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TikTok Marketing Strategy: Do You Need It For Your Business?

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With more than 1.2 billion daily users, TikTok has become a social media phenomenon. Self-described as the leading destination for “short-form mobile video,” a significant 47 percent of its users are under 30 (with nearly 25 percent under the age of 20). Its popularity is prompting companies to ask if they should position their brands with this audience. Unlike other social platforms, TikTok’s algorithm rewards its content first (instead of building a follower base and having only a fraction served your content). Since you do not need to have followers for your content to be seen, this gives brands a big opportunity to get their “tiktoks” in front of their target audience. If you are looking for a way to increase brand awareness and engagement, while also building a loyal following within a young audience segment, TikTok might be right for your brand. But like any social platform, it is critical to have the right knowledge and right strategy in place. Is TikTok Right for B2B Marketing? The truth is, there is no definitive “yes or no” answer to this question. Just like any social platform, it is critical to have the right knowledge and strategy in place. Organizations and marketers should be asking key questions regarding goals and objectives they wish to achieve, and develop a marketing strategy to support them. Here are some things to consider: • Who is your target audience? Do you see potential overlap with the TikTok demographics? • Authenticity and creativity lead the way on TikTok, versus scripted or polished video content. Is your brand comfortable thinking “outside your current creative box?” Videos on TikTok are meant to be entertaining, engaging and personal. Do you/your marketing team have the bandwidth to create such content? • People rule over brands, meaning individuals producing content tend to be more popular than actual brand accounts. Many companies are finding success with TikTok by partnering with influencers or participating in hashtag challenges. • Do you have a brand standard or persona? Brands who lean more “traditional” or employ a more serious tone of voice may have more of a challenge embracing TikTok’s quirkier content. • The TikTok algorithm rewards those posting multiple times a day. This can be a challenge for many brands who may already be struggling to create relevant content just 1-3 times weekly. • Look at your current content on your other social channels. What is resonating with your audience? Do you have a blog? You may be in a good position to creatively repurpose that content into “snackable,” entertaining bits for TikTok. Think short and sweet, videos less than 60 seconds are favored. Advertising on TikTok TikTok provides five options for advertising, including sponsoring a branded hashtag challenge and in-feed video ads. Within their ad manager (you must register and create an account), you can select audience targets or create custom audiences. Advertising costs on TikTok typically start at around $10 per CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions), with a minimum campaign spend of $500. High-impact format ads like TopView ads can be significantly more expensive, with costs varying depending on targeting, format, duration and competition. We recommend you check with TikTok for current pricing on premium ad formats. You will recall that the majority of TikTok users are Millennials and Generation Z, so consider this before investing if your demographics do not align. The Long and Short of It It is important to note that just because a social media platform is popular, it does not necessarily mean it is right for your business. For manufacturing and tech companies, many of which have limited marketing resources, platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter may make more sense. Remember that social media requires strategy and commitment to quality content. If you have limited bandwidth, choose a platform or two to start, and serve those audiences first. TikTok is likely here to stay, which means you can watch, learn, and research if the platform is right for your organization. Power Up Your Social Strategy If you’re looking for a B2B marketing agency partner who can help you with your TikTok marketing strategy and/or social media strategy, contact us today. Stifel Marcin – The B2B Marketing Agency Unlike many advertising and marketing agencies, B2B isn’t just something that we do, it’s all we do. We’ll work to help your brand achieve its goals through the strategic combination of creativity, communication and technology. Our focused client intake processes give us the ability to thoroughly understand your business, products and objectives, working to identify the competitive advantages and opportunities that will grow awareness, leads and sales. We develop innovative marketing plans with strategic, data-driven processes, presenting complex ideas and compelling messages that position your business ahead of the competition. As your cooperative partner, our integrated B2B marketing agency is dedicated to your success. Learn more about our social media marketing services and let’s talk.

