Stop posting everywhere: The smart B2B guide to choosing social media platforms that actually work for your business
Written by Emma King
For B2B businesses, marketing success isn’t about being on every platform, it’s about being on the right ones. Each social media platform attracts different decision-makers, supports different types of content and serves a unique role in the buyer journey.
This article has been assigned the following categories: Marketing, Social media,
Choosing wisely can mean the difference between spreading yourself thinly and real return on investment and positive metrics.
This article breaks down the most effective platforms for B2B businesses, what each platform is best used for, and how to choose the right mix based on your audience and goals.
The top platforms for B2B businesses and what they’re best at
LinkedIn - the ultimate business platform
LinkedIn is a secret powerhouse for businesses and thought leaders. The platform is where people go to network, learn, add value and recruit. If you're wanting to build your personal brand and employee advocacy, LinkedIn is the perfect platform.
A great way to help drive traffic to your business page is to use LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator to connect with strong leads and then invite them to like your company page. Personal branding posts can also help increase business page followers and help put a face to your business.
LinkedIn is best known for:
- Lead generation
- Thought leadership
- Personal branding
- Direct access to decision makers such as CEOs, Directors and Management
- Building connections
- Sharing experiences and gaining new opportunities
The best B2B types of content for LinkedIn are:
- Industry insights
- Personal journeys
- Education posts
- Long form articles and newsletters
- Event posts
Instagram - not just an image platform
Instagram was originally just an image platform, but has now transformed into a business hub. You can now sell through the platform itself, edit content in the app, share stories and grow your business through it. Growing a company page for a corporate or non-creative industry is challenging, but it doesn’t mean it can't be done.
What Instagram does best:
- Creates brand visibility and credibility
- Shows the human side to your business
- Reinforces expertise and knowledge
- Create a community of clients, customers and followers
The best B2B content for Instagram:
- Behind-the-scenes reels showing company culture
- Educational reels (quick insights, tips and knowledgeable information)
- Visual case studies and results
- Team led content
- Informative carousels
- Product based content
TikTok - the ultimate video platform
TikTok is the ultimate video platform, bringing you a wide range of content from all over the world. Unlike traditional social platforms that rely heavily on followers, TikTok is built around content discovery. Videos are shown to users based on interests, behaviour, and engagement, not just who they follow.
What TikTok does best:
- Organic reach
- Awareness on a largescale
- Relatable content
- Helps users connect with the people behind a brand
- Helps creators and businesses make sales through TikTok shop
- Shares informative information (not all factually correct in terms of news)
The best B2B content for TikTok
- Trending content with employees (when the trend is applicable)
- Behind the scenes
- Top tips, helpful facts or general knowledge
- Collaborative content
- TikTok lives
- Trending templates including music and hashtags
- Product content that’s authentic
X - the ever-changing platform
X is continuously evolving with new features and updates, including AI integration and is developing a monetisation feature. Since Elon Musk took over, the platform has adapted and you now have to pay for a lot of the features, including analytic reports and extra word count. We talk about this in our latest podcast (Link podcast).
What X does best:
- Creates conversation and real time engagement
- Public visibility as posts are indexed and discoverable
- Build communities
- Content optimisation
- Share latest news and updates timely
- Creates thought leadership by adding value
The best B2B content for X
- Articles and conversational pieces
- Short videos
- Top tips, helpful facts or general knowledge
- Trending topics
- Graphics
- Collaboration posts
How to choose the right platforms for your business
Choosing the right platforms is important because, without your audience on that platform, you're posting to the wrong demographic. Even as a business selling to a business, knowing who you need to filter your content to is crucial.
Here are some points to consider when deciding on platforms
- Who are your audience segments/buyer personas?
- Where are your target audiences spending time?
- Do they consume long form or short form content?
- Are they a large or small business you want to attract?
- Who needs your product or services?
- What do you want to achieve through the platform?
The importance of engagement
Engagement is crucial for all social platforms and should be part of your daily routine. Engagement means liking, sharing, commenting and following other content and followers. Replying to comments on your own posts within a timely manner make all the difference and creates a community and trust with followers.
Engaging also helps your content and page within the algorithm and there is no restriction on what time you can carry out engagement. Even just dedicating an hour a day will make a difference, and you don’t have to do it all in one go, you can break it up into 15 minutes.
If you are wanting to take the leap and find the right social media platform for your business; but still need guidance, call our team today.
Our eBook, ‘Instagram for Business’ is also now available to download or sign up to our FREE upcoming webinar where you can gain insight into how to utilise the platform for your business and make small changes that make all the difference.
You don’t need to be everywhere; you need to be where it matters
When platforms are chosen based on buyer behaviour, intent and business goals, marketing stops becoming second best and becomes your engine to drive your business.
Some businesses just post to a platform, so they are findable if someone searches but they don’t look at analytics, whereas some businesses invest time, effort and money into a platform to build their brand, engagement and business awareness, as much as possible. The second approach is always more effective.
Still not sure which platform is right for you? Get in touch.
