Are you looking for some business-to-business (B2B) social media content ideas that will help boost your engagement and visibility? If so, then you’ve come to the right place!
As a B2B marketer, you may deal with executives who think social media isn’t the right place to spend your time and energy. (Yeah, some people still have this mindset.) “After all, isn’t social media all about consumers and their buying habits?”
Well, yes and no.
While it’s true that the vast majority of users leverage social media platforms for fun or personal use, there are benefits to B2B brands that are visible in these spaces. In fact, with the right social media content strategy, B2B companies can use social media to boost engagement and visibility.
Here are five content ideas that you can use to get started:
1) Create How-To Videos for Social Channels
Do prospects and customers have questions about your product or services? Nice–video ideas for your social media channels! B2B companies can use how-to videos to educate potential and current customers about products or services.
Also, your how-to videos don’t have to focus solely on your offerings. Instead, you can create videos that your target audience will benefit from. You just need to identify their needs and then meet the need. For example, we worked with a customer who did a lot of social media videos on behalf of his company–a sales software company. He created a how-to video showing people what types of equipment they would need if they wanted to create quality videos for their own social streams.
He helped the audience learn how to do something without pushing his company’s product. This video content helped him build trust and attract people who may become B2B customers later.
As they say in the Robots movie, “See a need, fill a need.”
2) Use Infographics to Create Compelling Posts
B2B social media content should grab attention and spark engagement. Infographics are one effective way to pique interest and capture attention. These graphics can help simplify complex topics and make data more digestible and visually appealing to your audience. When creating infographics, use strong visuals and keep the text concise.
An infographic shouldn’t be novel-length, so remember to keep the message concise and simple; otherwise, you may lose your audience’s attention. And don’t forget to use stats to back up your data. People love stats!
And pretty, please include the original sources for your data points. 🙏
3) Share User-Generated Content
Social media is a great way to connect with current and prospective customers. However, continually generating content ideas that resonate with B2B buyers can be difficult.
If you’re struggling to come up with content ideas, consider developing a social media campaign focused on sharing user-generated content (UGC). Your community creates this type of content, which can be a great way to promote your product or service in a relatable way.
UGC can be anything from photos and video content to testimonials and reviews. UGC is a great way to show off your happy customers and help new potential customers see how your product or service can benefit them. If you’re unsure how to get started, try reaching out to some of your most active users to get their thoughts.
Here are some ideas:
- Branded Merch—If you have branded merch, send some to your customers and ask them to snap a pic with it and share it on social. You can ask them to use a hashtag you create or to tag your company. Make sure to like, comment on, and share their post.
- Create Challenges—Doritos has this idea down pat. First, they launched a Legion of Creators site that allows users to create branded images and videos that include the Doritos brand. Then, the best of the best get shared on the brand’s social accounts. Genius! Keeps people coming back to check out new challenges and you get new content to share.
- Give Back Campaigns—Get your audience to share pictures of themselves helping one of the approved nonprofits your company already supports. Then, get users to post the image along with a special hashtag. When they post the photo with the hashtag, donate a certain amount of money to the charity they mention.
- Meme Contest—Have your audience create memes along a certain theme or about a specific industry. Then, you can share the memes on your social media while giving them a shoutout. Bonus: many of them will re-share the post, giving you even more exposure. You can even use this idea as the basis of a contest.
- Product-related photo sharing—Ask your followers to submit a photo of themselves using your product, doing an activity that relates back to your product, or showing themselves using your product in a creative way.
Be transparent with your audience about how you plan to use any photos they submit for user-generated content on social media campaigns. Also, be sure to create clear rules for contests or random drawings, and talk to your legal department or corporate counsel regarding any necessary release forms.
4) Share Industry News
One effective way to boost engagement and visibility is to share industry news with current and potential clients on your social media channels. Sharing industry news will show your audience that you’re keeping up with the latest trends and developments and will also help start some interesting conversations. Don’t forget to add your thoughts on the topics or pull out a specific statement to highlight. Don’t just copy and paste or only add the article title to your post.
5) Share Case Studies
If you want to demonstrate how your brand helps your B2B customers, case studies can be very effective, valuable content to promote. After all, B2B buying committee members who have shortlisted your company in their decision-making process are probably checking you out on social media.
You can build trust and showcase your expertise by sharing stories of how you’ve helped others in similar situations. Plus, case studies are a great way of providing actionable insights your audience can learn from.
6) Answer questions and respond to feedback
The B2B leads you want to reach are likely lurking on the social networks where you have a presence. And, like most leads, they’ve got questions—questions you’ve probably answered many times in the past. You may say they are frequently asked questions.
Turn those questions into social media post ideas. Feature a new FAQ each week. Add some fun graphics and related hashtags.
However, you also need to be available to answer questions and respond to feedback as it comes. Demonstrate that your brand listens and cares about your followers. Thank people for their feedback, address their concerns, and tell them that you’re always here to help.
7) Incorporate interactive content like quizzes and polls
Interactive content is a fun way to connect with your community through social media posts. Try incorporating quizzes and polls into your social media marketing efforts to get people interested and interacting with your posts. This step will not only make your social content more engaging, but it will also give you valuable feedback from your audience.
Not sure what tools to use for interactive content? Here’s a list of over 100 marketing tools ➡️ click here to go straight to the interactive marketing tools list.
8) Host contests or random drawings
Another exciting type of social content to boost platform engagement is a contest or random. You’ll increase brand awareness and loyalty while also generating leads. When creating a competition or drawing, companies should consider what type of prize to offer, how to promote the event, and how to select a winner. By carefully planning a contest or random drawing, businesses can create a successful social media campaign to help achieve their overall marketing goals.
Promotional ideas:
- Like/Share/Comment to Win
- User Generated Content (UGC)
- Memes
- Videos
- March Madness bracket contest
- Photos
- Tag-a-Friend
- Playlists
- Drawing
The list of contest ideas is long, and you can come up with all kinds of ideas. But, keep it fun and make it engaging.
One final thought: Contests and random drawings are subject to state and federal laws. Work with your corporate counsel or legal department to ensure your program complies with state and federal laws.
9) Use emojis
Emojis have become a staple of social media communication, with people of all ages using emojis to express themselves. B2B used to be a bit more formal, but now people like to see brands with a personality.
🔥😂🤝😖🤔🎯😬😉✅😊😃🥱🙌😎😭📣😤😵🐶😵💫👏🤷♀️
Emojis can help to humanize your brand and make your social media posts more relatable and friendly. They can also add some personality to your posts and make them more engaging.
When using emojis in your B2B social media posts, use them sparingly and only use those relevant to your brand and message. You can make fun content for B2B audiences, but remember to keep it professional.
10) Tag influencers, customers, and employees
Remember to tag influencers, B2B clients*, business leaders, and employees in your posts when creating social media content. This step helps develop a sense of community while promoting your brand. When tagging influencers, include their user name and a link to their website or blog. Taking the time to tag others in your posts will pay off in the end.
*I put an asterisk on tagging clients. Here’s why: If you’re in a cut-throat industry where maybe pricing is a driving factor in causing a client to leave you, you may not want to advertise who your customers are, making it easier for a competitor to pick off your current client list. You’ll have to make that decision for yourself.
Put These B2B Social Media Content Ideas Into Action
Boosting engagement and visibility on social media does take some effort. First, you have to be intentional about what you post and what you want the outcome to be.
Take a step back and consider incorporating some of the above ideas into your social media strategy.