Just Say No: Why Your Business Should Not Buy Social Media Likes or Followers

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If you’re on social media, you’ve likely seen comments in posts or ads in your feed touting the benefits of buying likes or followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other platforms. “Grow your following instantly!” “Get 1,000 real followers affordably!” As the old saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And this is no exception. While the lure of a higher follower count with the click of a mouse can be tempting, we’re here with six reasons why your business should not buy social media likes or followers: 1. Your Engagement Rate Will Suffer At the end of the day, it’s not your follower count that matters most. Rather it’s the quality of engagement with your followers that’s critical. If you purchase followers, yes, your follower number will rise, but the vast majority will be fake or bot accounts. Social media is meant to be a two-way street. Genuine engagement helps your business determine what your potential and current customers need and want, what their interests are, and how you can be of service. Lots of followers but little engagement skews your data. And if your data isn’t reliable, how can you tell what your real followers are doing or what they need? Fake accounts will not interact authentically with your brand. They will not share posts with their networks, they won’t leave meaningful comments on your feed for you to respond too. Offline they won’t be telling friends or family about your brand because they are in fact fake. There are services that offer to connect you with real followers. But what good is “real” follower if they have no interest in your brand and its offerings? They still won’t engage with your posts, which means your overall engagement rate lowers and your posts risk not showing up on newsfeeds or in discovery feeds to the people you really do want to reach. The takeaway: lots of followers but no interactions can mean the platform algorithm will actually penalize your future content, limiting organic reach. 2. It Lowers Credibility Social media users today are savvy and want to know they are interacting with a business who has their best interests in mind. Many followers are quick to notice an account with thousands of followers but little to no engagement on posts (or lots of spam…more on that below). Organic growth happens because of trust, credibility and a belief that your content is valuable. If followers can tell you buy social media likes and follows, your once loyal followers may jump ship for another brand’s social accounts. 3. Your Account Could Be Banned All social media platforms have terms of service agreements, and as a business/user, you agreed to those terms when you set up your account(s). If you buy social media likes and followers, you are likely in violation of their community rules. Facebook, Instagram and others are cracking down on fake accounts. According to Statista, Facebook took action against 1.7 billion fake accounts (yes, read that again…1.7 billion fake accounts in one quarter alone). If they feel your site has broken its rules, real consequences, like your account being suspended or even banned, can occur. It’s simply not worth the risk. 4. No One Likes Spam We’ve all seen the spam comments that flood social posts, leading to a very irritating scroll if you’re genuinely interested in the real comments. In many cases, these are bot comments from fake accounts. If your actual followers continually see nothing but a bunch of statements like “The first five people to message me wins $5,000!” or “I’m paying $100 to the first 10 people to DM me,” you may just lose them. If you buy social media likes or followers, be prepared for the spam that comes with it. 5. Think about Account Safety This is an important consideration that should not be overlooked. When you buy social media likes or followers, you have no idea who is behind the actual accounts or their intentions, leaving your social media handles open to hacking or viruses. Having an account hacked is the nightmare that keeps any social media manager awake at night. It can take weeks, even months, to reclaim an account and in the meantime, your real followers might be seeing fake content with your brand name and image or perhaps nothing at all, as your account may just go dark. 6. It’s a Waste of Marketing Dollars While follower services will promise big returns for very little money, in the end it’s a waste of money if those new “followers” bring no value to your community. There are far better ways to earmark your marketing budget for social media, such as targeted paid ads, strategic content marketing and more, that will pay dividends in engagement, brand loyalty and yes, organic growth. When you work with a social media marketing agency like Stifel Marcin, you can leverage the full capabilities of different platforms to connect with customers, growing your influence and your sales. Grow Your Following the Right Way Organic growth takes time. And that’s okay! It’s better to have 500 truly interested and engaged followers than 50,000 who don’t care about your business and its products/services at all. Don’t focus just on vanity metrics. Instead of buying followers, think first about how you can provide value to your potential audience. What solutions can you offer to help solve their problems? Engage and then engage again. Check out our posts about B2B social media best practices and 4 tips to leverage social media to increase your sales pipeline and brand loyalty for more ideas about how to grow your social media presence. Connect with Customers As a B2B social media marketing agency, we’ll work with you to develop comprehensive social media plans that tell your unique story, offering value to your customers and growing loyal brand followers. Contact us and see how we can power up your social media strategy. Stifel Marcin – The B2B Marketing Agency Unlike many advertising and marketing agencies, B2B isn’t just something that

