Social Media B2B

Here in the US, this past Friday marked the beginning of the retail holiday selling season. As more shoppers moved their purchases online, social media contributed to their choices of websites and their knowledge of the latest deals. Can social media help with B2B sales as we close out the year and head toward the holidays? Let’s look at some examples.

• If you sell enterprise software, does adding a Santa hat to your Twitter avatar help close those sales?
• If you provide business consulting services, does adding a holiday themed landing tab on your Facebook Page bring in end of the year business?
• If you sell forklifts to warehouse operations large and small, will a holiday video convert to sales of new forklifts?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you haven’t been paying enough attention to this site and you need to go back and read more posts. Social media success in B2B is not about a single tactic, or even a single themed action, but it is just like B2B sales. It is based on the long term building of relationships. Each of the above examples can contribute to sales if they are in the context of larger activities and are part of the relationship building process.
• Adding some holiday cheer to an active Twitter account where you communicate regularly with your customers and prospects can help humanize your enterprise software company and contribute to closing sales.
• Create an engaging holiday themed landing tab on your Facebook Page for your business consulting services and encourage customers to share holiday stories. This building of community strengthens ties to your business and between customers.
• Create a fun holiday video of your employees rather than mail a traditional card. Many of your customers may see the people they communicate with by phone or email for the first time. This is another way to improve your relationship with your customers, show the human side of your company and provide another touchpoint for your sales force.

What are some ways you are reaching out to your customers with social media this holiday season?




Jeffrey L. Cohen is the Managing Editor of SocialMediaB2B.com. Follow Jeff on Twitter at @jeffreylcohen.