuel Your Strategy. https://influencermarketinghub.com/influencer-marketing-statistics/
2 Forbes, Are You Maximising The Use Of Video In Your Content Marketing Strategy? https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/05/15/are-you-maximizing-the-use-of-video-in-your-content-marketing-strategy/?sh=709ceb5d3584