Recruitment Marketing Videos: Effectively Attract and Retain Talent

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While Zoom and other video conferencing apps have become a part of everyday life, valuable lessons continue to be realized regarding recruitment marketing videos and the impact on finding and retaining quality employee talent. With a large pool of job seekers, including new Gen Z talent, and employees feeling the strain of pandemic life, video marketing is proven to be an effective tool in a company’s marketing (and human resources) arsenal. Stats You Need to Know: • According to Careerbuilder, “users who embraced the power of recruitment marketing videos achieved a 34 percent uptick in application rates.”• Properly optimized and disseminated, video can drive organic search by nearly 160 percent, helping you to reach qualified candidates.• Sharing video on social platforms can exceed text/image sharing by nearly 120 percent, providing powerful opportunity to reach additional talent. Increase Your Recruitment Funnel and Improve the Application Process Standing out in a competitive hiring marketplace is a critical first step to leverage video content. A recent survey found that nearly 31 percent of HR professionals find it challenging to tell interesting stories about “boring topics,” including writing compelling job descriptions and postings. Recruitment marketing videos can help change the narrative quickly from “boring” to “intriguing” if a candidate is able to hear directly from a manager, team lead and/or recruiter – or if they can see what your workplace environment is like. Grab a candidate’s attention using engaging video content that makes them think “I want to know more about that organization.” Remember that a smart digital marketing recruitment campaign will already be targeting those who match your ideal candidate criteria. So, when your ad does serve to that audience, make sure you get their attention. Savvy job seekers will also be searching your website and social media channels to learn more about your company and culture. Use video to showcase employee testimonials and information important to today’s candidates like corporate commitment to diversity, benefits, and company values. Pro tip: make sure your recruitment marketing videos are optimized for mobile devices. Consider further enhancing the candidate experience by using video communication during the application process. A pre-recorded video to thank a job seeker for reaching out, or a video to communicate about next steps in the hiring process after an interview, especially to a final candidate, can go a long way to make your company stand out positively. Enhance the New Employee On-Boarding Experience Once an employee joins your company, the recruitment process has not ended! Video from HR, company leaders and division/department team members can help employees quickly learn more about their new professional environment. Remember, some employees may be working remotely, so opportunities to “chat around the watercooler” decrease. Cue the stat above about “boring topics.” While a new employee can easily become overwhelmed by long employee handbook content, new HR policies and more, video can help distill the information into more entertaining and easily digestible bites, helping new hires acclimate more quickly. And those videos that you added to your website about company culture, benefits and more (see above) do double-duty here! Videos can help remind your workforce exactly why they work there, and how. Champion Company Culture and Stewardship With a hybrid of remote and in-person work likely here to stay, video is a great way to stay connected to employees across the organization. Use videos to: • Keep employees informed about latest company updates (weekly or monthly).• Highlight employee milestones like anniversaries and awards.• Showcase the good work of employee volunteerism and activism.• Involve your employees by asking for video testimonials for use on your web site and/or social mediachannels. They will be likely to share the content to their own network, expanding your company’sreach to new, potential talent. We are Ready to Power Up Your Recruitment Marketing If you need some help developing a plan of action for how to begin or improve your recruitment marketing practices, we are here for you. Call (860) 659-0777 or contact us HERE. Stifel Marcin – The B2B Marketing Agency Unlike many advertising and marketing agencies, B2B isn’t just something that we do, it’s all we do. We’ll work to help your brand achieve its goals through the strategic combination of creativity, communication and technology. Our focused client intake processes give us the ability to thoroughly understand your business, products and objectives, working to identify the competitive advantages and opportunities that will grow awareness, leads and sales. We develop innovative marketing plans with strategic, data-driven processes, presenting complex ideas and compelling messages that position your business ahead of the competition. As your cooperative partner, our integrated B2B marketing agency is dedicated to your success. If you’re looking for a trusted agency partner to help elevate your recruitment marketing videos or overall strategy, we want to talk. Reach out today.

Social Media for Manufacturers: Four Tips to Increase Your Sales Pipeline and Brand Loyalty

