B2C vs. B2B Social Media Marketing

October 11, 2018 By Stats Digital

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past ten years or so, you already know what a big deal social media has become in our modern society—although, to be fair, “big deal” might be an understatement. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have connected us in ways we never imagined before. However, they’re not just being used to connect friends. They are also useful in connecting businesses and customers, as well as businesses and other businesses. Marketing that is done on these platforms has evolved almost as quickly as the platforms themselves, but what are the differences between business to customer and business to business social media marketing for your San Diego company?

Platforms

One of the most stark contrasts between B2C and B2B that marketers have found in the social media world is the platforms that are most effective for each approach. B2C marketers usually focus their strategies on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter because the types of content they produce fit these platforms the best. On the other hand, B2B uses Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin, with the latter being the most important to B2B marketing on social media. Because B2B marketers focus on not only engagement, but distributing content as well, LinkedIn is the most direct way to connect businesses to other businesses, especially when the Discussion Groups feature is used.

Goals

Not surprisingly, B2C and B2B both have different goals for their marketers to achieve. For B2C, the primary goal is going viral. If a status, picture, or video goes viral, that means increased brand awareness, so their objective is completed. Meanwhile, B2B is mainly focused on generating leads, and that means building, driving, and maintaining web traffic. They want their content to be seen by potential buyers who will feel engaged with their business.

Content

Lastly, these two approaches differ on the types of content they usually leverage. B2C is not much different than normal activity on these platforms, as their content usually includes everything from statuses to pictures to videos. While B2B can certainly leverage those forms of content, they also can work within media that B2C usually doesn’t fit into, including case studies, white papers, and webinars. All of these are effective for lead generation.

Let’s face it: Facebook, Twitter, and all the other social media websites like them are not going away any time soon. It is in the best interest of your business to adapt to what these platforms offer and leverage them as much as you can. Hopefully, this rundown of the usual strategies involved with social media marketing can help your San Diego company connect with other businesses effectively.