In recent years, social media marketing has become a sort of omni-tool for marketers. A recent study shows that while social media marketing is a great tool for all businesses, it’s a more effective tool for marketing to consumers than when marketing to other businesses.
According to a report from Clutch and Smart Insights, nearly 60 percent of B2C companies surveyed report that social media helps increase their revenue and sales, compared to 46 percent of B2B companies. While it’s comforting that a majority of business are seeing a return on investment from their social media campaigns, the data does give B2B marketers reason to pause and rethink their efforts, says Peter Roesler, president of Web Marketing Pros (http://WebMarketingPros.com).
“Before anyone throws the baby out with the bathwater, this data doesn’t mean that social media marketing is useless for B2B marketing,” Roesler states. “One thing marketers should take away from this report is the need to tailor social media campaigns to each specific business. The things that make effective content for B2B marketing isn’t the same kind of content that works best for B2C marketing. Everyday consumers have different interests and concerns than the decision makers at businesses.”
Smart Insights CEO Dave Chaffey says B2B lends itself to curated content, where brands can help their audience by sharing curated news and best practice content to help individuals develop their skills and careers.
Besides choosing the right content type, it’s also important to choose the right platforms, Roesler states. While both B2B and B2C marketers found Facebook to be the most useful platform, platforms like Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn varied greatly in their usefulness depending on the marketing type. Consumers on LinkedIn are more likely to be thinking about business matters than someone on Instagram.
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