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While many B2B product and service organizations have embraced social media as part of their marketing plan to build brand awareness, organizations often struggle to move beyond organic awareness building (talking just to their current followers) to forming a social media strategy that builds a targeted audience, generates leads and sales. Consider: 1. Provide Value When developing a social strategy, start with your audience. What demographics do you want to reach? What are their potential interests? A 2020 B2B Buyers Survey reports that “sixty-one percent of B2B buyers now involve more people in their purchase process than in years past.” With more potential eyes on your social media content, building a variety of customer personas is a valuable exercise. When developing content, many B2B companies go straight to selling mode, posting frequently about their products and services without much thought to WHY the reader should care. Often potential buyers and/or general searchers are looking to find information on a problem they need solved. Promotional posts serve a purpose, but don’t forget to offer your audience your unique views on HOW your product or service can solve their problem. When in doubt, ask yourself “is this content providing the reader value?” Looking for value-add content ideas? Turn to your blog posts, industry news, posts from thought-leaders, and web site articles.Consider the 80-20 rule: 80 percent of your content should inform/educate/entertain versus 20 percent being more sales/promotional focused. 2. Diversify Your Content GIFS, video and infographics…and more! When it comes to B2B marketing, many will argue that the subject matter can be dry. With two decades of B2B marketing experiences, we know that thinking is totally wrong, but it’s still important to come up with creative ways to present what is often technical, detailed information. Think of ways to visually make the content more appealing. Utilize video featuring subject matter experts or voice-over, use infographics to present data, and don’t be afraid to experiment with GIFS to “stop the scroll.” A potential buyer might be coming to your LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter page and scrolling through recent posts, so diversified visuals help tell your story and make for a more interesting user experience. 3. Engage, Engage, and Then Engage Again To seek out new potential leads and to begin the process of long-term relationship building, engage beyond “likes” and shares on your own profiles. Community management is critical (80 percent of customers expect a business to respond to their social media posts within 24 hours). Go where your buyers are and engage in conversation. Join groups and follow hashtags on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn and converse with those posting about like-minded topics. 4. Utilize Organic and Paid When developing your social strategy, consider paid posts as well (via boosting an organic post or developing an ad). While organic posts will reach a percentage of your followers, paid social media marketing allows for audience targeting (think location, demographic, interests). Additionally, A/B testing of paid ads – to see what content and images resonate with your target audience – can be useful before launching campaigns on a larger scale. Power Up Your Social Media As a marketing agency focused solely on B2B markets, we understand how to maximize B2B social media opportunities for clients. We can tell your story, reach a new audience, help support workforce growth and use Big Data to speak to those customers you have never been able to reach. Contact us today and let Stifel Marcin power up your social media. Stifel Marcin – The B2B Marketing Agency Unlike many advertising and marketing agencies, B2B isn’t just something that we do, it’s all we do. We’ll work to help your brand achieve its goals through the strategic combination of creativity, communication and technology. Our focused client intake processes give us the ability to thoroughly understand your business, products and objectives, working to identify the competitive advantages and opportunities that will grow awareness, leads and sales. We develop innovative marketing plans with strategic, data-driven processes, presenting complex ideas and compelling messages that position your business ahead of the competition. As your cooperative partner, our integrated B2B marketing agency is dedicated to your success. Our experienced team can help increase the effectiveness and value of your social media marketing. Fill out our contact form above and let’s talk.

What the Evolution of Facebook Means for Marketers

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The not-so-well-kept secret is out, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook (the corporation, not the social media platform) has been renamed “Meta.” Meta will serve as the overarching parent brand for its two operating streams, including its “Family of Apps” (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger) and its “Reality Labs,” which will house and evolve virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies. As detailed by Facebook Connect 2021: “The metaverse will feel like a hybrid of today’s online social experiences, sometimes expanded into three dimensions or projected into the physical world. It will let you share immersive experiences with other people even when you can’t be together – and do things together you couldn’t do in the physical world.” Are You Ready for the Metaverse? While there are many opinions regarding the overall re-brand and re-structure of Facebook, there is no arguing that Facebook is setting its sights on a vision for an enhanced digital communications and technology space, known as the “metaverse.” While Facebook notes that “the metaverse is a ways off, but parts of it are already here,” it poses the question to marketers: how are we preparing for a metaverse environment? With the onset of COVID and increase in remote operations, many brands have had to digitize – ramping up their video, creating new interactive communications, designing virtual presentations and increasing the usage and sophistication of social media platforms to reach audiences. While this may feel new for some companies that had a more traditional marketing approach, really, these tactics have been available for some time. Many leading brands had already created these materials for their marketing teams years ago. For some time, we’ve been helping clients build internal websites, develop HR portals, create strategic social media campaigns, and design videos and presentations. Many B2B companies have already integrated virtual training and simulated situations into normal business operations, like those that use Google Glass on the shop floor or conduct global training via virtual platforms. Marketers need to have that tech-first mindset as well during strategy planning. The coming “metaverse” means, as marketers, we must do what we always do: put ourselves in the mind of our target audience. How can we streamline our communications? How can we improve the digital sales funnel? What can we do to compel audiences and engage them? What messaging and brand positions will resonate with today’s customers? Unlike ever before, today’s audiences expect amazing digital experiences, and immersive, engaging communications. Customer patience for a poor digital experience gets lower every day. Customer expectations for exciting communications that engage them – no matter where they are physically – continues to grow. What Marketing Assets Will Be Essential for Metaverse Thinking? We partner with B2B brands to develop custom marketing strategies, and each and every brand has unique challenges and goals, which marketing should reflect. That being said, there are some assets that should be top-of-mind as we develop new prioritizations and plans. A few items your brand might need for the metaverse: Modernize Your B2B Marketing Companies want to know they are partnering with agencies and marketing professionals who are adaptable, leaders in creative ideation and on trend with the latest marketing options, including VR and AI (artificial intelligence). As marketers, we must continue to rise to the challenge to produce the best possible outcomes for both our clients and their customers. It’s critical to remember that while technology continues to evolve, people-centric strategies to solve for their unique challenges never goes out of style. Thinking about how you can evolve your long-term marketing strategies in a new metaverse world? We’d like to talk. Contact us (or fill out the form on this page) and we’ll be in touch to schedule an in-person or virtual meeting to help you power up your marketing today and tomorrow. Stifel Marcin – The B2B Marketing Agency Unlike many advertising and marketing agencies, B2B isn’t just something that we do, it’s all we do. We’ll work to help your brand achieve its goals through the strategic combination of creativity, communication and technology. Our focused client intake processes give us the ability to thoroughly understand your business, products and objectives, working to identify the competitive advantages and opportunities that will grow awareness, leads and sales. We develop innovative marketing plans with strategic, data-driven processes, presenting complex ideas and compelling messages that position your business ahead of the competition. As your cooperative partner, our integrated B2B marketing agency is dedicated to your success. If you want to learn more about how recruitment marketing can help your company, we’re here for you. Our marketing experts keep up-to-date on the issues and changes impacting social media today. Learn about our proven social media solutions.

