Facebook B2B Marketing: Why B2B marketers shouldn’t ignore it

• Updated on: 2021-01-02
• Read original article here

It’s easy to write Facebook off as ‘just another social media platform’.

During phases of growth, businesses can get so focused on business contacts and professional growth, that they forget about the informal market.

But Facebook isn’t just an informal market. It’s where your target audience goes when they’re off the clock.

‘But the number of young people using Facebook is decreasing – is Facebook dying?’

Maybe – but not as a marketing channel.

72.8% of Facebook users are between the ages of 18 and 44. The younger groups are switching to other social media platforms, but as of yet, your target market probably hasn’t.

So many companies are trying to modernize their marketing efforts, by using TikTok and Instagram to promote themselves.

If you’re trying to reach a younger audience.

Marketers are always looking for the next best thing. But sometimes there’s just no point in reinventing the wheel.

There’s little doubt that Facebook B2B marketing is still king for many marketers. Find out what it takes to get the most out of your B2B Facebook marketing.

It’s still great. We still encourage you to market on LinkedIn. But people don’t spend hours every day trawling through LinkedIn for their own entertainment. At least…most people don’t.

There are two main areas in which Facebook reigns supreme: social media marketing, and paid ads.

To hear the reasons why, scroll down. ????

Your email address is saturated with business offers. Email is the most obvious channel for reaching the largest audience.

But it’s not the only one.

Facebook has 1.56 billion daily users – that’s roughly half as many as email.

What Facebook doesn’t have is hundreds of voices trying to shout the loudest and win your attention.

To break through the noise, a marketing email has to be beautifully constructed. It has to speak to the recipient in exactly the right way, at exactly the right time. It has to catch their attention, while they’re wading through a sea of sales emails.

This is the subscription effect.

Most of the content a user sees on their Facebook page has been signed up for. It’s written by their friends, family or influencers. When a user views their Facebook feed, they’re taking it all in. Considering every article and picking which ones to read.

On Facebook, a well-timed advert or social media post is more visible. Readers will consider the content, rather than automatically ignoring it.

The rule of 7 dictates that a prospect needs to hear an offer 7 times before they buy. It seems like a bit of a guestimate – but the point is valid.

Prospects will research your company before they buy in. As a marketer, it’s your responsibility to make sure your product looks good in the shop window.

This means presenting your company as the modern solution the prospect needs.

How do you do this?

By having a modern social media presence. This means promoting your content on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram – basically any social media platform that your customers use.

This is important for all companies – but it’s a necessity if you’re in the tech space. Buyers are always looking for the newest, shiniest solution – so demonstrate your modernity.

This isn’t to say you shouldn’t maintain the website and content. Facebook is a gateway to your web page, so make sure that both are up to scratch.

The more messaging channels you have open, the better.

Each prospect has a different preferred means of communication. Some like email, some like LinkedIn, some prefer Facebook. Having a Facebook Messenger account increases the size of your net.

It’s also a great channel for communication and community. You can interact with prospects with less formality than LinkedIn – which is a bonus. It’s off the clock, it’s informal, and it’s exactly the lower level of commitment that potential buyers are looking for.

Promote your content on Facebook, and send through any inquiries to the sales team. They can take it from here.

It’s no coincidence that Facebook consistently puts the right content in front of their audience.

When a prospect interacts with your post, Facebook will show it to similar people. They benefit from users seeing things they’re interested in, and you’ll benefit from the extra coverage.

In this instance, Facebook is doing the work for you.

If you’re trying to connect to a company audience – LinkedIn is pretty much unbeatable.

If you’re trying to show off the human side of your company, Facebook is a whole lot better.

When the viewer leaves the office, they get home, remove their LinkedIn tie, and put on their Facebook pyjamas.

You’re not connecting with suits in a professional environment any more. You’re connecting with individuals, in their own time.

This gives you a great chance to show off the people in your company – for who they really are.

Sure – Facebook users might not be as open to a business proposal. But your posts might attract something just as important.

Showcasing your culture, events, environment and people will do wonders for your recruitment. Anyone can write ‘great company culture’ on a job description. They can’t all back it up with proof.

