Connecting online with B2B tech buyers in the early stages of their search using authentic, relevant content is key for successful relationship building but can be a challenge for marketers. After all, the informed tech buyers of today like to self-educate and are notoriously skilled at ignoring marketing messaging. With social media continuing to be the top channel used in B2B marketing, marketers need to have a solid understanding of how to effectively engage with this elusive group of tech buyers. We’ve put together a list of 10 tips you can use to help increase your social media engagement.
|
5-Second Summary
|
Why is Social Media Engagement Important?
Social media engagement measures how your target audience interacts with your content, “reflecting their level of involvement and interest” (Hootsuite). It’s important because it:
- Increases brand awareness and visibility. That way, when your target prospect is ready to buy, your brand will be top of mind.
- Builds trust. Providing insightful, relevant content on a regular basis helps you build trust and loyalty with your audience.
- Gives you valuable feedback. Identifies if your content is resonating with your target audience and gives you the opportunity to adjust if needed.
- Enables benchmarking: Helps you track and analyze your content performance over time.
10 Tips for Increasing Social Media Engagement
To help you more effectively connect with your prospective tech buyers, we’ve put together 10 tips for increasing social media engagement:
- Share authentic and insightful customer stories.
B2B tech buyers are more likely to engage with your content if it demonstrates that you understand their industry and the challenges they face. Developing content that addresses the identified pain points will resonate with your target audience and illustrate your ability to be a valuable and helpful partner. Customer stories highlighting how your customers overcame their challenges by using your products make great social posts.
- Use videos to highlight your products in use.
Videos are a fun and interesting way to introduce your complex products to prospective tech buyers. Gartner suggests leveraging the storytelling power of videos on your social channels by publishing short-form tutorials or an explainer series of videos. Videos that highlight how your product solves your audience’s pain points will get their attention and interest. Be sure to keep videos brief, from 5 seconds to 3 minutes.
- Include user-generated content.
As part of their self-serve purchase journey, many B2B tech buyers search out the opinions of peers and colleagues. A recent survey from LinkedIn found that, “online ratings and reviews play a significant role in over half of all technology purchases.” Including user-generated content (UGC) in your posts such as industry news and opinions, ratings and reviews, and customer content will work to add credibility and build trust. A good rule to follow is 20% branded content and 80% UGC for your social posts.
- Make it interactive.
Interactivity helps to boost the impact of your social content by requiring your target audience’s active engagement. Some examples include polls, quizzes, and games. Many quizzes in the tech market take the form of a ‘knowledge test’ with questions that typically test the audience’s knowledge of your brand or product. Your target audience is likely to engage with your interactive content because not only is it fun, but it also provides them with real-time, insightful feedback.
- Ensure your content can be consumed quickly.
Content that is easily digestible or ‘snackable’ is designed to communicate your message quickly and lends itself to be consumed on social media. Snackable content is typically visually engaging, fun, and super-sharable. Some format examples include memes, gifs, infographics, and quote graphics. Snackable content can be created by repurposing information from your existing long-form white papers or blogs.
- Promote your brand’s personality.
With the rise of the self-serve tech buyer, human-to-human contact during the buyer’s journey has become increasingly rare. Social media provides an opportunity to build an emotional connection with your audience by expressing your brand’s personality and highlighting your values. Using humour and wit is one of the most effective ways to showcase your brand's personality on social media. LinkedIn reports that, “Humour can help you break the ice, humanize your brand, and create memorable impressions.”
- Be responsive.
To be effective, social media needs to be a dialogue and not a one-sided conversation. If you hope to improve engagement with your tech audience, ensure to promptly answer posted questions, respond to comments, and participate in online discussions. These actions help to show your target audience that you are actively listening and interested in building relationships.
- Empower employees to share content.
Educating your employees on how to share quality social content about your brand with their own social networks can help you expand your reach and better engage your prospective tech buyers. People are more likely to engage with content when it is shared by someone they know than from a company. In fact, LinkedIn reports that “the click-through rate on a piece of content is 2x higher when shared by an employee versus when shared by the company itself.” Developing an employee advocacy program is a great start.
- Determine the best time and day to post.
To find the best time and day to post on social media for optimal engagement with your target audience, you will need to post often and measure performance along the way. Hootsuite suggests the following schedule as a guideline:
- LinkedIn = Monday at 1pm PST
- Facebook = Monday at 10am PST
- X (formerly Twitter) = Friday at 9am PST
- Instagram = Monday at 9am PST
- Post content consistently.
Consistency is critical when it comes to posting on social media. When you post regularly, your target audience will come to anticipate and look forward to your content, driving engagement. Hootsuite suggests the following schedule as a guideline:
- LinkedIn = Post between 1 to 2 times per day.
- Facebook = Post between 1 to 2 times per day.
- X (formerly Twitter) = Post between 2 and 3 times per day.
- Instagram = Post between 3 and 5 times per week.
BONUS Tip:
- Consider optimal content length.
Hootsuite suggests the following as an ideal character count or word length for posts/captions:
- LinkedIn = 25 words
- Facebook = 1-80 characters
- X (formerly Twitter) = 71-100 characters
- Instagram = 138-150 characters
Contact us to learn more about how we can help you increase your social media engagement.