Digital B2B Advertising Platforms: Which Ones are Right for Your Business?

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With Americans spending an average of 10+ hours a day logging screen time (4+ hours of that on a mobile device), savvy marketers have increased digital marketing tactics, serving their messages to prospective and current customers on those screens. As pay-per-click (PPC) advertising grows, your strategy not only needs compelling messages and stand-out visuals that grab attention, but thoughtful decisions about when and where those ads should appear. With several B2B advertising platforms to choose from, you may be wondering which networks will best fulfill your marketing goals. Let’s explore the most popular B2B advertising platforms and their benefits: Google Ads® Without a doubt, Google is the most popular search engine in the world, making it a likely choice among B2B advertising platforms to include in your overall PPC strategy. Google offers a large range of targeting options to help ensure you’re reaching your right audience, including, but not limited to: · Demographics· Search history· Interests· Life events Along with these targeting options come types of ad choices as well. Depending on your business’ overall goals, either of these ad types (or a combination of both) can be beneficial: Google Search Network serves text advertisements that include a URL link, title and description at the top or bottom of search engine result pages (SERP) based on the keywords of a user’s query. For instance, a Google search of “online car sales” displayed this ad for Carvana® at the top of SERP results. Ads can appear across multiple Google sites, including Google Play, Google Shopping, Google Images and more. Utilizing Google Search Partners, your ad can also show on a number of Google/Alphabet-owned websites when a user conducts a related search. It’s important to note that these ads only show to users who are searching for a particular product/service or looking for an answer to a specific question. Google Display Network showcases visual “display” ads as opposed to text-only advertisements. Unlike search ads that only show on SERP, display ads can be served across Google sites, on social media, within email and on millions of webpages. When working with a skilled agency partner like Stifel Marcin, you will know your display ads are highly targeted, based on parameters mentioned above, serving to target audience personas more effectively. While running an ad on Google can seem simple, effectively advertising and monitoring campaigns, optimizing results and ensuring ROI is not. B2B advertising platforms like Google benefit (i.e. profit from) increasing advertisers, and driving up a company’s spend. Making it seem simple to set up a digital PPC campaign launch is in Google’s interests. As a certified Google Ads agency, our team has expertise in Google Ads marketing for the B2B market. See how our Google ads management service experts can craft a strategy for your business that meets your goals and maximizes ROI. Microsoft Advertising® (formerly Bing Ads®) With the visibility of Google, some marketers have overlooked Microsoft Advertising. While each business has unique needs and goals, we believe that in many instances, the thinking shouldn’t be “Google OR Bing,” but rather “Google AND Bing.” As a typical rule of thumb, B2B customers are on Bing. Consider that most employees use a company-issued PC that uses MS operating systems (including Bing as the default search engine). If your targets are people at these companies, you may find this search engine is a smart place to make an investment. Major benefits of Bing/Microsoft Ads include: · The ability to run a campaign not only on Bing, but on other Microsoft ownedproperties like AOL and Yahoo· Many targeting options, including location, demographics, time of day anddevice type· Less keyword competition, typically making the platform a more budget-friendly choice· Remarketing messaging to drive potential customers back to your website· A variety of advertising formats, including expanded text ads, multimedia adsand product ads· Leveraging LinkedIn data to help with targeting (Microsoft owns LinkedIn) If it aligns with your business goals, our Bing Ads management service can help you reach more users. Also, check out our article “Five Considerations for B2B Marketers Debating “Bing Ads vs GoogleAds” for more information. Native Ads Think of native ads as “non-disruptive” advertisements that blend in with the flow of the website page on which they appear. Often they have a more organic feel in the overall space, vs a traditional display ad that would appear at the top of a search or in a sidebar. In many cases the ad may look like editorial content. On a social feed, that may look like a sponsored carousel post. If you notice content that states it is “recommended” for you, you’re likely looking at a native ad. Native ads are a hot topic as marketers prepare for a cookieless world. B2B advertising platforms offering native advertising promote the ability to target audiences based on subject matter. Simply put, this approach would serv an ad with content related to the article. So, in the above example, if Carvana wanted to serve native ads, they might select a series of articles related to automotive topics. Social Media B2B Advertising Platforms Social media is increasingly critical to an integrated marketing plan. When used as part of a holistic, strategic plan, social media advertising can reap rewards in increased brand awareness, web traffic and leads and is a proven part of the B2B buyer journey. The ability to A/B test ads also offers insights into customer needs and wants. Of note – 75 percent of B2B buyers and 84 percent of C-level executives are influenced by social media when making purchasing decisions. Targeted social media advertising can position the right messages to the right audience at the right time. The B2B advertising platforms offered by social media sites are robust. And as we prepare for a cookieless future, they also provide marketers with a variety of valuable interest and profile data that can be used in targeting. Facebook® Facebook is one of the most widely used social media platforms, with an estimated 89 percent of U.S. B2B marketers using it for brand awareness, lead generation and more. With

