b2b marketing beyond linkedin

B2B SOCIAL MEDIA BEYOND LINKEDINNOVEMBER 2016

Who We Are

EPIC CREATIVE

Katelyn Staaben Social Media Coordinator

Andy Parmann Social Media Account Executive

EPIC CREATIVE

EPIC CREATIVE

Largest agency in southeastern Wisconsin

Employees

6th

80+

EPIC CREATIVE

BRANDING WEB PRINT VIDEO & PHOTO

SOCIAL MEDIA PUBLIC RELATIONS MEDIA PLANNING

AGENDA

‣ Review the value best practices

‣ Identify content that works

‣ Discuss each platform

‣ Choose the right platform

‣ Measure your success

Value and Best Practices

VALUE OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR B2B ‣ Mass communication & one-to-one communication ‣ Lead generation ‣ Thought leadership ‣ Brand awareness ‣ Extension of other marketing efforts ‣ Global reach ‣ Customer service tool ‣ Recruitment aid ‣ Supports PR efforts ‣ Promote new products and services ‣ Aids in SEO efforts

HOW B2B AND B2C DIFFER

‣ Audience has specific needs ‣ Content generally more technical ‣ Audience may be on different platforms ‣ Has a longer purchase cycle ‣ Selling propositions are more complex ‣ Must speak to a different set of buying emotions ‣ Requires different channel strategies

HOW B2B AND B2C ARE SIMILAR

‣ Audience still human and driven by emotion ‣ Types of content still play well

(compelling brand stories; video, photos, infographics, etc.) ‣ 80/20 rule applies to both ‣ Both require a sales process ‣ Having aligned marketing messages are important to both

(brand voice) ‣ Both require excellent customer service

Content / social marketing is providing relevant content to current and potential customers, for the purpose of building the brand, trust, awareness, and positive sentiment.

A successful social media marketing campaign will tell a compelling story and establish brands as thought leaders while laying the groundwork for a long-term business relationships.

CONTENT AND SOCIAL MEDIA

Content is important, but it’s no longer king

ACHIEVING OPTIMAL ENGAGEMENT

Compelling ContentContent has to be compelling and relevant. Strong, pushy sales pitches rarely receive positive interaction

Visual ContentVisual content is 40 times more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content

Consistent UpdatesFrequent and consistent posts are the best ways to increase engagement

Content That Works

CONTENT THAT WORKS

of B2B marketers experience reported success with video marketing initiatives82% Ω

‣ Events ‣ People ‣ Video/Live Video ‣ Branded Images ‣ Photos ‣ Infographic ‣ New Products and Services ‣ Personality Features

‣ Insider/Internal/Culture Stories ‣ Case Studies ‣ Relevant Industry News ‣ White Papers ‣ Research ‣ Website Links ‣ Apps and Tools ‣ Job Postings

VIDEO CONTENT

Video views on Facebook have increased from

‣ Live functionality ‣ Drone footage ‣ 360 videos ‣ Animation

to 1 billion 8 billion in the past year

‣ Storytelling ‣ Interactive ‣ Sharable ‣ Accessable

Ω

CONTENT BEST PRACTICES

‣ Geotargeted content ‣ Language targeting ‣ Dayparting ‣ B2B takes longer to procure / vet content ‣ Succinct content ‣ Brand standards ‣ Keep social informed and included ‣ Varied and visually appealing content

HOW DO BRANDS USE SOCIAL MEDIA? of B2B marketers use content marketing for lead generation85%

Lead Generation

Sales

Lead Nuturing

Brand Awareness

Engagement

Customer Retention/Loyalty

Customer Evangelism

Creating Brand Advocates

Upsell/Cross-sell 58%61%61%

74%76%77%78%

84%85%

Source: 2016 B2B Content Marketing Trends- North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs

Social Platforms

MOST POPULAR PLATFORMS FOR B2BLinkedIn

Twitter

Facebook

YouTube

Google+

Instagram 29%

62%

74%

84%

87%

94%


MOST EFFECTIVE PLATFORMS FOR B2BLinkedIn

Twitter

YouTube

Facebook

Instagram

Google+ 13%

22%

30%

51%

55%

66%


LINKEDIN FOR B2B

of B2B marketers use LinkedIn to distribute their content94%Why We Use It Where It’s Unique‣ Recruitment Aid ‣ Specified Audiences ‣ Thought Leadership ‣ Branding ‣ Event Promotion ‣ Lead Generation ‣ Networking ‣ Discussion Groups

‣ Fan Acquisition ‣ Longevity of Posts ‣ Analytics ‣ Advertising Options

Ω

TEKSYSTEMS

‣ Recruitment focus ‣ Multiple audiences ‣ Personality within professionalism

TWITTER FOR B2B

of B2B marketers use Twitter to distribute their content87%Why We Use It Where It’s Unique‣ Immediacy of Content ‣ Outreach to Editors ‣ One-to-One Communication ‣ Customer Service ‣ Branding ‣ Crisis Management ‣ Gauging Customer Sentiment ‣ Web Traffic Building

