Talk to any B2B lead generation expert at a B2B internet marketing agency, and you’ll most likely hear the same thing: B2B lead generation marketing and social media marketing just doesn’t work, because it’s difficult — if not impossible — to see a direct conversion from social media marketing into good leads.
But consider these statistics about current B2B online marketing trends:
- 84% of B2B marketers use social media in their marketing campaigns.
- B2B marketers who use Twitter generate about twice as many leads as marketers who don’t use Twitter.
- B2B marketers use an average of six social media platforms in their marketing campaigns.
If social media and B2B marketing really doesn’t mesh well, it doesn’t make sense that so many B2B experts still use social media. So what’s the deal?
The truth is, social media can work for B2B lead generation — but not in the same way that traditional B2C marketing campaigns can use social media.
First, it’s important to understand that social media marketing won’t always convert directly into leads or sales in B2B transactions, and the leads that marketers find through social media aren’t always quality leads.
Second, it’s important to understand that the “consumers” in a B2B marketplace aren’t like average consumers — instead of being swayed easily by product trends and celebrity endorsements, business consumers are more interested in concrete facts and proven results.
So, this means that social media marketing can work for B2B lead generation campaigns, but only if you’re able to conduct a marketing campaign with these three rules:
- Accept that social media marketing isn’t easily translated into numbers, so don’t be surprised when you try to calculate social media marketing results and they don’t look too good.
- Social media marketing for B2B is more about maintaining connections and providing customers with opportunities to contact you — it’s not so much about promoting your product/service to new audiences like traditional B2C marketing.
- Social media platforms don’t work for every B2B business, and that’s okay! It’s also okay to experiment a bit with marketing strategies, and also to consult an online marketing agency for some help.