The Power of Hashtags for B2B Social Media

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From its humble beginnings on Twitter in 2007, the hashtag has become so popular, the word itself is now used as a verb – #hashtagging. There is no denying that the hashtag is now an integral part of every social media platform. While commonly used in the B2C space, some B2B companies have yet to embrace the power of hashtags. Why Hashtags Should Be Part of Your B2B Social Media Strategy Targeted, focused and trackable, social media marketing can be an effective tool for B2B companies. When used strategically, hashtags can make content discoverable to your audience and non-followers alike, increasing engagement, attracting new leads, and increasing brand awareness.   Here are five tips to help you harness the power of hashtags: 1. Do Your Research Your brand has a target audience, and your hashtags should too. Researching industry-related hashtags, along with competitor posts and those of industry thought-leaders, are a great place to start. What is your target audience talking about? What hashtags are they engaging with? Examine social posts with high engagement and see if there are common hashtags included. Hashtag research also helps to identify brand advocates and potential influencers.  2. Be Purposeful It’s easy to think that simply adding a trending hashtag will get your posts noticed, but the truth is, when hashtags have millions of followers, the chance your post will be seen among the social noise is small. Similarly, a hashtag like #manufacturing is very generic and can be oversaturated. But if your niche is aerospace, including a more nuanced hashtag such as #aerospacemanufacturing may be a better option. Including targeted and specific hashtags can help you reach not only more people, but the right people. Branded hashtags should also be a consideration. Including a hashtag or two that are specifically created for your company and campaigns can help identify who is talking about your company and provide insight into company sentiment.  3. Think Quality Over Quantity and Plan Per Platform A commonly asked question is “how many hashtags should be included in our posts?” Each platform has its own recommendations based on its own data. There are a lot of varying answers, which is why it’s important to experiment. What works for one brand may not work for yours. It’s key to plan per platform – don’t just choose 10 hashtags and cut and paste them into all your social posts. Recent Twitter statistics say 1-2 hashtags in a tweet is ideal, as tweets following this strategy can see up to a 21 percent increase in engagement. On Facebook, where hashtags aren’t as common and may appear spammy, lead with a less-is-more approach. Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per post, but best practices show that is way too many. It’s important to look at each platform strategically and plan accordingly.   4. Embrace Hashtag Engagement Including hashtags and engaging with comments on your own posts is certainly important to a successful social presence. But remember that hashtags give you the ability to enter conversations and trending topics too. Follow relevant hashtags and look for opportunities to engage as your organization. Offer helpful tips and tools, industry insights, or words of encouragement to those in related fields. Strategic engagement takes time but can reap rewards by increasing brand awareness, turning those conversations into followers and customers. 5. Follow the Power of Hashtag Data Compiling a hashtag list is not a set-it-and-forget-it proposition. It’s critical to monitor and measure the performance of your hashtags. Analytics can help you identify the topics that are resonating with your audience, which posts are generating the most engagement and which hashtags might be best left off your list in the future.  Take advantage of hashtag tracking and look at the data regularly to help make informed decisions. If you don’t have the bandwidth to do it yourself, work with your agency partner to leverage the power of hashtags. We’re Ready to Power Up Your Social Media Marketing An important note to remember: hashtags should complement quality posts and content. Hashtags aren’t a magic bullet for gaining followers. They may help you get noticed, but content is king – it’s what’s going to get that reader to click follow or like. As a marketing agency focused solely on B2B, our team understands how to maximize B2B social media opportunities for clients. Connect with us – through our website or social platforms – and let’s start a conversation about the power of hashtags and taking your B2B social media strategy to the next level. Stifel Marcin – The B2B Marketing Agency Unlike many advertising and marketing agencies, B2B isn’t just something that we do, it’s all we do. We’ll work to help your brand achieve its goals through the strategic combination of creativity, communication and technology. Our focused client intake processes give us the ability to thoroughly understand your business, products and objectives, working to identify the competitive advantages and opportunities that will grow awareness, leads and sales. We develop innovative marketing plans with strategic, data-driven processes, presenting complex ideas and compelling messages that position your business ahead of the competition. As your cooperative partner, our integrated B2B marketing agency is dedicated to your success. If you want to learn more about how recruitment marketing can help your company, we’re here for you. Our social media marketing services can help elevate your strategy. Let’s get started.