‣ Longevity of Posts ‣ Character Count ‣ Advertising Options ‣ Analytics

Ω

IBM

‣ Balance of personal and professional ‣ Regular posts ‣ Evergreen content ‣ Interesting and engaging imagery

FACEBOOK FOR B2B

of B2B marketers use Facebook to distribute their content84%Why We Use It Where It’s Unique‣ Longevity of Posts ‣ Branding ‣ Fan Interaction ‣ Advertising Options ‣ Customer Service ‣ Analytics ‣ Audience Size ‣ Photo Content ‣ Video Content

‣ Some Use It Only For Personal Use ‣ May Be Blocked By Firewalls ‣ Organic Reach Dwindling

Ω

GE

‣ Balance of technical and light-hearted

‣ Use of video ‣ Customer service ‣ Personality on display

YOUTUBE FOR B2B

of B2B marketers use YouTube to distribute their content74%Why We Use It Where It’s Unique‣ 2nd Largest Search Engine ‣ Videos ‣ Branding ‣ Advertising Options ‣ Analytics

‣ Fan Acquisition ‣ Comments ‣ Competition from Facebook

! Videos are one of the best ways to capture your audience’s attention. It gives your company more personality while connecting viewers to the brand.

Ω

TAULIA

‣ “Can’t fix it, feature it” ‣ Fun as well as informational ‣ Technical information still a focus

INSTAGRAM FOR B2B

of B2B marketers use Instagram to distribute their content29%Why We Use It Where It’s Unique‣ Photo Content ‣ Video Content ‣ High Engagement ‣ Branding ‣ Advertising ‣ Culture

‣ Need High Quality Photos ‣ Smaller Audience

! Visual content is an incredibly effective tool. Instagram as a social network focuses on pictures and can give a personal face to your company.

Ω

CISCO

‣ Behind-the-scenes content ‣ Relatable to many audiences ‣ Photography, animation and graphics

GOOGLE+ FOR B2B

of B2B marketers use Google+ to distribute their content62%Why We Use It Where It’s Unique‣ Some Groups and Communities ‣ Google Hangouts

‣ Very small user base ‣ Often little engagement

! Google+ was thought to have an influence on SEO, but this is no longer the case.

"It’s like you have this grungy night club and people are having a good time and you build something next door that’s

shiny and new, and technically better in some ways, but who wants to leave?

People didn't need another version of Facebook.” - Paul Adams

Ω

OTHER PLATFORMS FOR B2B‣ Snapchat

‣ 60 million daily active users as of September 2016 ‣ Great for behind-the-scenes or event-based content

‣ Pinterest ‣ 150 million monthly active users as of October 2016 ‣ Opportunities for e-commerce

‣ Periscope ‣ 1.9 million daily active users ‣ Live broadcasting integrated within Twitter ‣ Competition with Facebook Live

HOW EPIC DETERMINES THE OPTIMAL PLATFORM

‣ Audience insight reports ‣ Graph search reports ‣ Active group discussions ‣ Follower size ‣ Engagement activity ‣ Competitor research

! Depends on Industry, Every Company Has A Different Audience. Ex: Oil & Gas vs. Commercial Trucking

Measuring Success

WHICH METRICS DO WE USE?‣ Traffic to website via social ‣ Video views / impressions ‣ Fan engagement ‣ Audience metrics ‣ Audience reach ‣ Brand impressions ‣ Ad clicks and impressions ‣ Campaign objective based ‣ Time spent viewing (per video / channel) ‣ Fan growth

WHICH METRICS DO BRANDS USE?Sales Lead Quality

Sales

Higher Conversion Rates

Sales Lead Quantity

Website Traffic

Brand Lift

SEO Ranking

Customer Renewal Rates

Purchase Intent

Subscriber Growth 62%64%

66%67%

69%71%71%

82%84%

87%


WHAT WE DO WITH THE DATA

‣ Build on success ‣ Find areas that need improvement ‣ Watch and adapt trends ‣ Track the competition ‣ Learn about your audience ‣ Build and optimize for content goals ‣ Understand value

Post ReachJanuary 2016-April 2016

Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun.

HOW CAN YOU GROW YOUR AUDIENCE?

LinkedIn‣ Employee buy-in ‣ Sponsored posts ‣ Market relevant content

Twitter‣ Employee buy-in ‣ Live event participation ‣ Following and tagging ‣ Sponsored tweets

Facebook‣ Employee buy-in ‣ Retargeting ads ‣ Sponsored posts ‣ Facebook Live

Instagram‣ Employee buy-in ‣ Sponsored posts ‣ Following and tagging ‣ Relevant hashtags

SOCIAL TRENDS

‣ Facebook vs. YouTube video wars ‣ New ad features ‣ Decreasing organic reach ‣ Twitter ‣ Live streaming ‣ Google+ changes ‣ LinkedIn page updates

TAKEAWAYS

‣ LinkedIn has value, but it’s not the only valuable platform ‣ Content, Video, Storytelling ‣ Measure and adapt

QUESTIONS