Marketing Your B2B Company With A More Creative Social Media Presence

Most people who don't spend the better part of their business days knee-deep in the nuance of social media, have a hard time understanding everything that goes into a successful social media presence. In truth, there really is a great deal to stay abreast of, for instance algorithm updates, new platforms and special features, staying aware of best practices, and even more.That's why it can be very upsetting to have your opinions and your expertise questioned by others who are not nearly as well versed in the science of establishing a social media presence as you are. If you are a B2B marketing director and this sounds familiar to you, it could be that even though you're doing all the right things, you're not representing it to management in the best light. If you can find ways to communicate effective strategies to management that will work best for your social media presence, you should have a much greater chance of achieving buy-in from top management.

Remember that social media is a conversation

No one on the social media really gets involved in technical talk, and if they do, it's probably a very narrow two-person conversation. To get a really good conversation going, you have to talk to people like you're a normal human being, and you have to bring up subjects that they're interested in, so that you get an equally human response.When you're representing this to management, you have to convince them that your social media posts aren't really just fluff, and that you have deliberately phrased them in a way that makes them seem conversational. The talk that you include in your social media posts should sound very much like water-cooler conversation or lunch break conversation, and if it doesn't, you probably won't get much in the way of meaningful responses.

Convince management about frequency

It's very important that you convey to management personnel the need for regular posts on the social media, because even the most compelling content if not followed up upon, will cause your company presence to be ignored eventually. Users are always looking for an active and engaged presence on the social media which they can become involved with.No matter how good the content is that you post once every six months, you won't sustain a following by such infrequent activity. Keep in mind that social media is very much like a conversation, and when your conversation is resumed after six months, there probably won't be anyone listening. Make sure your managers understand the importance of regular and relevant content posting.

Be very sparing about technical content

There will probably be times where you are forced to include some technical language in the content of your social media posts, especially if it's necessary to promote products or services that your company sells. However, a really good social media content writer can work this technical content in and still keep a conversation engaging, by creating a skillful blend of chat and techspeak.One way you could do this is to cast the technical content in a framework that is modeled after a mentor/apprentice kind of situation, so as to create more engaging and simpler content. Someone who is strongly immersed in the technical jargon of the industry and doesn't realize they're speaking gibberish to the rest of the world, could be helped a great deal by taking this approach. By simplifying and crystallizing any speaking points within the framework of a mentor talking to an apprentice, the content will come off much more compelling, and probably of much greater interest to other users.

Turn the tables on your critics

If you find that certain managers in your company are particularly critical of social media posts that you create, you might try turning the tables on them, because they are very likely to be guilty of the same kinds of shortcomings themselves. Ask them exactly which questions they want the answers to, and include this kind of content in your posts. Of course, this will call for a good degree of diplomacy, so that you don't ruffle any feathers on those birds above your pay grade.

You can even solicit their opinion on specific points. As an example, you could simply ask them what types of posts they like seeing in their social media feeds, and which ones they are most likely to comment on. This often has a double benefit, in that it may provide some legitimate insights into the kind of content you should be posting, and it also deflects criticism away from your content creation. You may even turn a critic into an ally using this approach. At the least, by turning the tables on your critics, you should help them finally get an inkling of what your job is all about, and why content creation is so critical.

Cite your sources

Creating content for your social media posts often needs to carry a strong component of authority and precedent, especially for B2B companies which are more technical in nature. By citing your sources, you can convey to all your readers that any points you're making have been shown to be successful in the past, and that there is a strong element of proof to the point you're making.When you present this to management, make sure you're prepared to discuss examples of other companies which have achieved some level of success using tactics and strategies very much like those you are including in your post. This will be a very difficult thing for a manager to disapprove of, since it represents a success story in business from some other company in the industry.

You can't win 'em all

Even these four tips described above may not prove to be 100% successful in persuading your management team that you need a more creative and innovative social media presence. But you shouldn't worry about convincing absolutely everyone, because if your reasoning is sound, there should be enough vision and foresight among your management team to understand why you are proposing the social media strategy that you are. At any rate, the best you can do is provide substantiation for your approach, and hope that upper management is enlightened enough to recognize that your tactics are sound.