Social Media for B2B Companies – Everyone’s Doing It – Are You?

Think social media is for a limited number of industries? Think it’s for the creative,
entertainment, communication industries – all keen to get their tweets or status reports trending? Think again.

The engineering industry enjoys an active life online. Even two years ago research by process industry experts, CalGavin, found 61 per cent of engineers were actively using social media for work related activities (Source: adweek.com). These activities consisted mainly of gaining industry information, research, news and so forth. And if that kind of information is found online so too are the engineer’s potential customers.

Finance may also seem far too serious an industry to be concerned with social media. But nothing could be further from the truth. Recent research published in Forbes found that among 90 financial service firms 92 per cent maintained a Twitter presence. These brands included American Express with 400,000 followers and 2.4 million Facebook likes and Chase whose Community Giving Facebook Page has 3.3 million likes. (Source: forbes.com). Chase’s page is a great example of how a company can use social media to show its altruistic side, helping to increase its standing among customers.

The fact is social media is democratic. It’s for everyone. Companies of any industry, size, location can benefit from being there. Just as an individual’s tweet can spark a massive movement, a business’ well placed blog or status update can trigger a significant rise in customer interest and ultimately sales. Research from publishers Ragan.com, suggests blogging B2B companies generate 67 per cent more leads than those who don’t. Why is that? Because customers simply know they’re out there.

It also seems online population has influence over buying patterns. In America, strategy and operation consultants Social Media Governance found slightly more than one-third of online adult Twitter users agreed with the statement “I often recommend financial products and firms that I like to my friends and acquaintances,” compared with 21 per cent of US online adults overall. The suggestion being that social media involvement promotes word of mouth recommendations.

A carefully handled social media presence can build the reputation of your business, promote your business among the right people and give you a head start over your competitors in attracting and communicating with new customers.

So whatever your business, make social media work for you by speaking to the experts at LWS Marketing today on 01903 790100 or via info@lwsmarketing.co.uk.