Join the Party: How to Run Your B2B Social Channels With Ease

Ever attend a dinner party where you don’t totally feel like you fit in? Navigating social media as a business-to-business brand can feel like that sometimes. Social platforms were built on creating community with individuals – a place where people can connect with friends and family.

Over time, it has evolved to a platform where brands are more widely accepted and have more avenues to connect with followers, showcase what makes them unique and harness brand love along the way. This can be a lot easier when promoting consumer brands, like Liquid Death or FX’s latest episode of The Boys. But with the right approach, B2B brands can find their place too, offer value to their audience and achieve business goals.

Here are six steps your B2B brand can take right now to shine at any party.

1. Consider the Guest List

Cater Content to the Platform Audience. Before creating content, evaluate where your target audience spends their time and how they engage on various platforms. You’ll want to adapt your content to fit user behaviour and recommended spec size on the platform so don’t expend extra energy trying to make content for platforms your target audience won’t be on.

For instance, Reddit probably isn’t the best place to directly promote your B2B brand. The specific Reddit audience isn’t there to engage with brands. Instead, Redditors are interested in cultivating an environment of anonymous community interaction, which is great for users using it for fun, but not ideal for B2B brands trying to gain awareness or generate new leads. Through social listening (more on that next), your brand can still gather valuable insights through relevant subReddit discussions and harness it for your other relevant social platforms.

Remember, social media isn’t monolithic. Every social platform has different audience behaviours and needs; your team needs to identify those behaviours to determine where your brand can stand out.

When it comes to curating content– think of it like dressing for the occasion. Your content should be tailored to the platform just as you would choose your outfit based on the event you’re attending. For example, a video designed for YouTube should be reformatted and edited differently for the long-form narrative than a video going on Instagram Reels or TikTok, which dictates a more casual, first-person narrator approach. Thus, the tone of voice you use across different platforms may also come into play. As a best practice, consider your own social media habits. You may be a user on LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and Reddit, but how you behave on these platforms and the content you consume vary greatly.

2. Be a Good Listener

Join Conversations Thoughtfully. Compelling social media engagement often involves more than just posting content. It requires listening to your audiences to keep your content relevant and timely. But knowing when (or if) you should join these engagement-spike conversations is crucial.

Social listening tools can help you monitor conversations and emerging trends relevant to your industry. It can also help you see what your competitors are engaging in or not engaging. Consider why or why not your unique brand should follow suit by thinking about what will resonate most with your audience. And, be on the lookout for communication coming from individuals connected to those businesses you’re targeting. You may just be able to help resolve issues in real time and earn service points along the way.

For instance, on November 15th, 2023, a TikTok user posted about her Stanley water bottle surviving a car fire. Within 24 hours, Stanley replied to the user and the brand’s president offered to replace her vehicle. Stanley’s post racked up 12,000 comments, 1.1 million likes and a WHOLE lot of brand love. It just goes to show that there’s so much opportunity for brands to get involved in conversations on social platforms. When used effectively and thoughtfully, your brand can harness social to show what you stand for — not just what you sell.

3. Read the Room

Evaluate Trends With Caution and Don’t Drink the Punch. Trends can be enticing, but they aren’t always a good fit for every brand. Fear of missing out (FOMO) is real but so is the risk of getting involved in an inauthentic way. Before jumping on a trend, assess whether it aligns with your brand’s voice and overall strategy. Develop an internal team checklist of what kinds of trends make sense for the brand. In tech software? Trends involving AI, technology and the future of work could be on your approved list to respond to as they come up. Have a vetting process prepared so you can seamlessly speak with your team, gain approval and respond to trends when appropriate. By doing so, you and your B2B brand will be ready to seize the moment– the right moment.

When the “I’m looking for a man in finance” video became trending across TikTok and Instagram, Salesforce responded with their own version, utilizing the trending audio and replacing the original words with new copy that connected the business to their target audience. The video proved to be successful on Instagram with over 61K impressions. Now, everyone who saw the video knows that Salesforce is known for AI, trust, data and insights.

4. Work the Room

Activate Your Community. Social media should be more than a platform for self-promoting PR wins. Use it as a space to build and nurture relationships with your audience. Engage with your followers by responding to their comments, asking for their opinions and sharing user-generated content. This fosters a sense of community and loyalty.

Rather than just announcing awards or new products, involve your audience in conversations, share approved success stories and encourage them to be part of your brand’s journey. Avoid using your social platforms as an echo chamber of only what your C-suite wants to hear. Remember the audience you are cultivating and your big-picture goals. Then, use your content to support that North Star.

5. Don’t Be a Bore

Learn How to “Break the Feed.” When executed thoughtfully, your social media presence is a powerful tool for brand visibility. Focus on producing high-quality, engaging content that reflects your brand’s values and expertise. By doing this you can effectively “break the feed” and capture your target audience’s attention. Take inspiration from successful B2B brands like Amazon Ads, which have mastered the art of creating standout content that resonates with their audience.

Amazon Ads social posts consistently grab attention by placing the most striking elements at the forefront. In this KitKat and Twitch post, these globally recognized brands’ logos took centre stage, enhanced by dynamic, engaging motion that stands out from the typical content on the platform’s feed. The copy was clear and concise, letting the visuals speak for themselves.

6. Bring The Right Plus Ones

Hire the Best People for the Job. Even with all the right knowledge and planning on how to participate on social as a B2B brand, the most important need is having the right team to execute your plan. Social places your brand front and centre and can often be the gateway to bringing new customers to your brand. Think of it like the first impression you make when you walk in the doors. Making a great first impression is really hard to do well without the right team.

Unless a person has every single skill in the book, it’s almost impossible to run social successfully as a one-person job. You’ll need a dedicated team of graphic designers, motion designers, copywriters, producers, content creators and a social manager to execute strategy and content. I know. That’s a LOT of different people to think about. That’s where hiring an agency can really come in handy (wink wink). Think of us like the one-stop shop; the party that has all the best people there. We’ve heard from many clients that they want to go viral and while there’s no telling exactly when going viral can happen, investing in a strong foundation of social strategy and consistent best practices is a good way to set-up for long-term success to achieve those big-picture business goals.

Let’s Start the Party

So now you’re ready to confidently say that you belong at the dinner party. Being a successful B2B brand on social media involves understanding platform dynamics, tailoring content, participating in relevant conversations, evaluating trends carefully, engaging with your community and creating standout content. By following these guidelines, you can turn social media into a valuable channel for building relationships and driving business growth.

Nicole Dellert is the director of creative strategy and brand at Code and Theory