Social media is a crucial marketing tool for any business, but community management for consumer-facing brands just seems inherently more enjoyable. Unless you work in social media marketing for a B2B company, chances are the brands you follow on social media aren’t your software providers, financial institutions, or office management tools. However, as a social media strategist myself, I follow numerous brands from which I’ve never made a purchase, simply to gain insights into their aesthetics, brand voice, and overall engagement strategy.
B2C brands excel at infusing their social media presence with a human touch. To help you achieve a similar effect, we’ve compiled nine tips that B2B marketers can borrow from their B2C counterparts. These lessons are divided into four key phases:
- Defining your brand aesthetic
- Expanding your follower base
- Enhancing social media engagement
- Nurturing your followers and customers Let’s dive in.
Defining your brand aesthetic
Before delving into social media strategy, the first crucial step is establishing a clear brand aesthetic. Consumer-facing brands tend to excel in this area, leveraging creative teams to cultivate a cohesive brand image that encompasses everything from color palettes to voice and tone. While your Instagram grid or LinkedIn feed doesn’t need to be perfectly uniform, each post should reflect your brand identity.
1. Develop a brand tone guide
Although visuals and copy hold equal weight in social media posts, aligning your tone with your established brand design is often easier than the reverse. If you haven’t already, start by creating a general tone guide for your company website and marketing materials. Determine the level of formality for different communication channels, ranging from the most formal (e.g., press releases, news announcements, executive emails) to the most casual (e.g., social media and promotional emails). If you’re struggling, begin by identifying words that are strictly off-limits for your social media posts. Next, pinpoint words that resonate with your brand and effectively describe your offerings, drawing inspiration from taglines and marketing campaign headlines. These exercises will provide a foundation for your social media managers to build upon. For additional inspiration, explore tone guides from other companies. We have one here at nexus-security, and MailChimp’s guide also happens to be a personal favorite.
2. Craft social media personas
Each social media platform has its own unique characteristics and audience. Therefore, even if the same social media marketer manages both LinkedIn and TikTok, they should approach each platform with a distinct strategy. One effective approach is to adapt the general social media tone guide and create “buyer” personas for each specific channel.
These platform-specific personas don’t need to be as detailed as your typical buyer personas; however, it’s beneficial to collaborate with your product marketers for insights.
Expanding your follower base
Once you have a well-defined aesthetic and content strategy, focus on expanding your reach and attracting more followers.
3. Organize contests and giveaways
Although it might seem like a simple tactic, running giveaways on social media is a tried-and-true method for gaining new followers—a strategy borrowed directly from the influencer playbook. Consumer-facing brands and influencers often opt to give away their own merchandise, which can also be an effective approach for B2B companies. After all, what company wouldn’t appreciate saving two months’ worth of software subscription fees?
If offering your own product for free isn’t feasible, consider alternatives that are either widely appealing or loosely related to your product, such as add-ons or partner offerings.
4. Engage with other brands
Actively interacting with other brands on social media is a fantastic way to increase awareness of your company and its tone. This allows you to tap into your partners’ existing audiences without incurring advertising costs or being limited to your own followers. By commenting on and reposting their content, you increase the likelihood of reciprocal engagement. MoonPie’s Twitter interactions with other brands exemplify this approach flawlessly. For further inspiration, look no further than your favorite meme accounts on Instagram or how TikTok facilitates user collaboration through its “duet” feature. It’s hard not to appreciate this kind of exchange:
Enhancing engagement
A substantial follower count is a good start, but the next step is encouraging interaction with your brand, which includes liking posts, leaving comments, and more. Here are some valuable insights from B2C brands that excel in driving engagement.
5. Showcase real people
Full disclosure: I’m an Aerie enthusiast. Beyond my love for American Eagle jeans, I’m particularly fond of Aerie’s workout apparel and swimwear. The most impressive aspect of their social media strategy—and their overall brand strategy, for that matter—is their unwavering commitment to featuring unretouched models. In line with their relatable brand image, they also run an #AerieREAL campaign showcasing their own customers wearing their products.
Encourage your own customers and followers to share how they incorporate your products into their businesses or daily routines. While it might not be as glamorous as leopard-print leggings, highlighting how your business helps others excel in their work is equally valuable.
6. Engage in real time
The current surge in live streaming across social media platforms highlights the growing preference for real-time interaction. Given that live videos were already garnering three times more engagement than pre-recorded content, it’s safe to assume that this trend will only continue to rise. Consider incorporating live streams into your strategy to provide glimpses into your company culture, share industry or company updates, or simply address frequently asked questions. This injects a human element into your brand. The ability to connect with your audience directly through live Q&A sessions, whether it’s you, your social media manager, or your CEO, can be incredibly impactful.
Nurturing your followers and customers
Establishing a brand aesthetic and cultivating an engaged follower base is a significant accomplishment, but your work isn’t done there. Consistent social media activity is crucial for retaining followers and maintaining customer reach.
7. Respond to comments
It’s tempting to schedule your social media posts in advance and let them run on autopilot. However, providing timely responses to customer comments and questions is paramount. Given the fluctuating productivity levels we all experience throughout the day, your customers may need immediate answers to their queries. Spotify’s Twitter account and—as much as some might dislike hearing it—popular TikTokers serve as prime examples. These accounts prioritize responding to comments, even if it’s just a simple “like.” Social media algorithms also reward this type of engagement, further amplifying their reach. This particular TikTok user consistently appears on my “For You” page and has experienced steady audience growth. You can see the TikTok here (can you tell I’m riding out quarantine at my parents’ place?).
8. Highlight exceptional service
Subtly showcasing your accomplishments on social media is one of the platform’s intended purposes. After all, isn’t everyone else’s homemade baking always more photogenic? Why is their banana bread always picture-perfect? Whether it’s sharing a case study (ideally with a video testimonial from a satisfied client) or retweeting positive customer feedback, don’t be afraid to celebrate your successes. Even better, emphasize how your service has made your clients’ lives easier, more productive, or more profitable.
Pro Tip: Many B2C brands have dedicated Twitter accounts for customer support, such as @SpotifyCares. If you prefer to keep support requests separate from your main feed, consider establishing a dedicated support account managed by your customer service team.
9. Maintain consistent posting frequency and campaigns
Last but certainly not least, consistent social media activity is non-negotiable. If managing multiple platforms feels overwhelming, designate one as your primary channel, create content specifically for that platform, and repurpose it for others. Personally, I recommend focusing on Instagram as your primary platform, as it necessitates both visually appealing imagery and compelling copy that can easily be adapted for LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter (or even Pinterest!). Remember that maintaining a content calendar is only part of the equation. Dedicate at least an hour each day to actively engage with your social media platforms: monitoring comments, retweets, likes, follows, staying abreast of industry trends, responding to posts, and more. The time and effort invested will pay dividends. By actively participating in these platforms, you’ll generate new content ideas, gain traction, and gain a deeper understanding of user pain points, enabling you to target your audience more effectively. Utilizing a social media management platform can streamline this process even further.
Extend these tips to all your social media platforms
One final piece of advice: don’t limit yourself to LinkedIn. While it’s an undeniably powerful tool for B2B sales and marketing, if you’re aiming to cultivate a strong brand presence, explore more visually oriented social media networks. Don’t be afraid to showcase your brand’s personality. Diversifying your social media strategy not only expands your brand’s reach to new audiences but also strengthens relationships with existing customers.