Start the Conversation

I really like social media (obviously). I see its value. I use it all the time- both for work and for play. But even a self-declared social media junkie like myself sometimes hits a roadblock when it comes to applying social media strategies for B2B marketing. 

It isn’t impossible. It just isn’t as obvious. You don’t always have a storefront to attract customers to. Sometimes you don’t even have a physical product to show off or offer discounts on. You’ve heard time and time again that you need to get in and join the conversation, but the biggest fear for B2B folks looking to get in to social media is that they won’t have anything to say, or worse yet, there is no conversation going on to begin with. 

Wait, what’s that? It’s your content strategy, here to save the day. Because if there is no conversation out there about your brand already, it is up to you to start it. 

Jay Baer perhaps says it best in his recent blog post, Is Content Marketing a Necessity for Your Brand?:

“For many small, B2B or less inherently interesting brands, the current level of social media chatter is essentially zero. It’s difficult to make listening and opportunistic engagement the nucleus of your approach when there’s nothing to listen or respond to in the first place... If they’re not talking about you, it’s up to YOU to create content that gets them talking. A lack of chatter isn’t a reason for your company to remain on the sidelines. Rather, it’s a signal that you need to make the first move.”

Think about it. You create brochures and marketing materials to get people talking about you at the point of sale. You set up booths, displays and promotions at trade shows to get people to notice you and stop by for more information. With every effort, you’re creating the conversation. Social media isn’t any different. Unless you are Starbuck’s or some other big name consumer product, chances are you are going to need to establish a presence for yourself. 

And if you currently have a content strategy in place, you already know what you are going to say. Even though you may have shaped that strategy for your blog, newsletter or website, reworking your content for social media is as easy as summing it up in 140 characters or less. 

So get off the sidelines and start posting. Listening and engagement should be part of your long-term strategy of course, but the first step is getting out there and starting the conversation. 

Danielle Hohmeier writes about marketing and design in the digital world for Atomicdust, with a focus on marketing convergence and social media.