It’s a common refrain we often hear from our B2B clients. We also get told “ Facebook and Twitter are OK for your hotel clients, but nobody in our business is into all this sort of thing.”
Recently DLK Partners became the ‘in-house marketing department’ for fresh produce traders Rush Group. One of the remits was to increase their exposure in the marketplace, not only to attract new customers but also new growers. We had previously worked with the Group and had designed and built their original website. However after five years, the site was looking a little tired and out of date.
We created a proposal that would provide them with a new responsive website and to run their social media campaign. Initially Rush was dubious about what social media could do for them. They stated that the fresh produce industry, especially the vegetable sector, was not into digital marketing, and that it would all be a waste of time and money. However they decided to take DLK Partners’ advice and in their words “give social media a go”, and the good news is that nine months on from the initial tweet and posting, Rush has become a convert to social media.
So how did this happen?
Industry Knowledge
DLK Partners has immersed themselves into the fresh produce industry; in order to give them the level of understanding that is required to carry out an effective social media programme. This continuing education process enables DLK to post/tweet etc., on the Group’s behalf, without having to double check everything with their client and thus waste valuable time.
Quality not Quantity
There is a school of thought which states that your social media campaign can only be quantified successful by how many followers/likes you have. If you are a celebrity or a populist brand this might be true, but if you are a niche B2B company, this could not be further from the truth. Admittedly, if you only have a tiny following you are not going to make much of an impact, but a following of 100+ targeted and relevant companies and individuals can make a real impact on your business. With such numbers in your social media circle, it allows you to carry out meaningful business discussions, rather than have your marketing diluted by people who just make up the numbers.
Content
Content is king, whether on your blog/news feed or your social media channels. There is no point in coming to the social media arena if you have got nothing to say. What you say is of course completely up to you, but DLK Partners believes that in a B2B environment, any comments that are too personal (to the person not the business) is a bit of a waste of time. Content should always try to be as relevant and current as possible, social media is a fast moving medium and commenting on something a month after it has happened just makes you look out of touch.
Proactive vs Reactive
Social media content, generally speaking, can be divided into two distinct categories: Proactive and Reactive. A good balance of these is important for on-going success; proactive posts are ideal for strategic marketing and brand building, whereas reactive posts are ideal for raising your profile and keeping your company at front of mind. To ensure Rush Group’s social media campaign keeps on the right track, DLK Partners plans the Group’s proactive presence on a monthly basis and then continually monitors the appropriate channels for reactive opportunities and activities.
The combination of all these five points has turned a company that felt social media was useful but not for them, into a company who values and respects this marketing medium as they have seen, first hand, the tangible benefits it has brought their company.
If you think your business could benefit from a targeted social media campaign, please contact DLK Partners today.
