Social media and B2B pharmaceutical marketing might not seem like a natural fit, because of the perceived lack of audience reach. However, ultimately social media has already become a key marketing tool across all sectors, and is an effective way of generating contacts, leads, and sales.
B2B companies who utilise social media as part of a digital marketing strategy are likely to have better SEO results and a higher profile within the industry. Here are some tips to get the most out of social media for your B2B marketing strategy.
Outline your B2B goals
Before you begin, work out what you want to achieve with your social media accounts. If you already have some experience of B2C social media marketing, you will know that the main aims are to reach out to target audiences to drive traffic to the website and boost sales, or even to make sales directly through the social media platform.
For B2B, the aim is more to raise awareness of the brand and to inform or educate viewers about your products or services. The B2B buyers are just as likely to scroll through social media as any other person, whether for personal or business reasons, and if they find relevant content this can open a door to a more in-depth search for your business.
Direct selling and old-school sales techniques should be avoided, as B2B buyers are discerning and already have clear ideas about what they are looking for.
They are not going to be impressed by the hard sell and are certainly not going to be persuaded into an impulse buy, if only because their decision will probably have to go through layers of management for approva,l and they need to make sure the purchase is well researched and based on objective criteria.
Study rival businesses
It’s always good policy to know what your competitors are up to, so check out how similar B2B companies are making use of social media. This will give you an idea of which platforms work best and you can see what type of content is generating the highest levels of engagement in the form of likes, shares, and so on.
If you feel that there is an angle that your competitors are missing, you can use this as an opportunity to carve out your own niche in the market.
Focus on one or two platforms
Unlike B2C marketing where the aim is to reach out over multiple social networks, B2B marketing is more specific in its aims. The traditional platform choices for B2B are Facebook or LinkedIn. Facebook has dedicated business tools, and LinkedIn is the go-to platform for making business connections which reach the right people.
Decide on your content strategy
B2B marketing can be on the dry side, but on social media it’s important to stand out and keep your audience interested. You could use social media as a way of showing the human face behind your brand, which will make your company memorable and approachable.
This could be via a behind-the-scenes video of your office or factory, or through interviews with key members of staff. Explainer videos which show audiences how to use your products or solve a common problem faced by customers are also popular on social media.
Interestingly, LinkedIn has been trying to move away from its corporate and conservative image over the past couple of years. A recent BBC article explains that the pandemic has triggered a change in attitudes, as people worked from home and there were no longer clear divisions between personal family life and work.
Marketing professional Dan Kelsall explained: “Consumers are less and less trusting of big brands. People are tired of boring marketing. The skill is to speak like your audience and be relatable to your audience. I’ve been on LinkedIn for seven years and I’ve got 66,000 followers. That’s a really engaged audience.”
Another PR expert, Parry Headrick added: “Engagement is about telling a compelling story. Your parents didn’t read you a press release at bedtime, they read you stories. I try to give an insight into who I am if you work with me. It’s the personal element that engenders trust.”
While this approach might not work for all businesses, it is important to be able to read the room and make sure that your content is neither too dull and dry, or overly informal and in the wrong tone of voice for your professional niche.
If you are looking for search engine optimisation for pharmacies, please get in touch with us today.