Social media is a core tool of marketing. It allows B2B marketers to provide businesses with the opportunity to connect with their target audience, build relationships, and showcase their expertise. To make the largest impact with your social media efforts, here are some best practices and tips to help B2B companies:
1. Define your target audience
The nature of B2B marketing implies communicating with clients on a highly personalized level. This is why it’s crucial to define your audience clearly to get a good understanding of their behavior on social media. This will help you tailor your content and messaging to better resonate with them. A company that specializes in mining for potash may want to focus their efforts on marketing towards agri-tech, farming or fertilizer companies. Narrowing one’s target audience will help to be able to develop tailored messaging.
2. Choose the right platforms
Not all social media platforms are created equal. Select the ones that align with your business goals and where your target audience is most active. LinkedIn is a popular platform for B2B marketing and would be a suitable social media platform for a mining company as it is commonly used by professionals in the industry to network and share company news.
3. Develop a strategy
Create a strategy to ensure you are intentional with the content you publish for your audience. By creating a content calendar outlining what you will be sharing and when, you can strategize how you’re perceived by your audience on a broader scale. As a mining equipment company, for example, your strategy could focus on highlighting the features and benefits of your cost and energy efficient processing technology. Additionally, you may wish to provide informative content on mining operations. Overall, your content should always be relevant, and informative, and should always provide value to your audience.
4. Be present
Monitor your company’s social media accounts, engage with your audience, and respond to comments, messages, and reviews in a timely manner. Prospective investors may reach-out over socials, they may comment on posts – do not leave them waiting for a response. By acknowledging their engagement with your company, shows your audience that you value their time and feedback.
5. Utilize paid advertising
Social media advertising can be a cost-effective way to reach a larger, yet more targeted, audience, and drive conversions. Using key metrics you can experiment with different targeting options to optimize the demographics your ads are being pushed to. For example, a mining company specializing in battery metals could push adverts to websites or forums where investors, who are interested in battery technology, get their news on advancements in technology or market data.
6. Keep track
Measure your results using social media analytics tools. This allows you to follow trends in engagement over time and can provide insight into what does and doesn’t work for your business. Adjust your strategy based on your findings to achieve better results. For example, a mining company may notice that sharing informative content about end-uses of their products has a high engagement rate, and can therefore focus their efforts on sharing more of this type of content for best results.
7. Showcase your expertise
Provide your audience with content that offers value and insight; this positions your business as a thought leader in your industry. A mining company may wish to share infographics, white papers, reports, and case studies. By doing so, you demonstrate your knowledge and expertise in the market, instilling more trust in your following.
8. Collaborate with experts in the field
Partnering with the right people can help you reach a wider audience and boost credibility. Be strategic by working with influencers who align with your company’s values, who are trusted, and have a strong following among your target audience. For example, a mining company may consider working alongside mining consultants or specialized analysts to expand their reach and increase credibility.
9. Be consistent
Consistency is key to building a strong social media presence. Post regularly, engage with your audience, and maintain a consistent brand voice and messaging. This should involve a balance of sharing evergreen content and business updates, keeping your company on the eyes of investors and leaving them interested to see what announcements are to follow.
10. Stay up-to-date with trends
Social media is constantly evolving, so what works today might not work next quarter. As it’s important for mining companies to stay on top of market trends, for social marketing to be successful, it is equally as important to stay relevant with social media technology to be effective.
Build awareness around your mining company and generate quality leads by utilizing these social media best practices. Here, at PR | Re:public, we specialize in social media management and content generation for our clients. Request a consultation today to discuss how our marketing team can help your mining company develop its online presence.
