You may be tired of hearing it, but social media strategey is a non-negotiable aspect of your business. Even if you think your financial services firm isn’t conducive to social media, all companies can benefit greatly from creating a social media strategy.
Social media helps generate leads, connect with customers, and can even be fun. An online presence can also create trust and strengthen relationships, building social capital for your company.
In a recent post on LinkedIn, B2C company, J.P. Morgan forecasted global economic trends. But the company took it a step further by relating it back to their customer, leading potential clients to find out and more and possibly look into their services.
B2B payment company Square is active on social media, promoting its podcast, announcing environmental initiatives, and sharing relevant small business memes.
Square also retweeted an employee testimonial that gives customers insight on its company culture — a tactic that can be more effective than an advertisement.
There are an endless amount of ideas for social media, you just have to find what works for your company.
Planning business-to-business (B2B) social media strategies starts with setting your goals and choosing which networks to use. From there, you can decide the best tactics for professional networking and how to engage with those platforms.
Social media isn’t the same as advertising, and it’s more than just selling products or services. But it doesn’t have to be intimidating or just your marketing department’s area of expertise. Find the right B2B social media strategies for your company and watch your network grow.
Keep reading to learn:
- Why you should set goals to determine your social media plan
- How to use social media for professional networking
- How to establish your brand on social media
- What other departments to get involved with social media
- Why you need a content calendar for social media
Set Goals for Social Media and How You’ll Measure Them
Setting goals is important. Beyond choosing an endpoint for your efforts, setting goals can help you decide which social media platform will best suit your needs.
If you’re looking for more leads or want to target specific audiences, LinkedIn can help. LinkedIn is also an essential tool for recruitment for companies including B2B financial firms and financial advisors. A condensed network provides more opportunities — smaller barrel, more fish.
If you want to establish your brand and share photos, then Instagram will be the best choice. Twitter lets you engage with customers and share bite-sized updates from your company.
When you decide on your tactics, make sure to start monitoring your social media numbers to see which tactics work and which you need to adjust.
Professional Social Networking
Unlike sharing family photos on your personal Facebook page, professional social networking is for connecting with your customers and your industry. Just like networking, B2B social media lets you share your business’s successes, learn from others, and create partnerships.
LinkedIn is one of the best platforms for professional networking. Users on LinkedIn are business-minded and share similar goals. And LinkedIn has many of the same content features as other platforms, so consider prioritizing it in your B2B social media strategy.
You can also use LinkedIn tools like Showcase Pages, which empowers you to spotlight different departments or projects you’re working on. Adobe has Showcase Pages for each of its subsets including Creative Cloud and Experience Cloud.
Get involved in financial industry activities and share relevant updates. Social media gives businesses the chance to establish themselves as experts in their industry. Show off your expertise and the ways your company is working to advance your field.
Post about your latest event or conferences you attended. Aim to start a conversation and make connections.
Social Media Is Active and Reciprocal
Think of social media as a conversation. If someone responds to you in real life, you wouldn’t want to ignore them. Be active in the exchange of information instead of just posting at your audience.
Twitter is an excellent option for conversing with other brands and posting clickable content.
Content is one of the best ways to get involved with social media. Create and share content that interests your audience. Social media trends for B2B see authenticity and targeting your posts at specific groups as two ways to get ahead.
Don’t be afraid to interact with other businesses for professional networking. It can feel strange to call attention to another company, but there are other benefits like building community and sharing knowledge. As part of its #TalksAtGS series, Goldman Sachs invited an employee from its competitor Morgan Stanley to talk about the digital investing landscape. Both companies were able to discuss trends in their industry that affect their colleagues and customers.
Social media also gives you the chance to listen to your customers. They can provide valuable feedback that could change your products or the way you operate. Lend an ear and listen to what customers have to say. It will make them feel valued.
Plus, social media helps to reach the next generation of clients, who are much more active than previous generations. By actively participating in social channels, financial firms and banks are more successful at reaching these potential customers and anticipating their needs.
Also, if a business or customer could benefit from your services, you can reach out and make that connection. Social media strategy levels the playing field and introduces you to new customers you might have never reached.
You can also alert customers of other services you provide. Financial service Klarna frequently responds to customers and solves their problems by steering them to solutions through their service.
Meltwater Social took a chance to jump on a potential conversion when it read Tweets about its competitors.
Get Multiple Departments Involved in Social Media
Marketing isn’t the only department that should be active in your company’s B2B social media strategy. Not only will including other departments increase teamwork across your company, but your online presence will thrive with different perspectives and aspects of your work.
Business units that can contribute include:
- Sales: The sales staff can talk about products, network with leads, or share insights about the industry.
- Support: Customers go to social media when they need service. Have a member of your customer service team there to help your customers.
- Executives: People like to hear from the management of companies. Share a message from the CEO or have a C-level executive shed expertise on an industry topic.
Establish Your Brand With a Social Media Strategy
Visuals are crucial for social media. Have a separate B2B Instagram strategy because Instagram can help improve your business’s online presence with photos and video.
Even if your business doesn’t provide the most exciting visuals, there are several ways to establish your brand:
- Tell stories
- Create graphics sharing information
- Do videos with Q&A sessions
- Post customer testimonials
Whether you want to present a clean, sleek image or show an active community involvement, Instagram and other social media platforms can help customers get to know you better.
Create a B2B Social Media Content Calendar
Social media can be a lot to juggle, and it’s much easier to plan your B2B social media strategies ahead of time. Decide what you’ll do on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis so you can be prepared.
A calendar will help you cultivate your content ahead of time and decide on the frequency you want to post. It will also help you anticipate significant events. If you have a new product out in six months, you can plan out a promotional campaign.
Designate someone or a team to monitor your accounts and keep your strategy updated. You can also set check-ins to revisit your goals. Look at your metrics to measure your progress and adjust accordingly.
Final Thoughts: Professional Financial Services Networking With B2B Social Media Strategies
Social media is a vital part of business in the modern world. Professional networking can provide endless opportunities for your financial firm to grow and gain social capital.
Be active on the platforms you use and engage with customers and other businesses. Post content that people care about and use social media to establish your brand. Set goals and create a content calendar to manage your future posts.
If you want to improve your social media presence, contact Gate 39 Media to discuss an approach.
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