Quit making these 5 B2B social media marketing mistakes

So, we’ve heard that you’re struggling with B2B social media marketing. 

You do everything right: you consistently upload good content, use the right hashtags, share links to your website - only to get zero leads. People ignore your posts. Your reports are painfully discouraging, and it starts to feel like you’re wasting your time. 

Well, missing out on conversions and engagement rates can be as simple as making minor (and not so minor) B2B social media marketing mistakes. 

Take a look:

1. Posting Way Too Much

Do you have that one friend on Facebook who is constantly updating his social media posts? The one that uploads way too many pictures of the sunset, his morning latte and his chihuahua Lucy.

Let’s all say it: it’s incredibly annoying. And you’re probably skipping all their posts. 

The same reaction occurs with your prospects if you try to shove your online presence down their throats. 

B2B social media marketing is a balance between promoting brand awareness and not overwhelming your potential customers.

You can’t bombard everyone’s feed with constant spam and expect to see results. In fact, you might even lose some of your followers. A decrease in subscribers is a good indication that you may be sharing too much content that isn’t valuable to anyone. If your followers feel like they’re being spammed they won’t stick around for long.

So, instead of annoying your B2B prospects, post methodically and strategically. Here are a few general guidelines for how often you should post:

• Twitter – three times a day
• Facebook – no more than two posts per day
• LinkedIn – one post per weekday
• Instagram – one post per day

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2. Posting Irrelevant, Inconsistent, Boring Content

Creating boring content is perhaps the worst sin of all. 

Your audience is busy. Therefore, your content should be consistent, relevant, valuable, interesting, and eye-catching to the reader. If your post doesn’t snatch the viewer’s attention in 2.6 seconds - you’ve lost a potential lead.  

B2B companies tend to post boring content to sound “authoritative” without realizing that it hurts their conversions. Just because you provide services for another business doesn’t mean you have to act like a machine. Every single business is run by a human being. So whether you’re humorous, lively, cynical or even sarcastic, use your personality to capture your audience’s attention and stand out. 

Put yourself in the shoes of your prospect: is your post something you would share with your friends? Does it make you curious? Does it carry some sort of value? If the answer is no, reconsider the content of your post, and make it a yes.
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3: No Content Promotion Plan

Content has zero value unless it’s shared. You could have the most life-changing piece of content in the world, but if no one can find it, what’s the point of producing content? 

Think of it like this: your content is a car and social media is the gas. It’s the force that drives (no pun intended) your marketing content further.  

Cross-promote each piece of content you create — but try not to copy and paste the same post on all of your platforms. Each social media platform is as unique as its audience. So, naturally, every post should also be somewhat unique. When sharing content, use customizable posting features on each social media platform. This includes the headline, image, length and description of the content you’re sharing. 

Every marketer and social media user is vying to catch the user’s eye and so should you. 

The more optimized your post is for a particular platform, the more effective your social media promotion will be.

For example, if you share a link to Facebook, you have a great opportunity to create a post that draws clients in. All you need is an attention-grabbing headline, a clean, relevant image and a short, informative description. 

Here’s a good tip: Using a tool called Hootsuite can help you reach more prospects by automating your social media posts. However, be mindful that while automating uploads may be convenient and easy, you still need to interact with your audience to earn their trust and build rapport.
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4: Lacking personality 

Assuming that you’ve already identified your target audience, it's now time to make sure that your content aligns with your brand identity. 

Brand owners and most B2B marketers usually want prospects to see their business as helpful, energetic, determined and caring. If you want consumers to appeal to this side of your brand, you have to carry this energy across all social media platforms. 

Imagine that you publish content that helps people learn the rules of football, and your company’s main purpose is to sell sports equipment. You have to exhibit an energetic, upbeat, sporty attitude or else you can kiss goodbye plenty of your extra sales and potential leads. 

Social media helps connect you to consumers, but it's your brand personality that holds everything together and keeps buyers by your side. 
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5: No diversity 

A common mistake that many marketers make is that they have zero format diversity in their content. Social media has countless ways to upload and share content. You don't want to miss any valuable opportunities just because you're uploading the same format of content every single day. 

Firstly, you'll want to share plenty of your blog posts. We already know that blogging can help out your business, especially when you consider that companies that have a consistent blog claim a 126% increase in lead growth. 

Beyond the usual, written content consider adding videos and images to your account. The world-wide-web is a crowded space, and using images is a smart way to grab attention. Because our brains respond so quickly (in 100 milliseconds to be exact) to images and colour in comparison to other types of visual data, an image is an irresistible draw. 

Keep in mind: You can take advantage of Instagram Stories and Facebook Live if you wish to engage with your audience in real-time.
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Final Words 

Social media marketing can either be your best asset or your greatest struggle. 

Becoming a top-notch B2B marketer means conquering your way through social media. Behind every business are real people: so social media provides a way to not only advertise your brand but also humanize it and establish a strong connection with your B2B buyers.

Having a clear, planned-out social media marketing strategy can help you attain your goal of reaching more B2B buyers, generating leads and driving more revenue to your business.