Suppose you are a B2B organization and have been working on social media platforms, including LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram, for a considerable amount of time. After a while, you are surprised to see you are not getting the expected results. For instance:
- Where are all the new prospects?
- Why aren’t sales improving?
- And the big one, where’s the return on our time and investment?
What may also be a surprise is to find out these platforms may be working against you.
Why Isn’t Your Social Media Program Working?
Every platform allows for two types of growth:
- Organic growth happens when other social media users find you by searching and seeing your posts on their feeds. Organic growth is free. It’s often strongest when you first start posting on social media platforms. That’s when you get the most likes, connection requests, followers, and comments on your posts. But in time, these interactions become less and less frequent.
- Paid growth is precisely what it sounds like. You pay the social media platform for increased exposure to get more people to see your social media posts and learn more about you and your organization. With LinkedIn, you will see a “Boost” button on a company post in the upper right-hand corner. Click that, and the platform will spread your post everywhere based on your willingness to spend. Now you can grow your followers again.
It’s obvious why these social media platforms are doing this. It has become a significant revenue source for them. Facebook, for instance, has been slowly reducing organic reach for business pages for several years, encouraging the use of paid posts. If you are a business and want to be heard on Facebook or Instagram, which they also own, your best option now is to open your wallet.
Some platforms, such as TikTok, are not following the crowd. However, if you’re a B2B organization, TikTok may not be your best bet for increased exposure unless you can dance or tell jokes.
The cost is the big problem with paying LinkedIn and Facebook to boost your posts. Although you can set your price at just a dollar or two per post per day, it adds up. Plus, if the paid posts are not getting the attraction expected, many B2B organizations increase how much they pay. This means more money is potentially chasing after bad.
It must be said, however, that some manufacturers have found boosting their posts valuable, primarily if they are focusing on attracting end customers. That’s B2C. However, many others have found the returns disappointing.
What I suggest to clients is to try boosting posts for about six months and then evaluate if the return is promising.
So, what are your social media options?
It all comes down to traditional – but still potent – content marketing in all its different formats. Why is this the best option? Because content posted on your organization’s LinkedIn company page or website improves your SEO (search engine optimization). Your prospects type in a search query with your organization’s keywords, and there you are. This is how most B2B organizations still get their clients. It works, it’s cost-effective, and it’s time-effective if done correctly.
Does this mean we should forget about posting on social media sites? Not at all. But it does mean these social media platforms should not be front-of-mind in your marketing strategy. Please don’t ignore them, but don’t be dependent on them either.
Here’s what to do.
Continue posting a steady stream of content on LinkedIn and your organization’s website. Then post links to that content on all your social media platforms. Ensure it is educational, not too promotional, and leaves visitors thinking they learned something after reading your content. That opens the sales funnel.
And the Takeaway
A famous car salesperson is credited with saying when it comes to sales, “it’s like throwing spaghetti against the wall. Some of it has got to stick.” Unless you have the funds, the stickiness of social media for B2B organizations is getting less and less. Instead, use what is time-tested and true. An ongoing flow of quality content is your best option.
For more than twenty years, Robert Kravitz and his firm, AlturaSolutions Communications, has been collaborating with people and organizations, helping them become and excel as Thought Leaders in their respective industries. He can be reached at: robert@alturasolutions.com.