As part of any successful B2B marketing strategy, your company’s social media channels offer a reliable way to reach and engage your audience. However, even with a consistent stream of fresh content that incorporates SEO and SEM practices, expanding your reach organically can be difficult. This is where social media advertising, or paid social, comes into play as a means of quickly reaching a new, targeted audience. It’s one of the biggest social media trends and can be a valuable tool for your B2B business to generate new leads. However, it’s important to understand all of your options before you start pouring money across your various networks.
Social Media Ad Platforms
Much like a paid media plan gives you an opportunity to promote content and drive exposure, social media advertising allows your company to put content directly in front of those who will most likely show interest with ads targeted to users based on location, job titles, spending habits or personal interests. By placing control of who sees the ad in your hands, paid social is one of the most effective ways to convert leads. However, as any parent of a teenager can tell you, there are plenty of social media platforms out there, so it’s important to choose those that are most likely to reach members of your target audience.
- Facebook – As the most popular social media platform and one of the most visited websites on the internet, Facebook is a worthy inclusion to any paid social media plan. Whether your company has 1,000 employees or just one, Facebook ads allow organizations of any size to promote their products and services to specific audiences.
- Instagram – Built for photo and video sharing, this platform helps your business engage with new audiences through targeted ads. You can run ads as stories, videos or lead formats, many of which also appear in Facebook news feeds.
- X (Twitter) – Known for its fast-paced atmosphere and 280-character limit, this platform has a go-to source for news among its more than 368 million active monthly users. Your business can use promoted posts to place content directly in front of your target audience. Promoted trends also offer a chance to generate conversation through branded hashtags.
- LinkedIn – With an emphasis on professional networking, LinkedIn is a logical selection for a paid social media campaign. Its Campaign Manager tool is easy to navigate and lets your business create objective-based ads. These increase website visits, engagement, video views, lead generation, brand awareness or website conversions.
- YouTube – If engaging and interactive video ads interest your B2B company, YouTube is the place to go. Since it’s owned by Google, YouTube works seamlessly with Google Analytics. You can track conversions and capture leads based on who watches your content and later visits your website.
Types of Social Media Campaigns
After you’ve gained a full understanding of the various channels and how to advertise on them, it’s time to plan a social media campaign for your company. Selecting the type of campaign depends on what your business is hoping to achieve with the ad. Whether you’re in the early stages of reaching out to members of a new audience or trying to convert leads into clients, the right campaign can put your business on the track to success.
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- Prospecting – These campaigns are all about generating awareness about your company and reaching people who have not previously interacted with your business. Utilizing the right keywords can greatly improve prospecting campaigns as it will allow you to specifically target the audience you are trying to reach. You can then engage them with relevant content that encourages them to learn more about your B2B business without delivering a sales pitch. Be sure to keep an eye out for any questions or comments. Ignoring them or responding late can end the interest before it even truly begins.
- Retargeting – While engaging a new audience is necessary to grow your company’s client base, that doesn’t mean you should overlook those who you know. Retargeting campaigns focus on users who’ve visited your website, followed your social media channel or subscribed to your eNewsletter. The goal is to circle back to that initial interest and engage on a deeper level that encourages them to take further action.
- Conversion – As the name suggests, conversion social media campaigns aim to turn interested prospects into clients by promoting specific actions. Feel free to break out that sales pitch if your efforts are focused solely on securing new business. However, you should encourage other possible actions like downloading a free eBook, completing a contact form or survey, making a call or subscribing to your eNewsletter.
From blog posts and podcasts to videos and infographics, your B2B company has no shortage of content options for social media ads. However, your audience is likely already overwhelmed with messages from their networks and competitors. That’s why your content must be relevant, informative and easy to engage with.
If you need help shaping your social media advertising strategy or just want to bounce around some thoughts, let’s connect. We’d love to start a conversation with you about how we can create results for your B2B business.