Facebook has always been a tricky social network for B2B brands. Once hailed a B2C-only space, the company has spent the last 18 months announcing a string of new advertising options to entice organisations to use the platform. Now with 1.44 billion active monthly users, can B2B marketers afford to ignore Facebook anymore?
To prove the social network can work for B2B businesses, we’ve highlighted five best-in-class examples of brands excelling on Facebook and revealed what you can learn from their marketing efforts:
Agree with the list? Or did we miss anyone out? Get involved in the discussion @MarketingB2B using the hashtag #TopB2BFacebook.
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Why it rules: Customer insights
International software giant Salesforce is a great example of how B2B brands can use Facebook to gain customer insights as well as nurturing a powerful brand community of both employees and customers.
Guillaume Roques, CMO of Salesforce EMEA, believes the main challenge for B2B marketers on this network is to see what their customers are saying, and respond appropriately. He says: “On Facebook, this might mean simply responding to a positive comment, recommending a useful book, sharing non-promotional links or product information. Bad comments or brand complaints travel very fast on Facebook, which is why it is so important for brands to understand their customers. But this is also where Facebook excels: it’s hugely valuable as an insights tool.
“To me it’s a bit like having a live survey constantly at your fingertips, explaining in real-time how your customers are responding to changes in the marketplace or in relation to a new technology.”
The global corporation already has a loyal following that congregates at its famous yearly ‘Dreamforce’ conference in San Francisco; in recent years this has even been extended into a full-blown world tour. The events aim to create a Saleforce community of ‘fans’ from across the globe. The conferences get people excited about product launches, as well as being a place where customers can share advice. The brand maintains a conversation with followers throughout the year through a dedicated Facebook page about the event, which also shares company and customer insights.
In addition, the brand runs an array of regional Facebook profiles that allow them to share country-specific content in a tone-of-voice that will resonate with the relevant customers. For example, the Japanese page has an array of emoji-filled updates, while the US page shares news from its latest Salesforce Tower in New York.
Salesforce’s Facebook presence shows this social network is a great place to nurture relationships with customers. If your company hosts big events it’s perhaps worth looking at creating a dedicated Facebook page for that event, which can then be updated all year round.
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Why it rules: Creativity
Liking MailChimp on Facebook will inject a little fun into your working day. The email service provider shares a ton of visual artwork that is colourful, quirky and entertaining; while updates offer professionals valuable email marketing insights.
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Why it rules: Innovation
This tech giant has recently been listed as one of our 2016 Digital Superstars because of its continual dedication to innovative digital marketing, and its Facebook page is no different.
IBM’s main profile is overflowing with interesting and entertaining content about its own products and services (including research projects), inspirational quotes and a sneak peak into company culture.
The brand released its latest campaign during this year’s Oscars’ adverts. The two films feature actress Carrie Fisher and film director Ridley Scott, and showcase the intelligence of IBM’s computer system, Watson.
‘Coping with humans’ sees Carrie Fisher host a support group for battered science fiction robots discussing their dislike for working with humans. Unlike them, Watson actively wants to collaborate with humans to overcome challenges. Here’s the film:
Since the activity launched IBM has rolled out the creative across its Facebook page, with its key call-to-action to watch the new film. Meanwhile, the company has released a collection of amusing short clips surrounding the bots featured in the video, as well as an array of additional content. One update that stands out is a fun co-branded BuzzFeed quiz asking its audience: ‘What type of bot are you?’
The quiz explains: ‘Face it: Nowadays, the bots of yore are obsolete. Ever since IBM developed Watson, a huge number of bots are now deemed useless. Which are you? Learn more about your robot alter ego!’
The campaign underlines the opportunities for marketers (whatever their product or service) to be entertaining by using the vast amount of digital opportunities available to them.
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Why it rules: Attracting talent
Facebook is Accenture’s most popular social network for attracting talent, proving it can work in the B2B space. With 75 per cent of UK students using Facebook on a daily basis, the brand uses its ‘Accenture Careers UK’ page to reach and engage with its target audience of 18-34-year-olds.
The professional services company posts events, photos, videos, articles and also run a variety of campaigns and competitions to offer candidates a window into the organisation. Meanwhile, content shared is a mix of culture, industry insights, awards and CSR.
Emma Tolhurst, recruitment marketing lead EMEA at Accenture, explains the importance of using paid-for social media marketing options. She says: “A key tool we use within Facebook is their sponsored posts. We can target a specific audience using dark posts and segment our campaign reach. This could be graduation year, university, location or field of study. This is possible on other social channels, however, the key difference with Facebook is the level of detail and the fact we can also cross-promote sponsored posts to Instagram. Instagram has a comparatively large female audience, so it has become a great tool in promoting our diversity objectives.”
A key interaction with followers surrounds answering candidate queries. The brand receives several a day, with the community manager having a 48 hour response rule. Tolhurst adds: “As the first point of contact for many candidates it’s important we reply in a friendly, informative tone and support them in getting the answers they need.”
The page highlights Accenture’s company culture, and the people behind the brand with the aim of improving its quality of hires, while also helping candidates to self-select if Accenture is right for them.
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Why it rules: Capturing moments
It may be cheating to include HP on this list, as it’s both a consumer and business brand. However, B2B marketers can learn a lot from its ability to capture moments and share stories through visual content.
The company has a feel-good Facebook feed, with a focus on video and striking product images. HP creates dedicated social-first videos linking its own products to the latest event or holiday. For example, the brand shared an entertaining 11-second video of a HP laptop displaying a photo of a monkey to celebrate the start of the Chinese New Year. By including a direct link to the laptop’s product page in HP’s online store, the tech brand could boost traffic to its site while showcasing its fun personality.
Meanwhile, in December the brand launched a multichannel campaign to highlight its partnership with Star Wars, and the release of its own ‘Star Wars laptop’. The #AwakenYourForce project saw the company share a mountain of entertaining video content around the film with the aim of getting its tech audience chatting.
The series of videos have been viewed an impressive number of times – the most popular has racked up over 700,000 views and gathered over 3000 likes. The film features a teenager creating his very own R2-D2 robot with HP technology in a bid to ask the girl next door on a date. Although a predominately B2C campaign, B2B marketers can learn from HP. Before planning your next activity, it is worth remembering business buyers are also human, with a range of interests outside the professional sphere.
Want to know more about doing Facebook right as a B2B brand? Our Beginner’s Guide to Facebook includes a breakdown of basic information you might require before setting up a profile, a step-by-step guide to creating an effective Facebook strategy, a detailed case study, 10 everyday Facebook tips and a list of additional reading material.