Use your Facebook account to show off everything that makes you love your company. The chances are, someone else will love it for the same reasons.

Don’t worry if it seems unprofessional. Facebook isn’t a professional platform, and your human side will be appreciated.

Maybe this isn’t the most topical point…

But while there aren’t any physical events happening at the moment – digital events are taking off. ????

Facebook is famously good for event sharing. It’s familiar, easy to use, and you’re targeting a different audience to LinkedIn.

Also, a lot of your LinkedIn audience is pretty busy. They won’t always have time to consider attending a webinar for an hour. To counter this, promote your events on LinkedIn during working hours, and Facebook in the evening.

You’ll increase your chances of reaching out at the right time for the prospect, without risking over-promotion (which can cause your page to lose followers).

There is a common misconception that attention spans are getting shorter.

The truth is that people just have more options. If they’re not enjoying one form of content, there’s always something better – just a click away.

This is the value of video.

Marketing videos can deliver a huge amount of information in a short space of time. They’re attention-grabbing, and if they offer value, the viewer will be back for more.

In fact, 85% of American internet users watch online video content every month.

Compare that with the portion of American internet users who regularly read blogs –just 39%.

It’s a lower commitment form of content, and Facebook does a great job of supporting it – with a ‘suggested’ feature, and support of live video.

Creating video content to host on Facebook will make your company much more accessible, and will increase the reach of your profile.

LinkedIn is saturated with B2B ads. Like a stain on a coffee table, they used to be really obvious, but now they’ve just become a part of the furniture.

Now put on your thinking hat. It’s about to get a bit more technical.

There is one clear advantage to using LinkedIn. You have access to business profiles. This means you can search for people by job title, company, industry – all really useful filters.

Facebook also has a few advantages.

Facebook ads might not be the most obvious place to target a business audience – but this can play into your hands. The cheaper cost per click and potential reach make Facebook the smart decision, if not the obvious one.

It’s the marketing equivalent of backing the tortoise, not the hare.

The truth is, it’s hard to say which platform will provide more revenue. Every company is different. You have to do what great marketers always do. Try it out.

Data driven marketing is all about testing things, measuring the results, and optimising the process. You’ll get more efficient over time.

Also, it’s not always a case of Facebook or LinkedIn. If they both get results, run both! Always be measuring the ROI of your social media campaigns. Use this information to improve your decision making over time.

It’s arguably the main benefit of posting Facebook ads. You can easily target people who are interested in your offer – and the results will reflect this.

Here are a few of the Facebook audiences you can target:

Presenting an ad to someone who is already aware of your offer is far more powerful than targeting people who fit your ICP.

They’ve already demonstrated some level of interest, which means the buyer journey is so much shorter. You don’t need to spend as much time qualifying, and the viewer doesn’t need to spend as much time researching.

Facebook also does a great job of creating lookalike audiences.

Granted, this is more effective for e-commerce, but it can be valuable for B2B marketing too.

Targeting lookalike audiences is a great way to scale your inbound, without a lot of extra effort. Remember, the smart marketer always outperforms the tireless marketer.

All you have to do is upload a seed list (this could be a list of current customers or prospects), and select the percentage (from 1 to 10) of people in a certain area you’d like to target.

Facebook will take care of the rest.

They’ll generate a list of the most relevant people based on a comparison of ‘interests and behaviours’. Two areas in which Facebook have a vast amount of information.

Generating these lists will open doors that you didn’t even know existed.

A great marketing idea starts with creativity and is driven by data.

This is a scary prospect for a lot of marketers – not all of us are trained in data science. How are we going to cope when it all gets a bit technical?

Luckily, technology has it covered. Sure, marketers still need to understand and interpret the important metrics, but measuring and reporting can all be done for us.

Facebook Insights is an awesome example of this.

They give you the option to view insights on your audience and page activity. The data collection and reporting is already done, you just need to identify the important results.

This could be any of the following:

There’s also an overview page for you to get the most important statistics right away.

Most ad platforms will have a reporting function – but few rival the depth and accessibility of Facebook Insights.

You’ll be well on your way to getting results with the Facebook B2B marketing tips outlined in this post.

Be sure to leave a comment below about your B2B Facebook tips and strategies below.