If you are asked to think about a page/profile that is very successful on social media, you will hardly think of a Business to Business (B2B) company. This is because Business to Customer (B2C) companies have understood much more quickly the importance of this medium as a digital marketing strategy and dominated the market. But it is foolish to think that social networking is only about talking to end consumers.

Although a minority, the number of B2B companies within social media has been increasing gradually. The B2B landscape is changing, and while some are already successful in social media, others are only now thinking of this strategy as a great ally for results. If you think the latter opinion, rest assured, there is still time to reverse this situation.

Social media strategies for B2B are different from B2C

Before starting on any social media, it is important that you keep this in mind: do not copy strategies of a B2C company. If your focus is not the same, so your strategy is not either. There are two main different points between B2B and B2C within social networks:

• Content published on a B2C social media should add value to your readers and so commercial information should get little prominence. B2B can be dull in professional content, such as case disclosure, institutional videos, brand values, etc;

• Although some B2C companies also aim for conversions, their goal within social media goes a step further, such as interaction, branding, increased engagement on the page, making a viral campaign, among others. Whereas, the intention of B2B companies is 90% conversion.

That is, do not try to copy a page because you simply admire it. You do not know what the real purpose of that brand is, and most likely, it's very different from yours. If you have difficulty managing an account with B2B strategy, be aware that there are a number of digital marketing agencies focused on social media that will definitely help you.

Social networking for B2B: do not limit yourself to just LinkedIn

If you ask anyone: What social network should you use for your B2B business? The answer will be almost unanimous: LinkedIn! And this return will be partially correct.

LinkedIn has over the past few years qualified as the most important social media for today's B2B marketing. After all, it is in it that you can meet people from different sectors and positions. Aiming at this segment, the tool itself was qualified to meet all the demands, and so created within its platform:

• Company Pages: It's like a personal page, but in this case, it's about the company. The purpose of Company Page is to show the characteristics and differences of the company, divulging subjects related to the area and the brand. It even helps you get insights about your audience, brings your business closer to the audience, and presents your products in a direct and dynamic way;

• ShowCases Pages: is created within a Company Page that shows each company service. The layout is basically divided into two columns, which helps the company to create content with texts, images, videos, articles, links and reach more easily the consumer public;

• LinkedIn Ads: These are sponsored ads that are linked on the network platform. They can appear in a variety of situations, such as profile pages, the main page, message inbox, search results, and group pages. In addition, the strategy has high power of segmentation, reaching more qualified leads for your business.

And now you must be thinking, if it's all this, then why did you say the answer is partially correct? Because it's important that companies also get to know and be present on other social networks. There are millions of people in other networks and companies need to learn to communicate with them as well. LinkedIn is truly the most qualified social network for B2B companies, but it's not the only one to help you get results!

So what other social media should you invest for your B2B business?

All social media can do the right things, as long as you respect their guidelines and the company aligns its purpose with the platform. The ranking companies use other social media as well as LinkedIn to be active in that area and get the desired result. And if they are successful, you can do it, too.

First of all, it is aligned with one thing: The focus of B2B companies are conversions, but for this it is imperative that your brand be loved, desired and known to the end consumers and thus required by the supplier companies.

Facebook

Currently, Facebook is the social network that has the most active users and, being out of it, you run the risk of losing future business. It can be said that to get the desired results, it is imperative that your company is connected to it, regardless of the segment.

The platform provides various means to interact with the public, such as content, photos, links , videos, lives , GIF etc. In addition to ads and publishing drive. Use them to your advantage. Do not just publish your products. Disclose on the policies of work, staff, corporate affairs, among others. Show that in addition to working with products, you have a company full of life and people.

Instagram

Although Instagram is the most limited network in some automations, such as linking a story to the site, many companies are finding ways to communicate and advertise their interests over that network. Publicity of corporate parties/events, team, motivational phrases, volunteer work, courses, among others. These are subjects that fit Instagram and give a lot of results.

Twitter

It is an easy and fast network for content dissemination, especially when there is a campaign, which makes it possible to rank a hashtag. Companies that did not waste time, created great communications, business and results in the social network.

Slideshare

Many people have heard of it, but it is guaranteed that more than half of them are not quite sure how to use it. Slideshare is a social network of sharing presentations - as the name itself says - but it's not just any presentation. They need to be more inspiring, thought-provoking, user-friendly, with well-designed design, relevant information, and more. Because so much potential and so segmented for the B2B public, LinkedIn bought the network and is now found within the LinkedIn platform itself. In addition to having more than 70 million visits per month, there are other reasons for your company to be in this network:

• Qualified public: anyone who accesses Slideshare knows exactly what they are looking for: quality information. So, it's time to tie this user to your brand;

• Traffic: Great way to increase traffic to your website, blog or social networks;

• Strengthening the brand: in addition to reaching a selective public, it is possible to strengthen its brand by showing the knowhow of its team, for example;

• Strategy Evolution: Slideshare also has an analytics tool that allows you to track the performance of your content on the platform, such as traffic source, engagement, most viewed content, and so on.

Most published content must and can be targeted directly to your brand, not necessarily to a product. But it is important for companies to remember that, today, people are looking for companies that are more human, sensitive, and close to their customers. So invest in communications with those purposes, balance those issues with the content of your products. If your company has an internal communication team, integrate them with social networks. It will be a great strategy.

Of course, to get the results you want, be sure to apply all social media practices for content dissemination, such as analyzing site metrics to get your customers' data, time-scaling, investing for platforms, respect number of characters and use of hashtags, diversity of content, among others. All of these points must be respected, analyzed and applied when starting a B2B campaign on any social media network.

Author Bio:

Sarah Feldman is a Marketing Manager of Digital Express – a renowned Social Media Marketing Agency in Dubai, specializing in web design, web development and digital marketing.