B2B companies face a tougher challenge than B2C companies, because their pool of potential customers is so much smaller. A B2C company can market to individuals from all walks of life on any platform, but B2B companies have to target very specific individuals: namely, the “decision makers.”
Decision makers are employees that are empowered to authorize purchases on behalf of the company; since this is a major privilege, these employees are usually managers or executives of some kind. Management-level employees are busy individuals, and they’re not going to utilize social media the same way that lower-level employees do. They won’t have as much time to peruse Facebook or Instagram and look at pictures of their friends’ kids.
So how do we use social media to market to these people? By utilizing the social media site they prefer: LinkedIn.
A different sort of social media
Most social media revolves around the idea of sharing your life’s events with your friends and family. It’s not enough to go on a nice vacation or see a show – your friends have to see you posing for selfies there, too.
But LinkedIn isn’t that kind of social media site. It’s actually more of a professional networking tool, which makes it ideal for B2B companies. When users browse LinkedIn, they’re either looking at the profiles of colleagues to see what they’ve been up to professionally, or they’re reading industry-related content posted by their connections. They’re not there for fun or to pass the time; they’re interested in professional development. That makes them more likely to be receptive to your sales pitch.
There’s also no shortage of potential “decision makers” on LinkedIn. 38 percent of LinkedIn’s audience has graduated from college, and 34 percent have an annual salary of $50,000 or more. And since management-level employees are usually highly-paid college graduates, you can see why this is a great audience to have access to.
LinkedIn can help “ad” a new dimension
LinkedIn also offers a paid advertising service, as most social platforms do. Through LinkedIn’s program, you can target your ad so only specific audiences can see it. You can target users based on such factors as age, job title, location and industry. And best of all, there is no minimum budget or campaign length. You spend only as much as you deem fit, and you’ll never be overcharged or billed without your consent.
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