How to Use Social Networking sites for Business-to-Business Sales in 2023

Is your company getting enough qualified leads that convert to a sale? Thanks to social media it’s now easier than ever to decrease expensive ad buys and gain new customers organically.

Here are some of the best tips to get better results from your social media marketing. LinkedIn users are usually on the website weekdays between 9: am to 12: pm. Post fresh content at that time and it's more likely to get read and shared. There are numerous advantages to adopting social media in the B2B arena. Client relationships can help you build trust. One of the most effective ways to use social media for B2B sales is to become a thought leader in your sector or even to transform your sales team into a collection of thought leaders. Sharing it with others who see this information fosters trust. Once you've earned that trust and demonstrated your competence, you can use both to market your solutions to prospects. Don't ignore gatekeepers. If you are unable to bypass them when trying to connect to a final decision maker, create content that answers their bosses' problems, and you are more likely to get a response. If you are reaching international clients all over the world, check your international time zones to schedule posts at the proper times. Comment on other popular posts from influencers in your industry on your social feeds. Do not use the like button or just say amazing article and stop there. That gets you nowhere with the person who posted.

Make a standout relative comment showing you are an authority on a particular subject or write an opinion about the post. Other participants will take notice, and you're more likely to get noticed from the author, and other industry influencers commenting. There is still a lot of opportunity to market on Facebook. Some brands have noticed a drop in visibility within the feeds of Facebook, in part by users shifting over to Instagram. B2B companies looking to market on social networking platforms can be phenomenally successful in generating leads and new customers by marketing across all platforms. Facebook Ads for B2B marketing provide extensive targeting options. They can be used to create campaigns that raise awareness, increase traffic, generate leads, or increase conversions. Although LinkedIn provides more detailed corporate or title-based targeting options, Facebook's optimization algorithm is superior. The more conversations that happen within your posts with your audience, the more prioritized you will appear in Facebook's algorithm. Be sure to respond to the audience personally. Deal with negative feedback head-on. Forget generic replies to call 1-800 customer service. Engage- interact- and re-post positive user generated content and you should get positive results. When a brand shows publicly how they address any issue it increases brand trust. Don't fear it, embrace it head on. If you want more visibility on Facebook, paying for visibility will guarantee to show up higher in feeds- but conversion only happens when your content is superior. To double your digital presence, you could invest a portion of your budget with pay advertising and spend time to grow an audience organically. If you have access to analytics for Facebook, you can view it when your audience is online. For diving deeper into the data pool check out Brandwatch. Large B2B companies do well on Facebook because they can incorporate upcoming news and events into their Facebook feeds about their products and services. Allowing reviews to be displayed on your Facebook page provides credibility to customers and potential employees. Take advantage of "Facebook Live" where you can have fans engage in real time. Facebook will give your posts more visibility when they see other users engaging with the content. "It (Twitter) closes the six degrees of separation to one degree of separation." - @garyvee Twitter is a primary platform where B2B blog sharing it high. Place links in your tweets and you’re likely to get more shares. Why Twitter? It’s obvious that some of the most influential leaders and decision makers are on Twitter. Being involved in the community is a fantastic way for potential clients to hear what you’re all about. Time your tweets. B2B users are looking at Twitter while they're on public transportation going or coming home from work. Lunch hour can be a suitable time to tweet as many people eat lunch at their desk, looking to catch up with news. How to get noticed on Twitter Tweet on a regular basis. Use hashtags when posting visual content. Become a member of a Twitter community. Participate in replies, Retweets, and tagging. Twitter threads should be published (and commented on). Create a welcoming profile. Take part in Twitter talks. Obtain followers from sources other than Twitter Improve the timing of your posts. Optimize your Twitter bio. Use relevant industry keywords. Keep your brand's most engaging content pinned at the top. Videos produce more traffic and bring in positive results. Social networks want to keep users on their sites, but your goal is to get them to your site. Using chatbots also known as messenger bots are effective in getting the audience over to your website. Take written marketing material and repurpose it as video scripts to make your content come more alive and enjoyable. Share videos on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and You Tube, etc. You never know where your customers will be at any one given time, or what their preference is for reading, watching, and listening.

