Navigating advertising options on social media is increasingly becoming more and more complicated. There are an abundance of segmentations to define and factors to weigh. Even with improved targeting features, social media advertising is still primarily being conducted by B2C brands. So how do B2B brands use social media ads to get in front of the right people?
Ian Mackie, Director of Social Media Advertising from Point It agency, joined us this week and offered his insight and advice on social advertising strategies for B2B companies.
Pay Attention to Your Audience
Using paid advertising on social gives you the ability to extensively specify who you want to see your messaging. Different consumers and demographics prefer different social networks. Be sure to cater your messaging to how individuals behave on each channel, but do create ads that are branded cohesively and can be easily recognized.
A1: Depends on what you're measuring of course! For purely lead gen, social can outperform other channels … if done right. #sproutchat
— Ian Mackie (@socialadditiv) February 17, 2016
A1: Must develop a plan ahead of time, don't wing it. Create content for your audience unique to the platform you're using #sproutchat
— Ian Mackie (@socialadditiv) February 17, 2016
A1: Use social ad campaigns to build a targeted audience that you can then remarket to via other channels #sproutchat
— Ian Mackie (@socialadditiv) February 17, 2016
A1 Depending on platform, you have an opportunity to segment to a very specific audience which other media outlets can't offer. #sproutchat
— Kapil (@KapilJekishan) February 17, 2016
@sprout_sarah A1: Paid social has rich engagement metrics. I think it's easier to tell a story with them than other channels. #sproutchat
— Sarah Reece (@SarahTheAdGirl) February 17, 2016
Determine Which Content Resonates Best
Focus on creating, curating and distributing content that appeals to your audience. Whether that content is a white paper, guide, infographic, video or blog post. The content that performs best and solicits the most action organically should be the content that you invest in. Avoid clickbait messaging and imagery, remain honest and straightforward in representing where your ads are linking to. When in doubt, keep your spend low and test different tactics to see which generates the most quality leads.
Make sure you understand the value of different pieces of content so you can optimize accordingly #sproutchat
https://t.co/gfduLLcF2L— Ian Mackie (@socialadditiv) February 17, 2016
A2: We use a combo of email, paid social and PPC to push our messages. It seems to do the trick! #sproutchat https://t.co/6gwj1j1iMD
— Maureen Jann (@MaureenOnPoint) February 17, 2016
A2. B2B marketing cycle is loooooonng. Usually PPC drives first contact, then you use social to retarget, email to lead nurture. #SproutChat
— Nathan Young (@notnathan) February 17, 2016
A2: It really depends on where your audience is. You need to target them on the platforms they're most active! #sproutchat
— Express Writers (@ExpWriters) February 17, 2016
A3) A good rule of thumbs: Good ad content includes content that is relevant & consistent with your brand & your audience. #sproutchat
— Charleigh Kennedy (@char6529) February 17, 2016
Solidify KPI’s & Establish a Video Strategy
B2C and B2B brands alike are still struggling to develop and measure video. Before venturing into the medium, solidify your KPI’s and remember that views aren’t the most telling metric. Instead, look for actions such as:
- What is the clickthrough rate?
- How long are people watching this video for?
- Are people actively commenting and sharing this?
Video for B2B must be informative but should also entertain and give viewers a reason to take the time to fully vet the message or opportunity. Starting the conversation with social media publishing tools can help you get off on the right foot with B2B interactions.
A5: Yes & no. It's great to see the views add up, but you need to understand % of video watched, when are they dropping off, etc #sproutchat
— Ian Mackie (@socialadditiv) February 17, 2016
A5: Know if viewers are clicking thru to your website. Create video remarketing audiences & remarket w/ lead gen ad #sproutchat
— Ian Mackie (@socialadditiv) February 17, 2016
#sproutchat A5 – views aren't a useful metric alone. lots of potential user motivations for views that don't necessarily = brand engagement.
— Andrew Peron (@andrew_peron) February 17, 2016
A5: Depends on the goa. If video views = end goal then yes. Though @wistia offers a CTA feature to add in videos for lead gen #sproutchat
— Aaron Lumnah (@aaronlumnah) February 17, 2016
A5. Look at when people drop off, otherwise I don't focus too much on views. Engagement and conversion is far more important #SproutChat
— Rasmus Hallgren (@rasmushallgren) February 17, 2016
A5: Video views are fine but often skewed. Did videos auto start? How far into the video did they go? #sproutchat
— Chris Barrows (@CBarrows) February 17, 2016
Join us next week for #SproutChat as we discuss best practices for using Twitter Search Operators. Join our Facebook community to stay informed on weekly topics and to connect with the community.
This post #SproutChat Recap: Social Media Ads for B2B originally appeared on Sprout Social.
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