6 Subtle Ways Social Media Impacts Client Experience
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Millions of businesses use social media as a marketing tool to engage with others and promote their brands online. B2B companies are no different, and should be working hard on their social media strategies to boost profit margins and give clients the best possible experience. This very minute, around 30 million Facebook messages are being sent and 350,000 tweets are being published. This shows just how important social channels are in our lives right now. Social media is changing how we do business, so it’s important to build a strong brand presence online to meet your clients’ needs. Find out how social media impacts your clients’ experience of your brand, and ways in which you can master your social strategy for the best possible results.
1. Social Media as a Point of Contact
Just like in our social lives, social media keeps the business world connected. And for those working in a B2B market, social media is a core component for remaining connected to clients, even outside of work hours. Social media has an organic feel to it that many other mediums cannot compete with: it shows your client that you are authentic and trustworthy (depending on what you put out there).
Aside from your website, social channels such as LinkedIn are one of the first places that new clients will look before they get in contact. As a B2B company, your social media game needs to be strong in order to positively impact client experience.
2. Building Confidence for Long Term Relationships
B2B companies are all about building strong long-term relationships with clients. It takes commitment and hard work to establish a lifelong relationship with clients to secure ongoing business. B2B companies need to offer clients a top-notch experience through all levels of communication during the relationship. Being active on your social media channels means clients feel supported throughout their time working with you because they can reach you whenever they need to.
Active social media channels also give clients the chance to socialize with you on social media, which builds friendly relationships that help business deals flourish.
Don’t burn bridges with ex-clients. Social media gives you the opportunity to stay in touch with clients long after you have stopped working with them, which could potentially bring you more business at a later date.
3. B2B Social Media for Ecommerce
B2B ecommerce stores are set to grow to $6.7 trillion in gross merchandise value by 2020, according to Forbes. Wholesale stores can be a great newfound revenue stream, even for those that already run an online store.
Image credit: Teroforma
Take Teroforma, for example. Using an out-of-the-box online store builder, Teroforma has been able to incorporate their B2C ecommerce store to include wholesale products, depending on who is using their website. They can then leverage their established social media accounts to serve their new B2B clients and maximize their commercial potential.
Social media is imperative for ecommerce brands because their audience resides online. Many customers are searching for customer reviews, comparing prices with other companies, and, of course, viewing social profiles before they commit to buying a specific product. Make sure that you create ‘social proof’ around your B2B store in the form of reviews, shares, and testimonials. Seeing a real client recommendation on social is a very compelling sales tool.
4. Social promotion for B2B
Social media isn’t only useful for engaging new clients and building strong relationships with existing ones. They can be used to leverage a completely new audience through your own social channels. Let’s say that you are working with a client who needs a helping hand with their social media strategy — you can leverage your own loyal followers to give them an extra boost.
This works both ways. Whatever your client has requested, it’s a huge gesture to mention their brand name in a post, or give them a shout-out. This helps to build strong relationships that last a lifetime.
Perhaps the most important distinction to make between B2C and B2B social media marketing is that B2C will want to reach customers to sell their brand, using popular channels like Instagram and Twitter. B2B companies will want to target other social channels that will connect them with the right people, like LinkedIn and Facebook. Utilizing the appropriate social media channels is important to engage the right kind of customers and clients.
5. Authenticity in Client Experience
Social media is one of the most organic ways for clients to get to know your B2B company. It automatically shows your authenticity to both current and future clients. Boost client experience by being active on all social media channels; if a client asks you a question via social media, then it pays to be active and attentive with a fast response rate. Even if you are unsure of the answer, send them a quick message back to direct your client to the right department. Don’t just ignore them or send out an automated reply because this will damage client experience.
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6. Show Off Your Social Skills
Think about it: if your B2B company works in digital and offers marketing services to other companies, then your own social profiles are an advertisement for your social marketing skills. If your Twitter feed has been bone dry since last Christmas, and you only have 100 followers, then this isn’t going to make a good impression for your client. It will seem like you don’t understand your own offering, and this could ultimately lose your business.
If you are screaming from the rooftops, proclaiming that you are a social media ninja, then you are going to have to practise what you preach to engage with clients.
Social media is intrinsic to what B2B companies do every single day, so they are in a great position to take advantage and wow their clients. B2B is all about building strong relationships that last. Client experience is what makes your B2B company successful online; promote a sense of trust to draw other businesses into your company. Strive to support clients through social media to offer them the best possible client experience.
- How to Improve Your Business with Customer Lifecycle Mapping - September 25, 2018
- 6 Subtle Ways Social Media Impacts Client Experience - June 12, 2017
