What Movies Teach Us About B2B Social Media Marketing

Whether your company is small or large, B2B social media marketing is no trip to a Pixar movie. For some brands, it’s more akin to watching a suspense-filled mystery. B2B companies know they have to use social media to stay in the forefront of peoples’ minds. Even though it’s called “business to business,” company decision makers are people and they use social media to participate in industry conversations. What makes B2B social media marketing a suspenseful mystery are the quandaries of where to start, which channels to participate in, and blah blah blah…

If you are a company getting started in B2B social media marketing, or are currently struggling, I have compiled a few thoughts for your consideration. So… #LetsGoToTheMovies

1) “Big things have small beginnings.” (Prometheus)

It is important to acknowledge that B2B social media marketing does not always feel natural to online users. These social channels were not created as a mechanism for businesses to interact with potential leads or push marketing messages. Rather, they were originally built to give users an optimal way to connect with friends or family. With that said, users are becoming more comfortable with B2B messaging on social media, but acceptance and engagement is still growing.

>>Lesson 1: Growth will be slow. If you have patience, you will develop an audience and engagement.

2) “A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.” (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory)

In social media, the messages, status updates, and tweets shared take on an informal tone. They abide by the relaxed vernacular and popular culture inherent to most social media channels. From a content perspective, this often causes anxiety for B2B brands, which typically employ a more serious, corporate tone. Let’s face it, B2B brands aren’t used to sounding “informal,” and this tone does not correlate with anything else they say or do. Everyday corp-speak can be interpreted as “boring” to audiences.

>>Lesson 2: Achieve a balance of formal and informal tone. If your content reads like mini press releases or has a review process of 60 days, you are essentially creating content that makes you THAT adult at the freshman college party. Let me tell you, you’re not “down with it.”

3) “You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.” (Inception)

A recent study on B2B content marketing showed that companies who experienced the most success utilized six or seven different social media channels. This highlights the importance of being “everywhere” (pun intended) for your target audience and the need for a sound budget. Using a greater quantity of channels requires bigger budgets and more staff or agency support, which are not always the easiest things to obtain. The research study also found that LinkedIn®, Twitter®, YouTube®, and SlideShare® were all more effective in B2B content marketing than Facebook®. Yet, Facebook remains the equivalent of an online license or passport, meaning you simply do not exist to some people unless you have one, and the fact remains that many users search for businesses on Facebook.

>>Lesson 3: Set expectations from the beginning. Your business must use multiple social media platforms, and your executive leadership team must understand that having advertising dollars set aside for paid social promotions is essential, which is an expectation that not all ELT members share. Unfortunately, your executive team, who might not personally participate in social media, has no clue regarding the amount of time community management of social media channels actually takes. It is critical for you to set expectations from the beginning so you do not strain your team. Such strain could ultimately affect the content’s strength, which will lead to slow growth and low acceptance of the brand by online users.

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There are plenty of other B2B social media best practices, but as the Joker says in The Dark Knight Rises,