B2B Social Media Best Practices

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With 84 percent of B2B decision-makers and buyers looking at social media during their purchasing journey, the importance of social media as part of an integrated and strategic marketing plan can’t be understated. Whether your organization is new to social media or is looking to improve engagement results and reach, here are five B2B social media best practices to help your business shine: 1. Carefully Select Your Social Media Footprint With so many social media options available today (TikTok, Clubhouse, Instagram…oh my!), it can be tempting to feel like your organization needs to be represented on every channel. It’s important to recognize that just because a social media platform is popular, doesn’t mean it’s right for your business. Each organization is different, with varying audiences and goals. What works for one business might not work for yours. A social media marketing agency can help you define your goals, target audience(s), KPIs and budget to develop a smart and sustainable plan that best suits the needs of your business. It is far better to be strategic and successful on one or two channels rather than trying to maintain five and falling short. 2. Be Engaged Social media is social! It’s simply not enough to post a video or photo and walk away. Community management is crucial. Be sure to take the time to answer questions or comments in a timely manner (both public messages in your feeds and private messages in your inbox). Use posts to ask questions of your audience and then respond. Social media at its core should be a two-way street. Follow relevant hashtags and find opportunities to engage in conversations about like-minded topics. 3. It’s About Them, Not You When developing your social content, always ask the question “why would my reader care about this?” It’s easy to self-promote with facts and information about your products (and that has its place) but it’s important to remember that buyers are typically turning to social media to hear from thought-leaders and find answers that help them solve a pain point. Your content should provide value to your reader, whether it’s to educate, inform or entertain (think infographics, articles, video demonstrations, etc.). At Stifel Marcin, we take this balance so seriously we even have a formula we use to evaluate our social mix. 4. Use Consistent Branding While the tone across channels can vary, your branding should not. Several studies show that even minor inconsistencies in branding can have a negative impact on brand loyalty, causing potential and current customers to lose trust in a brand. Your look and voice should be consistent across all digital channels, from your web site to your social media channels and other online profiles. Maintaining and controlling your brand ensures your organization is seen as reliable, professional, and dependable. Learn more about why your organization needs consistent brand standards here. 5. Evaluate and Measure Your Results Last, but certainly not least, on our list of B2B social media best practices is to decide which key performance indicators (KPIs) that you’d like to track (perhaps engagement is high on your list or clicks or shares). It’s important to set defined metrics and then evaluate them regularly so that you can see what’s working and where there are opportunities for improvement. Analytics can help you see what topics are resonating with your audience(s), which hashtags are generating traffic and what types of content your audience likes best (videos vs photos vs polls, etc.). If you don’t have the resources or bandwidth to track data regularly, working with a social media agency partner can be a wise investment. Let’s Power Up Your Social Media Stifel Marcin understands the unique needs and challenges of B2B organizations. We’re happy to talk with you about these B2B social media best practices, building a winning social media strategy and pay-per-click social media marketing to increase traffic, conversions and brand loyalty. Contact us and a member of our team will be in touch shortly. Stifel Marcin – The B2B Marketing Agency Unlike many advertising and marketing agencies, B2B isn’t just something that we do, it’s all we do. We’ll work to help your brand achieve its goals through the strategic combination of creativity, communication and technology. Our focused client intake processes give us the ability to thoroughly understand your business, products and objectives, working to identify the competitive advantages and opportunities that will grow awareness, leads and sales. We develop innovative marketing plans with strategic, data-driven processes, presenting complex ideas and compelling messages that position your business ahead of the competition. As your cooperative partner, our integrated B2B marketing agency is dedicated to your success. If you are looking to elevate your social media strategy, or want to discuss where to start, our experts are here for you. Reach out today.

