7 Questions to Ask Before Developing Your B2B Social Media Strategy

Social media spend is on the rise. As of August 2011, marketers were spending an average of 7.1% of their marketing budgets on social media and planned to increase that to 10.1% within the next 12 months. But “social media” is vast and as B2B companies rush to join the party, many are frantically asking the question: “where do I start”?!

To help answer that question, we’ve developed a set of “starter questions” that every B2B marketer should answer before developing a social media campaign:

1. Where does your target audience “live” online? It’s likely that your clients and/or prospects are not equally as active on all social platforms. Find out where they are online and use that intelligence to select the social platforms that are right for your campaign.
2. What are the key characteristics of your primary audience? Social media provides an opportunity for marketers to learn more about their customers’ persona than ever before. Learn your audiences’ demographics, preferences, wants and needs, and use that intelligence to determine the products, services, or content you promote through social channels.
3. What are the current conversational themes of customers and prospects? Listen to your target audiences’ online conversations. If you can identify what motivates and engages them, you can determine how to position your firm or content to enter the dialogue. You can also identify themes that are absent, i.e. opportunities for differentiation!
4. What potential do major social platforms have given your key messages and marketing objectives? The same content does not work on all social platforms (and the same audiences do not “live” on each). Make sure the social platform(s) you incorporate into your social media campaign make sense given the products or services you ultimately want to sell.
5. Are there smaller social networks with potential for your campaign? One of the beautiful things about social media marketing is the ability to reach niche audiences. But they all may not be on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook. Look for smaller networks where your targets are engaged online.
6. Who are the online influencers you need to be aware of and interact with? Social media marketing is not only about reaching your buyer. It’s also about reaching key influencers who your customers will listen to online. Find out who they are and engage with them – often well before you launch a major social media campaign.
7. What is your top competitors’ presence online? Evaluating your competitors’ presence online is critical to identifying opportunities for differentiation. If they’re active and strategic, it can also provide valuable insight that will help you answer the questions above.

So, now that you have the questions, how do you answer them? Research, research, research!

Let us know what questions you’d add to this list!

To connect with Aven:

Phone: 212.840.1661
Email: aven@blisspr.com
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