Do you want to be the Dollar Shave Club of B2B marketing on social media? In a market filled with countless razor companies, the brand found a way to stand out, building a strong online community and achieving significant growth without relying primarily on paid advertising.
Notice how I said “without relying primarily on paid advertising.” That’s because, while paid is a practical option, it should be used primarily to complement your organic strategy.
If you’re a savvy marketer, you’ve likely noticed how the majority of social platforms have become increasingly pay-to-play, reducing the reach of posts without the backing of funds. That doesn’t mean you need to jump straight into unloading your ad dollars. Instead, you should consider taking an approach similar to the B2C brand above, and create a strategy that’s data-driven, innovative, and most importantly, differentiated.
What is organic social media marketing and why is it important?
Organic social media marketing uses unpaid strategies to build and engage with an audience on social media platforms. Simply put, you’re leveraging social media platforms to interact with and reach your audience without spending any money.
Anyone can advertise on social media (have you seen these wacky ads on X?), but not everyone will find success – at least not in the long-term, and not without a well thought out plan of action for organic social media.
This plan should focus on creating authentic interactions and meaningful engagement, and showcasing your brand’s unique perspective. If you invest time in building the foundation of your organic strategy, your brand will flourish and reach its KPIs (key performance indicators).
How to build an organic social media strategy
1. Define your goals and objectives
What do you want to achieve on social media? Your social media objectives should match up with your business goals.
For example, if you want to increase brand awareness, your social media goal might be to increase followers and increase reach and engagement. Be sure to get specific with the goals you want your social media effort to help you achieve, like improving brand loyalty, generating leads, or increasing the number of users who visit your website.
Once you’ve defined your goals, you’ll want to decide how you’re going to measure them. We recommend using the SMART framework: (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound). Adhering to these criteria will ensure clarity, focus, and measurable outcomes, which will in turn improve accountability and resource allocation.
2. Identify and understand your target audience
Who is your target audience? We’re talking about the folks who are most likely interested in your products or services.
For example, a company like Ben and Jerry’s is likely targeting those who identify as sweet tooth enthusiasts over highly cost-conscious consumers (let it be known that I’m a fan of Americone Dream). But they don’t just know who to target by chance; no, they’ve most certainly done their research. According to HubSpot, 82% of marketers say having high-quality data on their target audience is important to succeeding.
Getting your audience data likely won’t be too much different than how these northeastern purveyors of ice cream get theirs. Conduct your research by utilizing tools like Google Analytics, social media insights, surveys, and industry reports. (Unfortunately, you likely won’t be doing any taste testing.)
To take your audience analysis a step further, you can create personas based on demographics, interests, and pain points. Having this information will help you further down the road when it’s time to create content and engagement strategies. As Gary Vaynerchuk said: “Content is king, but context is God. If you don’t understand your audience, you can’t create the right context for your content to be relevant and impactful.” Keep this in mind as you develop your strategy.
3. Choose the right platforms
How you choose your social media platforms will depend on one question: which ones do your audience use the most?
You’re unlikely to see Fruit by the Foot advertising on LinkedIn or Lockheed Martin on TikTok because their audiences aren’t there – or at least not with a contextually relevant mindset. To ensure you’re reaching your audience where they are, you can analyze your competition’s social activity. But don’t just leave it up to that. You’re going to want to use GA4 to track referral traffic from different platforms, employ social listening tools to monitor industry conversation and brand mentions, and dig into engagement metrics to determine where your content performs the best.
While every brand is going to have a different approach, we would be remiss if we didn’t recommend LinkedIn for most B2B brands. We’re not alone in this assessment, either. A recent survey from Content Marketing Institute found that 84% of marketers said the platform delivered the best value for their organization.
However, every brand is different; you must let your research be your guiding star for deciding which platforms to use and which ones to keep in mind for a later date. At this time, the “big five” are all viable options:
- LinkedIn: Connect with other businesses, industry leaders, and professionals. LinkedIn is responsible for 80% of B2B leads generated through social media.
- Twitter/X: Share industry news, engage with thought leaders, and participate in relevant hashtags and discussions. 66% of brands are on Twitter/X.
- Facebook: Useful for building brand awareness and engaging with a broader audience. Business decision-makers spend 74% more time on the platform than average users.
- YouTube: Demonstrate products, share expertise, and engage with potential clients through tutorials, case studies, and more. 93% of brands gained a new customer due to a video on social media.
