Today’s internet is awash with social media sites and talk of social networking. The name Mark Zuckerberg has graced our newspapers, magazines and…
Today’s internet is awash with social media sites and talk of social networking. The name Mark Zuckerberg has graced our newspapers, magazines and even our movie screens. Whether it’s Likes, Tweets, comments or photos, social media is pretty much unavoidable these days.
But with so many social media sites available, are any of them capable of supporting B2B lead generation? And if so, which ones?
Well, the savvy marketers out there already know that the go-to move for B2B lead generation is LinkedIn, and they are spot on. This should be the starting point for any company looking to target key individuals and decision-makers within a specific industry or organisation. But, is having a corporate profile all it takes to succeed? Of course not. To get the best out of a company LinkedIn account, a business must utilise their key staff profiles, participate in LinkedIn Groups and be willing to invest in LinkedIn Ads. Only then, will the B2B lead generation potential of this social media site be unlocked.
So, is LinkedIn the only site for B2B marketing? Not as long as you are willing to adapt your current measurements and KPIs.
When using the micro-blogging site Twitter for B2B marketing, the short fall comes in the form of reporting tools. The site itself only offers information such as number of followers, replies and retweets. But, if you use an analytics tool or marketing software to measure your activities, then you’ll be able to see information such as:
• Number of link clickthroughs
• Reach: 2nd-order followers (follower’s followers)
• Cost per click if using sponsored/promoted Tweets
• Conversion to Follower
• Cost per Follower
• Conversion to download
• Cost per download
• Leads
Using these metrics, you’ve managed to increase the B2B lead potential of this social media site many times over. And, with 500 million users registered worldwide and 340 million Tweets every day, you have the possibility to use one of the world’s biggest social networks to generate quality B2B leads.
The most famous of all the social networks is Mark Zuckerberg’s baby, Facebook. Many B2B marketers gave up the ghost with this particular site along time ago, stating that it was good enough for B2C, but not capable of segmenting enough for B2B. And, for some, this may be correct.
But, if you are using your company profile page the right way, then there is a great potential to generate leads. By using your content such as ebooks and white papers to drive prospects from your Facebook page to your website/blog/landing page, you can start to convert social media followers into bona fide leads. And again, with right measurements and metrics, you’ll be able to analyse the success of your Facebook campaigns.
A site which sometimes skips under the radar of the phrase ‘social media’ is the video-sharing site, YouTube. This internet mammoth currently sees 2 billion views of its video content every single day. And, with more and more companies uploading corporate videos and presentations to the site, the benefits are becoming clear. By using search engine optimisation techniques on the videos you upload, you increase your chances of being found, and by including a hyperlink back to your site, it’s possible to see a dramatic increase in web traffic. If your link directs to a landing page where a viewer can download content related to the video, then you are really increasing your potential to generate quality leads.
To find out more about B2B social media marketing and how it can help you generate leads for your business, simply click here.