As we know, the pandemic has increased the use of social networks and the Internet. A 43% increase over the last year certainly has an impact on business.
The information overload generated by the use of social networks has reached a staggering level. To the point of becoming handicapping for companies in certain industries. Especially in the last year when business meetings between customers and suppliers, conversations of “trade shows”, 5 @7 happy hours or business lunches have been replaced in whole or in part by meetings on ZOOM. And this, in the virtual space of screens or on the wall of your professional conversations on LinkedIn..
The contact, the discovery, the impromptu meeting during the events I have just mentioned are also done on social and virtual platforms.
Looking for a solution for your business, you live in a perpetual FOMO that promotes totally ineffective behavior on said social networks. Here we are usually talking about Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.
In other words, it’s easier than ever to be in front of your prospects but harder than ever to get their attention, given the information overload mentioned.
It is therefore necessary to be creative and know how to intelligently combine ads on social networks with a contact-making approach.
In B2B marketing, the «chou-chou» platform of marketers and companies is undoubtedly the socio-professional network LinkedIn, and it is therefore through the latter that I will initiate this series of posts on the use of social networks in B2B.
The importance of LinkedIn in B2B marketing
In this case, LinkedIn is the most used network in B2B marketing and by far ahead of Twitter and Facebook (95% versus 82%) and above all, the most reliable (trust) according to Business Insider. Note that Facebook is considered the least «trustable”» platform..
LinkedIn, well known and active for career development, has really developed a very focused character on business development.
We have seen at ExoB2B in 2020, an increase in the interest of prospects and customers in all that is LinkedIn, both in terms of business development and sales, namely: LinkedIn (basic), Sales Navigator and a significant demand at the level of LinkedIn Ads.
Some telling statistics
If you’re still hesitant to use LinkedIn to its full potential, here are some statistics from a post on Hootsuite’s blog to convince you to be present and active:
1. LinkedIn has 722 million users worldwide
2. 17 million Canadians have a LinkedIn account
3. Linkedin saw a 55% increase in conversations on their platform in 2020
4. Content creation on the platform increased by 60%
5. The “lives” increased by 437% in 2020
6. Your employees are 14x more likely to share your corporate content than other people
7. LinkedIn “Ads” increase purchase intentions by 33%
8. Also, these same “Ads” offer 200 targeting characteristics
9. Four in five people on LinkedIn have decision-making influence
10. 96% of B2B content creators use LinkedIn (82% FB)
11. 80% of B2B content creators use LinkedIn Ads
12. 33% of B2B buyers search on LinkedIn
LinkedIn as a platform is evolving at high speed. The arrival of “live” was a turning point in 2020 and already in 2021, new options and features are being added at a frantic pace. The use of Sales Navigator, the “premium” version specific for sellers, is increasingly adopted and used in synchronization with CRMs.
Company pages have undergone a facelift with access to statistics and product/service pages that you would be wrong to overlook.
Linkedin profiles and LinkedIn business pages have become full-fledged resources for prospects and customers. Are you perceived as leaders in your market or just one company among many?
Don’t harm your brand
Your prospects are educated on the platform. Do you have anything other than a sales pitch for them? Do you share content that matches what people involved in the buying process are looking for?
If you are static and you are in “sales” mode rather than dynamic and in business relations mode, not only do you lose in sales, but you harm your brand!
Don’t let other companies grab the ball, take the lead, position yourself on LinkedIn before the competition does.
Position your employees
Another essential for you is to position your employees as experts and multiply their online presence on the right social network (here LinkedIn) by giving them the opportunity to express themselves, to connect with their peers among customers, prospects and suppliers!
Your employees become influencers for your products and services, from peer to peer. Big decision-makers are rarely on social networks, you must go through employees to influence these decision-makers…
Why do your employees need to have an effective presence on social networks?
1-Understand when and how to use each of the popular platforms
2- A company code to use them professionally
3- Have a process to follow to do effective “social selling”
Start this process by downloading the PDF of our most recent presentation on the subject.
In addition
To keep up with the evolution of LinkedIn ads, follow ExoB2B’s LinkedIn page.
If you want to explore the possibilities of a LinkedIn campaign or if you have any questions or comments, do not hesitate to contact us.
And finally, don’t forget my next posts in this series on the use of social networks in B2B!
