What’s the latest B2B buzz on Twitter? As we do every week, B2B News Network’s Hashtag Team, using the cutting-edge social analysis tool Nexalogy, sifted and sorted through every B2B-related tweet to bring you news on marketing using Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as an article highlighting the six major benefits of social media utilization, and more.
Want even more Hashtag Team news you can use? Be sure to read last week’s report by Sarah Dawley, who will also bring you next week’s update on Wednesday July, 8. Until then, Happy Canada Day and Fourth of July from B2B News Network!
TRENDING TOPICS—
B2B Marketing:
6 Surprising #B2B Facebook #Marketing Case Studies via @jaybaer http://t.co/PVdzfMNtmi pic.twitter.com/7ouCTVriD5
— Ryan Hodgson (@Ryanintheus) June 30, 2015
The misconception that Facebook is only for B2C marketing is dispelled in this post by 15-year digital marketing veteran Brian Carter, one of whose primary activities is Facebook advertising for clients. Carter notes the many advantages of Facebook ads, which include the largest audience on social media, ad placement prominence, the lowest cost per click, and incentives for diligent testing. Carter also asserts that Facebook works best in the B2B realm when marketers give users “awesome distractions.”
B2B Big Data:
RT @MillennialCEO: Where Should #B2B Spend on #Social Advertising?? http://t.co/M8delPatPj @danielnewmanUV http://t.co/p2rHpRUtfH — Shelly Kramer (@ShellyKramer) June 23, 2015
Broadsuite CEO Daniel Newman answers the pressing question of where B2B should spend on social advertising in this Forbes article. According to Newman, LinkedIn is best for B2B. In a survey of B2B businesses, fully 94 percent said they use LinkedIn, which is considered the most effective social platform by marketers. Newman believes LinkedIn tops Facebook and Twitter because there is a larger chance of targeting an audience and because LinkedIn’s native ad feature, sponsored updates, allow for precise customer targeting.
B2B Social Marketing:
LinkedIn recommends following the 80/20 rule as part of their publishing best practices: http://t.co/hChda7brif #B2B pic.twitter.com/fkYBcBAwJX — Sprout Social (@SproutSocial) June 24, 2015
Sprout Social’s Jennifer Beese published this incisive guide to using LinkedIn use for your business. As you’ve just read, LinkedIn is widely considered to be the best B2B social marketing platform. But there’s more to the world’s foremost business-related social site, and increasing your organizational presence and acumen on LinkedIn can reap real rewards. Some of Beese’s tips:
- Getting your team to be more active on LinkedIn not only increases your company’s profile and visibility, it also encourages a culture in which employees are actively engaged with your brand.
- It is crucial to remain relevant to your followers by creating emotional connections.
- When posting, on LinkedIn, B2B marketers should follow the 80/20 rule—post four updates that benefit your followers for every one that promotes your business.
- Sticking to a consistent posting schedule can increase follower engagement, but choose quality posts over quantity. Companies that post 20 times per month reach at least 60 percent of their unique audience.
Some other things to consider when planning your organization’s LinkedIn content strategy:
- Posts with links drive twice as much engagement as those without links.
- Include images; on average, posting photos or graphics results in a nearly 100 percent higher comment rate.
- Linking to YouTube videos that play directly in the LinkedIn feed typically increases sharing by 75 percent.
B2B Social Marketing:
Great insight! “Social Increasingly Influences #B2B Sales” http://t.co/i5HTaAGowu via @asicentral #socialmedia pic.twitter.com/LBJQ6NyBuA
— Brandon Lyon (@BrandonLyon19) June 29, 2015
A new study from KiteDesk has concluded that B2B sellers who are social media-savvy are nearly seven times more likely to exceed their quotas than their peers with little or no social media skills. This article by the Advertising Specialty Institute notes that social media’s influence in the sales realm continues to grow, with nearly two-thirds of B2B sales professionals had closed at least one deal due to social media use last year, up more than 50 percent from 2012 figures. Fully 40 percent had closed six or more deals as a direct result of social.
B2B Social Media: embedded tweet:
“Why Your Business Needs Social Media Marketing: Part 1” http://t.co/VMRjeoBiJ6 #SMM #SEO #ROI #B2B #SocialMedia #UX pic.twitter.com/9g5jXTBzA3 — Michael J. Schiemer (@MikeSchiemer) June 27, 2015
Marketing consultant Michael Schiemer explores why your company must embrace social media marketing by listing six major benefits of social utilization. These are:
- Increased website traffic, better SEO, referrals and revenue generation.
- Greater interaction, improved branding, better exposure to customers, prospects and even entire industries.
- Heightened perception of legitimacy and tech savviness.
- Increased ROI.
- More incisive analytics.
- Seamless marketing integration
Image copyright Kate Baggott 2015
