Why B2B Companies Need Social Media Marketing

When I talk with B2B companies, so many are hesitant to believe that social media communities can help them achieve their business goals.

During a LinkedIn Marketing webinar last week, I learned some stats that helped drive home the fact that social media marketing is an important part of the marketing mix not only for B2C marketers, but for B2B marketers, too. Some of my favorite stats:

- B2B buyers do 12 online searches before going to a brand’s website (Google): 
Looking for unbiased information about all of the potential options? No one is going to a company’s website to find that info. Decision makers turn first to search engines (where social content is readily indexed) to start their purchase process. By posting relevant social content on your own channels, you help your content achieve higher rankings in search engine results.

- For B2B decision makers, online communities are one of the most popular sources of content in the purchase decision (eMarketer):
Since companies only talk positively about themselves on their websites, many decision makers turn to their online communities for help or opinions on the best solutions to buy. By monitoring groups on LinkedIn and Reddit, and offering solutions or help when appropriate, you can help your organization reach qualified leads while they’re in the process of making a decision. You can also monitor these discussions and create content to answer their questions on your owned properties, helping your B2B company come up in search results when your relevant customers are searching for help.

- Half of business decisions are made outside of the office (B2B Marketing):
As the line between our personal and professional lives continue to blur, more and more business decisions are being made on our personal time – half of them, to be exact. As we become “always on” there’s less of a reason to target people only in the context of them at work, supporting the claim that social networks are a great way to meet B2B prospects.

Regardless of how you look at it, B2B wins are sold through people – not corporations – and people interact and engage on social media communities, making them a worthwhile marketing channel.