It might come as a surprise to you but not many businesses are good at B2B marketing. In many cases, businesses do very good B2C marketing by reaching the target audience. However, when the businesses try to translate these B2C strategies to B2B campaigns, the results are not that impressive.
Here’s why:
B2B marketing is a totally different game with rules that are unique to the game. Social media campaigns in the B2B arena require a whole different set of collateral and messaging. Brand perception is different from the point of view of a consumer, a potential customer, and a business.
Planning and executing B2B social media marketing campaigns is a matter of understanding how brands see other brands and how businesses integrate other businesses and vendors into their business processes.
To understand B2B social media marketing campaigns and the resources required to execute these campaigns flawlessly, we invited Jason Bradwell, a seasoned B2B marketing expert who is well known for helping brands run B2B campings.
If you missed the session, here’s a rundown of the ideas and responses.
We are Live 📢 on #ChampsTalk with @JasonRBradwell
Join us here for a great discussion about 'How To Run Social Media Campaigns as a One-Person B2B Marketing Team.' #interview #B2B #socialmediacampaigns #socialmediaplan #socialchamp #socialmediamarketing @deltatre pic.twitter.com/1wqxMGZLnJ
— Social Champ (@SocialChampSays) August 11, 2021
Thank you @JasonRBradwell for joining us today 🙏
Let start with the first question: How to determine the right social media platform for B2B marketing? #ChampsTalk pic.twitter.com/XNJ0UleeIk
— Social Champ (@SocialChampSays) August 11, 2021
A1/
Your decision should be guided by wherever your customers are spending their time on social.
Pick 100 targets from your CRM and spend an afternoon digging into where they're posting/engaging daily. That's a good base to start from. #ChampsTalk
— Jason Bradwell 👋 (@JasonRBradwell) August 11, 2021
Q2. Give three tips for a B2B social media strategy? #ChampsTalk pic.twitter.com/A2iwb5iikV
— Social Champ (@SocialChampSays) August 11, 2021
A2/
Don't get yourself tied up in knots on the 'best' strategy in the early days. Keep things simple – don't try and rewrite the fundamentals.
1. Be consistent.
2. Be original.
3. Be human.#ChampsTalk— Jason Bradwell 👋 (@JasonRBradwell) August 11, 2021
Q3. Are there any differences in B2B and B2C social media marketing campaigns? #ChampsTalk pic.twitter.com/IeSl5fU6De
— Social Champ (@SocialChampSays) August 11, 2021
A3/
There is far less impulse surrounding B2B social media. It's unlikely a buyer will see a tweet and immediately send over a cheque for your product.
That's why it's SO important to invest in the long game and not be discouraged when you don't see immediate ROI.#ChampsTalk
— Jason Bradwell 👋 (@JasonRBradwell) August 11, 2021
Q4. What are the B2B social media best practices? #ChampsTalk pic.twitter.com/0hmKs1r5md
— Social Champ (@SocialChampSays) August 11, 2021
A4/
Equipping your colleagues with the tools, education and support they need to be effective social advocates themselves is fast becoming a no-brainer for me.
This is especially true when you work in a small marketing team where bandwidth is an issue.#ChampsTalk
— Jason Bradwell 👋 (@JasonRBradwell) August 11, 2021
Q5. What are the best B2B social media tools? #ChampsTalk pic.twitter.com/NZ2OEdQFFu
— Social Champ (@SocialChampSays) August 11, 2021
A5/
Depends on what exactly it is you're looking for (publishing, social listening, analytics?) but for small teams, I'd recommend starting with an all-in-one marketing platform like @HubSpot which covers the full stack and add specialist tools as you scale.#ChampsTalk
— Jason Bradwell 👋 (@JasonRBradwell) August 11, 2021
Any social listening tool?
— Hassam Mustafa (@thehassam_) August 11, 2021
Some great insights from @ChiThukral on that front from an interview I did with her a while back. https://t.co/VL24bHIAdx
— Jason Bradwell 👋 (@JasonRBradwell) August 11, 2021
my first ever podcast and the best experience i had! not only is jason is super resourceful, he is a wonderful person and friend 💛
— chi (@ChiThukral) August 12, 2021
Q6. How important role automation tools can play in B2B social media marketing? #ChampsTalk pic.twitter.com/ByNF0jpCnI
— Social Champ (@SocialChampSays) August 11, 2021
A6/
Automation for early-stage B2B marketing teams can be a game-changer – like adding a bunch of new colleagues to your team.
