Social networks are essential communication channels for companies, whatever their sector of activity or legal form (institution, group of companies, association, etc.).

Yet many companies wonder what they have to say on social networks, or what the ROI is on a presence on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. If this is the case for you, this article is for you.

How to get started on social networks in B2B

Choose your preferred social networks

The first thing to do is to choose which social networks to be present on.

The most strategic point is to find the balance between being present on several networks, without spreading yourself too thin, and above all being present with the necessary relevance.

While LinkedIn is the most popular network among B2B marketers, it’s not necessarily the only one. Twitter and Facebook are also widely used, and enable greater proximity to your audience. YouTube requires more investment and expertise, but can be very effective. On average, companies are present on 4 to 5 different networks.

DS Overseas offers its customers a choice of packages, depending on their strategy, enabling them to have a presence on a wide range of social networks. Each customer can choose one or more platforms according to his or her strategy, objectives and budget.

Create your profiles

A company’s profile must reflect its brand on all social networks and be recognizable by a consistent editorial line.

Your biography shouldn’t be just a list of what you sell, but rather a list of good reasons to trade and follow your company.

Think about your audience

When creating your profile, keep your target audience in mind.

At this stage, your company should have defined its values, its mission and the type of customers it wishes to attract. This is the theory of “customer-centric” management.

Defining your B2B content strategy on social networks

Content is the cornerstone of a successful strategy.

The first thing to do is to create quality content that is interesting to your target audience.

Here are some ideas for content to publish on social networks:

• Your blog posts, if you have one. It’s very important to set this up to optimize your content strategy for RS and for your web presence.
• Your reports, market studies and case studies
• Articles on your industry
• Video excerpts and live quotes
• Quotes from your customers about your brand and/or testimonials
• Behind the scenes at your company
• Question and answer sessions

Best time to post

The best times to publish depend above all on the platforms used and the audience targeted.

DS Overseas is equipped with an AI-based platform that automatically optimizes BTP for each medium and each customer.

How often should you publish?

A common mistake on social networks is to post too much content, too often.

But beware! Brands that hardly ever publish (Too Quiet) also bore their audiences.

The key is to set a reasonable frequency that you can maintain over the long term. Here are a few suggestions:

Twitter: between 3 a day

Facebook: 1 to 2 times a day

LinkedIn: 1 time per weekday

YouTube: once a week

Instagram: 1 time per day

Interact with your audience

It’s essential for you to interact with your subscribers. To do this, make sure you :

• Respond to all the comments and messages you receive, whether positive or negative. DS Overseas provides its customers with an automatic and human moderation service.
• Monitor messages published about the products/services you offer to identify opportunities to engage in discussion. DS Overseas has a platform that brings together all the interactions of a single customer, whatever the publication medium. This methodology enables live monitoring of all interactions and optimal responsiveness.

However, under no circumstances :

• Publicly accusing the customer of lying or being wrong
• Ignoring criticism

Customer relations

Social networks can be used to manage customer relations, and many brands are making use of them.

So it’s crucial to respond to all your customers’ requests. You’ll also need to keep an ear to the ground on the networks and monitor the various conversations that may be related to your brand. By monitoring a few search terms or hashtags, you’ll gain a better understanding of how to respond to consumers, and thus be able to handle queries more easily.

Grow your audience

Very quickly, you’ll want to grow your audience, to pass the 100-subscriber mark, the 500 mark, the 1000 mark… Although it’s not the size that counts, it’s perfectly human to want to reach as many people as possible, as long as they stay within your target!

To do this, identify the influencers in your sector, those who have succeeded in creating a community around the same themes you address. Among their subscribers, identify those who fit your target, and follow them. You can do the same with your competitors’ subscribers.

Equip yourself with the right tools

Ds Overseas is equipped with a full range of tools for managing B2B social networks: from content creation to performance monitoring.

Editorial calendar

To ensure the regularity and quality of the content you publish on social networks, it’s important to have a long-term vision of your strategy. To do this, you need to create an editorial calendar, noting which content will go out when, on which networks.

Planning tool

To make sure you stick to your editorial calendar, even when you’re sick or on vacation, it’s essential to have a planning tool.

Content creation

Ds Overseas has its own graphics studio, as well as several subscriptions to the most prestigious international image and video banks.

Social media management tool

DS Overseas has a tool that enables us to centralize all our different social networks, and save time and efficiency in managing your accounts. By analyzing the performance of your content, you can adapt your editorial line and compare yourself with your competitors. Social media management tools also help you create your social media reporting.

Set up marketing automation tools

Ds Overseas is equipped with automation services to manage its customers’ social media accounts. In particular, these tools make it easier to interact with mature prospects. Properly distributed content will leave more time for the rest, i.e. moderation and exchanges, for example.

Reporting

Ds Overseas provides its customers with fairly detailed reporting with a wide range of KPIs: (clicks, shares, reach, engagement, genre study, best time to post, best day to post, …) will also provide important information for fine-tuning the strategy in place. Without KPIs, there’s no measurement, and without measurement, there’s no visibility to adjust the cursor.

Conclusion

Social networks are a channel to be considered with equal attention. They can’t just be a mission to be taken lightly; they require investment and skill.

Used properly, the return on investment can reach unexpected heights, whether in terms of business opportunities, brand awareness or image. So, we’re waiting for you.

SOURCE / MELTWATER