B2B lead generation is rarely brought about by an entertaining Instagram story or a clever feed. However, a Well thought-out social media strategy Turn users into prospects and fans, and build loyalty to a company. Through the aroused interest they express by following or liking a profile and later by interacting or submitting your contact details in specific actions, they become the Lead.
Especially with the often difficult B2B lead generation can social networks Facebook, Xing, YouTube and the like can be extremely helpful, because social media platforms are not only suitable for direct contact with customers. Here we explain how to successfully use social media for lead generation!
Do not mix B2C and B2B lead generation!
B2C customers and prospective customers who are to buy products or services are interested in a company for completely different content as (potential) business partners and B2B customers. Therefore, it doesn't make sense to try to serve both areas with a single Facebook profile or Twitter account - you'll just bore your heterogeneous group of followers for a long time.
You can create multiple company profiles on each individual network, which are aimed at concretely defined target groups direct. It should be clear only at first glance, for and with whom you are on the respective social media profile communicate - it is best to place a short note in the profile title and/or description. However, you should only create as many profiles as you have the personnel and financial resources for.
Who do you want to communicate with and why?
If you are using social media resilient business contacts you want to link, you must use the Target group and the Destination for B2B lead generation first define for themselves.
Possible concerns might include:
- Would you like Business customers for your product/service?
- Search in an area new Business partner or would you like to use the Relationships to existing partners and suppliers?
- Would you like to be able to work within your Industry as expert position for your topic?
- Do you want to work in direct contact with founders, managing directors and other decision-makers?
As with all communications, choose the Channels and the Content also in B2B lead generation according to your target group. Use the social media portals that are actually suitable for B2B lead generation: These include above all Professional networks like Xing and LinkedInwhich occupy an important position in most B2B digital strategies. In many industries, however, there are also Twitter or Facebook popular.
As a rule play ordinary employees play a subordinate role in B2B lead generation, unless you see the opportunity to use them as a Decision Preparer to win. Instead, in most cases it makes sense to focus lead generation on Decision-maker, Opinion leader and Multipliers focus.
Find out which social media channels these people use in their personal and professional lives.
Apply the principles of inbound marketing
The Inbound Marketing Not only facilitates B2C communication, but is also a valuable strategy in B2B lead generation. Publish on social media Continuous target group oriented, unique content, you automatically attract good business contacts.
Think about what your target group wants to know from you and prepare this in an appealing way, for example as:
- (free) whitepapers and e-books,
- Explainer videos,
- Blog series and
- Infographics.
Good contentthat motivates multipliers to share, creates a buzz on social media. High range. People like to share content that solves problems, answers questions, or offers an unusual perspective on a topic. Keep this in mind when producing content for social media.
To Suggestions for new content for B2B lead generation, you can for example Trends observe on the respective platforms or News topics as a hook for your contributions. Many people are already interested in current topics. Therefore, you can use them specifically in B2B lead generation, especially if you use your Industry concern.
The classic Keyword research also helps to identify important topics and then publish them on social media under the appropriate keywords in a way that can be found by the target group.
Recognize and address acquired leads
Not all of the above content formats for B2B lead generation are suitable for direct publication on social media. But you can, for example, publish on your Website or on a special Landing page Offer your whitepaper for download and the subpage link on your social media profiles.
This has a distinct advantage: it allows you to Measure user activities more easily and track. For example, you can recognize the Download numbers or sign ups for your newsletter, How many of your followers have actually become leads. The contact data obtained can then be used, among other things, for the Lead Management leverage. This is how you manage to make important business contacts on social media and gain their data for B2B lead generation!
