by Meagan Saxton, social media specialist at ddm marketing+communications
The best practices for B2B marketing on social platforms must be rethought. In an era when consumers are inundated with advertisements, sales pitches, and other calls to action, many social media users will dismiss the substance of your message if they believe it comes with a catch.
Traditional CTAs like “Buy Now” or “Learn More” are part of the standard marketing curriculum, and a staple of any ad copy, but should not come at the expense of authentically telling your brand’s story. Social media offers the perfect forum for raising awareness of your brand without making a sales pitch. In today’s landscape, authentic brand storytelling without a catch makes for a better way to stand out.
Defying instincts
An advertiser’s instinct is to advertise. For reasons both practical and theoretical, social media offers the perfect forum to do just that. The line between ad copy and non-ad copy is blurrier than many other mediums. Audiences are potentially huge and the time it takes to deliver an ad is practically instantaneous. Yet because so many marketers rush to capitalize on these and other advantages offered by social media, it’s hard to stand out against other marketing initiatives.
LinkedIn has come to be the go-to domain for B2B marketers. Here (and other platforms) it’s OK to simply create a conversation around a topic germane to your business. Telling a story and creating connections can be productive goals unto themselves. While achieving these goals might not directly benefit your organization’s bottom line, it can yield long-term results that can be beneficial in the long run. Directly focusing your social content away from sales and marketing language offers brands a subtle way of creating recognition in a medium where many are looking for conversions.
The software platform Hootsuite, for example, has a great video series on LinkedIn in which employees speak directly to the camera to their target audience of social media professionals. No fancy visual effects, trained actors, special backgrounds, or high-budget filming techniques were necessary. All of this merely adds to the authenticity of the message, and invites users into the conversation — part of the language of genuine engagement.
What is the language of genuine engagement?
Genuine engagement begins with transparency: offering potential customers and clients a look inside your brand and the people behind it. If you have a clearly defined mission statement, and your employees are on board with it, authentic language will flow naturally from that sense of purpose. That’s true whether your social content consists of images, text or videos. Authenticity, and the lack of it, are easy to detect.
In the social space, sharing content isn’t just a one-way conversation. It requires taking feedback seriously and not dismissing the concerns among those who engage with your brand. Anyone can shout messages into the universe; the best digital thought leaders engage with the topics on the mind of their audience members.
Transparency is not just scheduling a series of social posts in order to tick a box on a checklist. Consider it an opportunity to share something about your organization’s story, and those of the people who comprise it — not an opportunity to make a sale. That’s the best way to promote genuine engagement.
Redefining the social space as a place for B2B brand storytelling can create more authentic long-term engagements with customers. Instead of the traditional CTA, consider asking a question or providing your audience resources that help their pain points. Save the ‘Buy Now’ language for a different space!
Meagan Saxton writes for client and agency needs at ddm marketing+communications. She has several years of experience creating content and managing social media accounts for healthcare, higher education, and financial services organizations. Meagan is passionate about storytelling, no matter if it’s for businesses or people.
