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It seems overwhelming, a total minefield. But it doesn’t have to be. We’d like to share two pieces of advice with you that have helped us grow as a B2B agency:
- Don’t spread yourself too thin. Establish a presence on the ‘old-school’, B2B-friendly platforms first – LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and (depending on the type of business you have) Instagram.
- If you choose one platform to focus on as a B2B, choose LinkedIn.
Read on and we’ll explain.
Why LinkedIn should be a focal point for your B2B Social Media Strategy
LinkedIn sometimes gets a bit of a bad rep. However, in recent years the platform has done a lot to shed its image as a slightly dull and dry platform, more focused on job-seekers and those looking to build their network than social selling. However, LinkedIn is now the most powerful B2B marketing and sales platform for your business.
The fact that LinkedIn was built for business networking is a huge bonus when it comes to B2B marketing. It’s the ‘place where business is done’, and the best platform to be seen and listened to by the people who matter to your business.
LinkedIn has over 800 million members in 200 different countries (Source: LinkedIn), and figures estimate that around 60 million decision-makers use the site. Pretty impressive stats.
It’s also the number one place for lead generation – 277% more effective than other platforms (Source: Hubspot).
When it comes to LinkedIn, your target audience of other businesses are using the platform daily. It’s far and away the easiest place to build your social presence, and be seen by thought-leaders, business owners, and potential clients.
Be a bigger fish in a smaller pond
As we pointed out, LinkedIn has approximately 800 million users – a colossal amount. But compare this to Facebook’s staggering 2.6 billion users, and it doesn’t seem as huge. This isn’t a negative point, however.
Fewer users mean less competition. In addition, out of the 800 million people on LinkedIn, only 3 million of these share content weekly (source: Kinsta).
This is a tiny fraction of the platform’s monthly users. LinkedIn, more so than other platforms, still allows for organic reach. This means your content is far more likely to be seen – and noticed by the people who count.
A presence on the platform goes hand in hand with a successful B2B social media strategy. However, you need to make sure you’re posting the right kind of content.
Tips for LinkedIn content
LinkedIn still has an image, to an extent, of being a more ‘serious’ platform. Your audience will expect value from you – quality content is king. ‘Micro-blogging’ does well, as do longer-form articles published through LinkedIn Pulse. These can complement your regular posting schedule nicely.
When it comes to shorter-form posts, research has found that ‘how-to’ and list-format posts do well, and encourage engagement (Source: OkDork). Reviews are mixed when it comes to interactive polls though. These enjoyed a brief spell of popularity, but the tide seems to be turning. It’s common for creators of the more ‘trivial’ polls to get a bit of backlash.
Video is growing in popularity on the platform too, and can generate a lot of engagement. Having a visual content strategy as part of your wider B2B social media strategy is a good idea. It’s not just videos that perform well, including quality images and infographics on your posts can improve engagement and commenting by over 90%. (Source: Hubspot).
‘Vanity metrics’ mean less on LinkedIn than on other platforms. Follower count, and the number of likes or shares on content, means little in the grand scheme of things. If your content is high quality and resonates with other Linkedin users, they’re likely to engage with it, despite the level of your perceived ‘popularity’.
It’s also still possible to grow your presence on the platform just through engaging with other people’s content. Take our word for it – it’s perfectly possible to establish yourself as an expert in your field, simply by responding to posts by decision-makers and thought-leaders regularly.
Final Thoughts
Do you need a little more convincing? Here’s a few more facts and figures to get you off the fence:
- Four out of five LinkedIn users drive business decisions. This lets you reach the people who make the buying decisions in their company (Source: LinkedIn).
- 33% of decision makers use Linkedin to research before they buy or sign up (Source: Hootsuite).
- Companies who post at least weekly on LinkedIn see a 2x higher engagement rate. (Source: Linkedin)
- LinkedIn drives over half of social traffic to B2B sites and blogs (Source: Foundation)
The simple fact is that LinkedIn users want to hear what you have to say, and want to engage with you. Start with LinkedIn for your B2B social media strategy, and take advantage of all that the platform can do for you and your business.
About us
100 Pound Social offers done-for-you social media and blog articles, as well as effective B2B Lead Generation. Plans start from only £100 a month, and are backed up by our 20-day money-back guarantee. We’ve worked successfully with a huge variety of industries, including SaaS, Finance, Marketing, Recruitment, and more.
Join a free, interactive demo to learn how we can build your company’s social media marketing.
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Victoria Lee co-founded 100 Pound Social in 2017. She began her career in Journalism before moving into digital marketing.