But beware of the danger of a "set and forget" attitude. I've been burned a few times after not reviewing the workflows often enough.#ChampsTalk
— Jason Bradwell 👋 (@JasonRBradwell) August 11, 2021
Q7. Lastly, who do you think we should invite next for our chat session? #ChampsTalk pic.twitter.com/6ree4gNEYo
— Social Champ (@SocialChampSays) August 11, 2021
A7/
Pass the mic to my bud from across the pond @West_Syed – he's a social media superstar and we'd all finish the day a little smarter if he had a chance to answer some of your questions. #ChampsTalk
— Jason Bradwell 👋 (@JasonRBradwell) August 11, 2021
Thank you @JasonRBradwell for recommending @West_Syed for the next session 🙏@West_Syed , we would love to have you in our #ChampsTalk 😇
— Social Champ (@SocialChampSays) August 11, 2021
Q. How can you determine that your social media goals are aligned with your B2B marketing goals? #ChampsTalk@JasonRBradwell @SocialChampSays
— Tahniat Alam (@tahniatalam) August 11, 2021
Great question.
I’d start with making sure everyone is aligned and comfortable on what social media is capable of in regards to goal-setting and the length of time it can take to get traction as a starting point.#ChampsTalk
— Jason Bradwell 👋 (@JasonRBradwell) August 11, 2021
Makes sense. Noted 👍🏼
— Tahniat Alam (@tahniatalam) August 11, 2021
What should be the stages of a B2B marketing funnel? @SocialChampSays @JasonRBradwell #ChampsTalk
— Fahad Ahmed (@Fahad_Ahmed94) August 11, 2021
For early-stage marketing teams with a focus on lead-gen/opportunity-gen, I like to keep it super simple in the early days.
Awareness.
Engagement.
Conversion.You can add more / refine as you scale. But don’t reinvent the wheel.#ChampsTalk
— Jason Bradwell 👋 (@JasonRBradwell) August 11, 2021
Unaware
Problem Aware
Solution Aware
Product Aware
Most Aware.I do not understand why more people don’t use Gene Schwartz model, because it’s easily the least ambiguous.
— 🍋 Grace Baldwin: B2B SaaS Copywriter (@heygracebaldwin) August 12, 2021
Q. Can social media generate business leads for B2B users? #ChampsTalk@JasonRBradwell @SocialChampSays
— Tahniat Alam (@tahniatalam) August 11, 2021
Yes. But execs have to get comfortable it may not always be directly attributable. #ChampsTalk
— Jason Bradwell 👋 (@JasonRBradwell) August 11, 2021
What social media platform do you think is best for B2B marketing and why? @SocialChampSays @JasonRBradwell #ChampsTalk
— Marium Fahim Khan (@marium_fahim) August 11, 2021
Any social platform that has people using it can work for B2B. How you use that platform is what’s important.#ChampsTalk
— Jason Bradwell 👋 (@JasonRBradwell) August 11, 2021
How can one identify and analyze gaps in the current B2B social media strategy? @JasonRBradwell @SocialChampSays #ChampsTalk
— Marium Fahim Khan (@marium_fahim) August 11, 2021
Two ways. Look at the numbers – are you hitting the milestones you set out to achieve from the start? – and listen to your instincts – does it feel like your social strategy is resonating with customers?
Both are equally important. #ChampsTalk
— Jason Bradwell 👋 (@JasonRBradwell) August 11, 2021
That's a wrap for today, we would like to thank you @JasonRBradwell for your knowledgeable insights. 🙏
We loved having you and hope that the audience enjoyed today’s session of #ChampsTalk 😇 pic.twitter.com/IyH5u2wsFh
— Social Champ (@SocialChampSays) August 11, 2021
Thank you @JasonRBradwell
It was very insightful 🙂— Tahniat Alam (@tahniatalam) August 11, 2021
That was the end of that very informative session. We thanked Jason for taking out the time and his answers.
Now it is your turn.
Who would you like to see in the next #ChampsTalk session? Let us know in the comments below.
