Building the B2B Brand Story

When people hear the term social media, their minds often wander to obvious points like Facebook, Twitter – and possibly the Old Spice guy. But when I’m at conferences and events, people frequently tell me that they obviously see how B2C organizations can embrace and utilize social tools, given that their targets are typically actively engaged – but they aren’t clear on how B2B organizations are supposed to be dealing with the opportunity. What on earth are you supposed to be saying?

I own an integrated brand agency so my company is pretty immersed in the social media space. We live, eat, and breathe emerging technologies. It’s our job to constantly be challenging where things are headed so we can help our clients get there. But I get the confusion – I do! It feels weird to imagine that a customer might want to chat publicly with you. It’s hard to picture what you would be talking about – celebrity gossip? Your latest factory upgrades? Your superior office cleaning products?

Well, here’s the thing: social media tools aren’t purely vehicles for the fun, the entertaining, and the silly. As it turns out, 86% of B2B organizations are actually giving social media a shot – but they’re playing a very different ball game than the B2C. And why wouldn’t they? Just as with your overall approach to going to market, B2B has a unique set of challenges and rules. But business is business – you are still ultimately trying to position yourself, trying to make a statement about your own value, trying to make a sale. Nobody’s saying you can’t do these things because your target happens to be a business market, right?

When we look at building a strategy around building a brand story, social media is typically a key tactic that would be recommended. And if you think a bit about the telling of any story, you know that there are three steps involved.

(1)  Audience. Presumably, you have a pretty good sense of who your direct – purchasing – and indirect – influencing the purchase – audiences are already from existing marketing and sales efforts. Extend this question a bit: what are the digital usage behaviours you’re dealing with? Do these people gather information online? Do they seek guidance and assistance around your category? Are they reading reviews? You can get as extensive as a full scale social listening program – or you can start small. Use your existing database of customers – or even typical job titles for your target profile – and conduct some field research. What are their current online behaviours? What networks are they engaged in? Get a sense of who they are, what is motivating them to interact, where they are connecting, and why they’re doing it.

(2)  Content. I will never be convinced otherwise: without great content, there is zero point in engaging in social activity. Content is, always has been, and – no matter what anyone says! – always will be king. So you need to design your content to your own business goals, and you need to treat it not as a general “we’re going to do this!” but as a long term editorial plan. You are the Jonah Jameson of your brand – you need to know where your story is headed and have a clear sense of how you intend to get there. You may choose to amplify your position as a market leader and industry innovator with consistent thought leadership. You may choose to extend your lead gen efforts by consistently responding to target questions and problems related to the industry overall. You may choose to build retention with existing customers through value-added community opportunities. You may even choose to claim rights as the best employer of all star talent! But you need an action plan as to what you’re intending to say, the tone and manner you’re going to be using to say it, and the resources that are going to be dedicated to making this happen.

(3)  Distribution. First off, stop thinking about your website as a website and instead consider it your digital hub. Storytelling in which you engage should be shared here as much as possible – and if information is shared elsewhere, your digital home should look and feel like the words you use everywhere else. Now, to the extension. The vehicles you choose to jump into need to not only be places you’ve found your target (obviously) but place types that facilitate the content objectives you’re trying to drive. Blogs, microblogs (e.g. Twitter), and media content sharing sites (e.g. SlideShare) are naturals for demonstration of thought leadership. Community forums (e.g. unique interest groups) and professional networks (e.g. LinkedIn) provide great venues in which to provide great answers and supportive feedback.  Custom exclusive networks hosted by your company allow opportunities to extend retention.

Overall, B2B organizations have as much opportunity – and right! – to make use of social media tactics as B2C organizations for the benefit of their bottom line. So what do you say? Are you ready to start talking?

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This is cross-posted from Jacquelyn’s column in The Financial Post, which runs weekly. Please send questions, along with feedback or insights to gamechanger [at] espressoagency.com.

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tags:

audience, b2b, brand, content, distribution, social media, story, Strategy

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