Use video on your social network pages and websites. Videos can even replace a landing page. Make them short and attractive. Videos increase conversions by 20% according to Renderforest. People are more likely to remember the visuals instead of paragraphs. Videos increase engagement on social platforms more than any other type of content. Make sure the videos address solutions your audience is looking to learn or solve. Think of them as you would a landing page or a click funnel. How short of long should my content be for social sharing?

Long-form content has a greater chance of ranking higher in Google. With today's low attention span, readers are looking for tips and information that can help them quickly perform better in their jobs or daily lives. Long form content ranks higher in search engines.

With content generation being a basic component of most marketing plans, both content saturation and competition in organic search have expanded dramatically.

Google now considers variables such as the site's overall authority, speed, mobile performance, related keywords, behavioral factors such as time on page, and, you get it, content length. Long-form content may also perform well on Google since it encourages consumers to spend more time on your website to consume it. Determining your buyer's search intent or question will assist you in determining the appropriate length for your content. Consistently update and develop your long form copy by repurposing it into shorter easier format. You'll appeal to the impatient reader. When posting to get your content shared make sure that it's 80% about your customer and 20% about you. That's a good rule to follow for success. People like to share content and help others. If your business is providing solutions, it's more likely to get shared. Direct your audience to "Top List Posts" published on your social media. They are immensely popular and tend to be shared a lot. They have more of a chance of going viral. Make the list in depth as they will perform better in the search engines to drive traffic to your website. Don't get stuck on the number 10, make it 13, 17, or 29. When placing links in your content to another website that has authority, use the author's name after the link. Reach out to that person and tell them you gave them a mention in your article. They're most likely to share it with others, giving you additional visibility and credibility-especially with an influencer in your industry. Get your customers to leave testimonials on your social network as comments. This is especially important when potential customers are new to visiting your social media. The best references come from other customers that you've already done business with. This helps your business gain trust in front of a new audience. Offer your best customers an incentive to give your company a mention or share in their social media posts. Cross-marketing recommendations go a long way for both parties. Produce inbound marketing projects that teach your customers something or enlighten them with a story. If you have a star employee who had a recent accomplishment, why not share it with others in the form of a case study, white paper, guide, or eBook. Professionally written optimized titles that captivate people in sales and marketing could captivate a reader using a title like this- "How Brian Foster Was Able to Exceed Sales Growth Year-Over-Year with This One Little Trick.” Leaving a bit of mystery leads people to click and read more. Social media is one of the best places to capture leads with free downloads to information. This is where your relationships with customers can flourish. Headlines are Powerful Headlines that include these terms “How- To” “Ways To” "Do You Know" and “This is Why” are examples of how to start your headline. These words grab attention.

Longer headlines between 14-17 words get more social tracking than shorter headlines. If you can write a headline that shows scientific or factual evidence of a claim in your articles, you just might win thousands of shares. This article "Stem Cell Treatment Could Be a Game-Changer for MS Patients" Published on Time.com, by Alice Park on 2018-3-19 received 561,000 shares. Let your headlines make customers aware you are helping them with something. Make them curious so they want to click on them to read. Cultivating curiosity is the goal. Harvard Business review authored a must-read article about why curiosity matters. Produce content in several languages. Target ads to people based on locations if you need to capture business in different countries. Facebook gives you some of the best options to make this ad strategy work for you. Podcasting builds a loyal relationship with your audience.

Infographic Source:https://www.podcastinsights.com/podcast-statistics/ Takeaway- Make sure your sales and marketing teams are aligned together. Salespeople are knowledgeable about the pain points from current customers, and potential customers. Armed with this information, the marketing teams can produce more effective content that is more useful for the audience. Low-cost organic marketing is an opportunity to build up your arsenal of content using social media. Most importantly, producing quality content always tops just quantity. Less can be more when the quality is high, and it makes an impact on the audience. You can read more about how white papers and case studies are a must-have marketing tool for B2B social media here. Now that you have learned ways to get your content noticed, work with a professional who really understands how to market and sell your business to the audience with the right words. Need some new fresh ideas and content? AZ Publishers can help to engage your audience and whip up some fresh innovative ideas.

Author: Leslie Cohen is an experienced content writer and producer. Formerly a published writer for CBS News Local Los Angeles and the current Editor in Chief for CWEB.com, DailyShocker.com and Robinhoodnews.com. She currently works with companies producing content and advising them on content strategies. Her specialty is drafting white papers, press releases, guides, eBooks, guides, and producing full scale content for websites.