Businesses who want to market themselves to other businesses (B2B) should use social media differently than companies targeting consumers (B2C). Today, we’ll compare and contrast B2B vs B2C strategies.
Best Social Networks for B2C
Businesses tend to engage with individuals while they’re on social media for personal reasons. As you might imagine, along with being the world’s largest social network, Facebook is also the number one social media platform for B2C marketing. According to Social Media Examiner, 67% of B2C social media marketing is accomplished via Facebook. Blogging makes up 11%, and Twitter 10%.
Social Networking for B2B
When it comes to B2B marketing, Social Media Examiner reports that LinkedIn accounts for 29% of social networking activity, a tie with Facebook. Behind them is Twitter with 16% of B2B marketing and blogging a very small percentage. As the numbers prove, it is clear that B2C marketing employs a more diverse array of social media platforms than B2B.
Social Media Strategies for Both B2B and B2C
Even though there are some major differences between B2B and B2C social media marketing, both do share some similarities. Both underutilize blogging, a form of content marketing. Since blogs are owned and controlled by the company itself, it should be higher on the list. Frequent blogging provides content to feed other social media platforms, and boosts SEO - a great bonus.
Speaking of SEO, did you know that YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google? The video streaming social media network is great for both B2B and B2C marketing. Promoted online videos allow your business to reach customers while they view online videos on websites like YouTube.
For businesses that benefit from inspirational or visual content, Pinterest is a wonderful social media tool. It is especially popular in food, fashion and wedding planning industries.
It is clear that companies with both B2C and B2B marketing strategies can engage with potential customers through various social media platforms. Whether your company markets to consumers or businesses, through social media marketing you can nurture these prospects like others in your customer base.
Here at Radical Stripe we have years of experience making social media work for both B2B and B2C marketers. We can leverage the free and paid sides of social media networks to market your business to specifically targeted groups of individuals or businesses. Social media marketing is only going to continue to grow and offer new opportunities to connect and market your business. The sky is the limit. Contact us to learn more about how we can make the most of your advertising dollars through social media marketing.