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Because of their industry expertise and history of content creation, B2B companies are often well suited for social media marketing. While it might make sense for B2B companies to start with a business-focused network like LinkedIn, Facebook certainly has its own place in B2B social media strategy. If you're curious about how, check out 25 B2B companies that have already done it well.
For B2B companies looking to use Facebook as a tool for prospect engagement and lead generation, there are a few important steps they can take to maximize results.
1. Welcome New Page Visitors - When thinking about Facebook, a new metric comes to mind: visitor-to-like. As a B2B company, you ultimately want to maximize the percentage of people who visit your Facebook Page and click the "like" button. One important way to achieve this goal and establish expectations with new fans is to implement a 'welcome' landing page that invites new visitors to like your Page. Technically, there are many ways to execute this. HubSpot customers, for example, can install the free Facebook Welcome Application.
2. Use Engagement to Build Reach - Engagement is critical on Facebook, and it is the fuel for an important strategy called news feed optimization. When Facebook users log in, they're automatically presented with a news feed of what Facebook has determined is the most relevant information for them based on their interests and engagement. As a marketer looking to maximize the reach of content shared on Facebook, news feed optimization offers a huge opportunity. Therefore, to expand the reach of your content, you must encourage engagement on your Page. Some ways to do this is to periodically ask questions and post remarkable content to get your fans interacting with you and other fans.
3. Integrate Social Content - Facebook is the gateway to the internet for many people. They use it as a home base. In fact, one in eight minutes on the internet is spent on Facebook. Because Facebook has become such an online home for people, it is important to incorporate content from other social channels like YouTube and SlideShare to extend the life and reach of that content.
4. 'Like' Other Pages - Remember that social media is, well, social. By liking the Pages of business partners, valued vendors, and customers, Facebook will notify the administrators of those Pages. In return, some of them may also decide to like your Page, which will also expose it to the individual fans of their Pages. Think of this as leveraging Facebook for co-marketing efforts.
5. Create Custom Facebook Content and Notifications - Yes, it is important to share content from your website and blog across various social media sites. However, remember that it is also important to offer content unique to the audience of that social network. For Facebook, this could mean including a special guide or resource for your community on Facebook.
What other steps would you add? How is your B2B Facebook Page performing?
Free eBook: 2011 Facebook Marketing Guide