5 Benefits of B2B Social Media Marketing

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While some business-to-business organizations may think it’s not for them, today’s digital age makes social media marketing an increasingly critical component of an integrated plan. If you are a manufacturer, part of an industrial organization, or you’re leading a B2B marketing initiative, you may be asking questions like “Is social marketing for us?” or “How do I get my company to understand the value of B2B social media marketing?”. We are here to help. Considering that the average person in the US spends over 10 hours a day in front of a screen, and 77 percent of people engage with social media platforms, it is almost illogical to not be doing social media marketing. Here are five benefits of B2B social media marketing, compiled by our team of marketing experts: 1. Support Your Brand A smart, well-planned social media presence supports an organization’s brand image. Much more than just news items and tradeshow events, good B2B social media marketing includes knowledge, expertise, benefit positions and more. Your social feed is a place for you to highlight the news and details you want your brand to stand for. And best of all, you get to define it and present it exactly how you want. Of course, supporting that brand means you are also prepared to address customer comments. It will take time to grow your followers, and fast support of your social profile is necessary to ensure a quality experience. You can’t “set it and forget it” with social media. Actively monitoring and maintaining them is just as important as being there. 2. Provide Value When considering the role of B2B social media marketing, it’s important to remember that a strategic newsfeed should create opportunities for education and engagement. By presenting current topics, informative articles and engaging discussions, you help establish trust and position your organization as a thought leader. Think about the pain points that a potential customer is trying to solve and provide information on your social feeds in a variety of ways to pique their interest and make them want to learn more (think videos, infographics, article links, etc.)  3. Stay Connected with Your Customers Daily engagement in many social media platforms is high, and that engagement stretches across age, role and gender demographics. The traditional concept that B2B social media marketing is only to target young engineers and consumers is no longer (if it ever was) relevant or accurate. It’s important to remember that today’s consumer requires 8+ touch points to convert to a lead. Make sure you are actively monitoring your comments, direct messages, relevant hashtags and mentions, and respond. It’s especially important to be responsive to questions, as 49 percent of consumers will unfollow a brand for poor customer service. Digital users expect a quick response, usually within 2-4 hours. 4. Give Your Organization a Personality Modern consumers are bombarded by messages, and quite often B2B companies have stiff competition from similar products and services in the marketplace. It’s important that your brand has a personality – something it stands for – giving a face to that organization. Personality allows consumers to make emotional connections with your company. These emotional connections are strong drivers in the sales process, and sometimes overlooked by B2B companies that have very detailed and technical differentiators. While we love to see a B2B organization having a little fun in their social media personality, emotional connections can be created many ways – demonstrated through positive experiences like community involvement, through presentation of corporate stewardship and work beyond the organization, or even by showing that the company is a nice place to work. Creating emotional connections is an important role of B2B social media marketing and could very well be the differentiator that tips the scales in your favor for that order. 5. Recruitment Many of the above points regarding the role of social media in B2B marketing are customer-focused. However, in this extremely competitive labor market, a social media feed that demonstrates your organization as a positive place to work can reap untold benefits. During the evaluation process, potential employees will undoubtedly refer to your social media feed to learn more about the company. B2B organizations have a great opportunity to demonstrate that their company is a good place to work in the social media feed. For manufacturers, it’s a place to highlight that you are not of the dreaded three D’s of manufacturing: dark, dirty, dangerous; and for technical organizations it’s a chance to show that your people are not chained to their cubicle chair all day. Check out our article about the benefits of utilizing video in recruitment marketing, which can also help support your social media efforts. The overarching benefit, of course, is to show that your organization is a great place to work. Social media news feeds include employee-focused events, like company picnics, training, holiday activities in the workplace environment – and maybe even a few happy employees themselves. Giving a face and a personality to the company can help with recruitment significantly. And, as your employees start to engage with your organization in their news feed, the more your brand exposure will increase. Those employees are likely connected with a large number of potential new employees. A thoughtfully crafted and executed B2B social media marketing plan has increasingly become critical to strategic campaigns for industrial, manufacturing and B2B organizations. In business for two decades, Stifel Marcin has the expertise to help you and your B2B organization take the leap into the social world. Give us a call, or connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, and find out how we can help you create impact and return with a smart social marketing campaign. Stifel Marcin – The B2B Marketing Agency Unlike many advertising and marketing agencies, B2B isn’t just something that we do, it’s all we do. We’ll work to help your brand achieve its goals through the strategic combination of creativity, communication and technology. Our focused client intake processes give us the ability to thoroughly understand your business, products

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