social media Archives - pmwarner.com

On B2B Social Media

B2B social media is tough. Let’s go through what you are facing and solve this common issue together.

You are setting up the social accounts. Others find out and are excited.

Yes! They say. Free advertising – let’s blast out our promotional messages on social.

No, no, no, no, no, no…

I have no idea why this is so common. It’s not like they haven’t been on social before. The minute a company you follow starts posting one promotional message after another onto your timeline, do you actually enjoy that?

Or do you ignore and unfollow?

I know what 99% would do. The remaining one percent still following would be the social media team and company employees.

So let’s get down on approaching B2B social media and how to get everyone on board with you.

First of all, understand that whether it is B2B or B2C, or whatever the latest term, you are still dealing with humans. These actual human beings are NOT looking for your promotional messages on social. In fact, quite the opposite.

What DO you go to social media for? Helpful updates, Information, entertainment, animal pictures -my fav- and videos the list goes on. But we get ads and sponsored posts everywhere, so why would anyone think that organic posts that look and sound like an ad is going to connect with your audience?

Find your audience and address their needs. Remember that your audience does not care about you — at all it’s all about WIIFM (What’s in it for me?). Avinash Kaushik wrote that the north star of content should be helping your audience get promoted.

So offer good information, things that are helpful, be entertaining, whatever it is there are great examples out there. I would keep in mind that being funny is VERY difficult and few do a good job of it (Innocent Drinks comes to mind) But, we can always offer expertise.

So when the boss asks about how you’re promoting the company, let them know the expertise you show is building your credibility. Many sales folks I’ve worked with have learned that once they stopped promoting and started addressing how to solve problems, customers started coming to them instead of the other way around. Teaching IS selling. And this is especially true in the social space.

If you need help running your social media accounts or just need a free consult, contact DemandWeb

For more on DemandWeb: DemandWeb: Data-Driven Marketing Agency Helps Businesses Drive Demand

The Quick Guide to Social and Search Advertising Character Space

Social and Search Advertising Character Space

While social and search advertising on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google AdWords can be effective if done right, sometimes the planning around what you can fit into your ads gets a little tricky. Between what the client wants (or you) and traditional creative, there are going to be compromises. But keep in mind that the character space is low because the platforms have found that this amount of text is most effective (and fits best into varying space constraints). So don’t think of the platforms as limiting you, so much as helping you to be much more concise in creating your CTAs (calls to action).

Remember that many of your ads may show up in different placements if you choose those options, so while the maximum amounts are listed, you may want to shorten even more so text doesn’t get cut off before a viewer even knows what your ad is about. Be sure to get right to the point.

With that in mind let’s take a look at the different platforms and now that you know the character spaces you are working with, can plan your ad campaigns a little more easily!