- Instagram: Showcase culture and products through images and stories. Instagram has about 2 billion monthly users and is the preferred platform of younger audiences.
Be sure to choose your channel or channels wisely if your budget and resources are limited. According to TopRank’s Josh Nite, “It’s best to post more fitting content to fewer channels than to spread yourself too thin posting everywhere.”
4. Develop a content strategy & create engaging content
Now that you know who your audience is and where they are, it’s time to figure out what type of content you’ll be sharing and how often.
To be frank, you can’t create and publish just anything at any given time and expect positive results. Much like anything else, you need a content plan. As our friend and author, Jay Baer put it, “Content is fire, social media is gasoline. A well-crafted social media content strategy accelerates your message, amplifies your reach, and ignites deeper engagement.” You put a lot of work into building your fire, so keep it aflame by putting the same amount of effort into your master social plan.
Start your content strategy by going back to the data you pulled earlier as these insights can guide your approach. Use this information to create a content calendar, making sure to balance it with different content such as videos, infographics, third-party news, and so on. You’ll want to ensure your posting schedule is consistent, and that your content is valuable and thematic. The value will help people recall why they’re returning, and the thematic recurring content will train them when to return.
Regardless of your choice of social media sites, you’ll need to utilize one or more of the many available tools to assist in getting your content published and seen. And while LinkedIn, Later, Sprout Social, and Sprinklr are all fantastic solutions, your choice should be made based on your budget, goals, and amount of resources.
5. Engage with your audience
Imagine this: You’re at a social networking event and you’re just standing there blurting out the occasional remark like, “I’m a really great guy,” “I tell the best stories,” “Please buy my book!,” etc. You’re not actually conversing with anyone, and they’ve noticed you, but they’re not interested. In fact, they’re leaving to hang out with Ted, the cool new guy from accounting.
This is, effectively, what many brands are doing on social media. They have an audience but they’re not effectively engaging with them, which isn’t great for how they’re perceived. Customers can take this as a sign to unfollow or never attempt to engage with the brand again. You need to talk to your audience, not at them.
Interacting with your audience isn’t just meant for customer service inquiries; it’s a tactic for fostering a sense of community, improving brand loyalty and brand reputation, boosting conversion rates, and increasing your follower count. To put it simply, engaging with your audience drives … engagement.
According to a report by Social Media Examiner, brands that reply to comments on their social media posts see a 40% increase in engagement compared to those that don’t. That alone would be enough for most brands to ensure audience engagement is a part of their organic social efforts.
6. Report and optimize for best results
Is your brand succeeding on social media? Think of it like your health. Just as you go to the doctor for a status report on your body and mind, you should regularly check your social accounts using the tools above for a social “health check.”
The benchmarks set early on in your social program are like baselines set by your primary care provider. Use these benchmarks to track progress, identify what’s working, and eliminate ineffective strategies to shape your program into a high-performance machine. Sprinklr recommends tracking the following categories of social media metrics:
- Social media marketing metrics
- Social media engagement metrics
- Social media conversion metrics
- Social media customer service metrics
- Social media ROI metrics
Determine how often to report on these KPIs: weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually are all popular timeframes to gather data, but your choice will depend on several factors including, campaign goals, content volume, and algorithm updates, just to name a few.
Perhaps it goes without saying, but this data must be taken from your reporting platform, organized, and saved for future reference. There’s no telling if the data will always be available, and you never know if a client will ask about a campaign from when Obama was still in office.
Tips for organic social media reach and engagement
Consider the advice below to supercharge your organic social media efforts:
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- Switch up your content by platform: 69% of B2B marketers say that tailoring content to specific social media platforms results in better engagement and ROI.
- Engage with your employees: Employees who share company content on social media can increase the reach of that content by up to 561%.
- Share user generated content: Customer engagement is 28% higher when using UGC compared to content that was professionally created by experts.
- Make video part of your strategy: Viewers can retain up to 95% of the information conveyed through video.
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- Don’t forget your hashtags: 72% of marketers agree. Using trending hashtags makes an impact on content reach.
- Stay active and consistent: Companies that post weekly on LinkedIn, for example, see a 2x lift in engagement with their content.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for engagement: Ask questions and be human!
- Tag your “friends”: This will signal the algorithms to boost your post. Also, a way to bring in new audiences. Partnering with influencers can help you do this in an authentic, targeted way.
What’s next for your organic social strategy?
Are you ready to advance your organic social efforts? Assess the three B’s with your team: bandwidth, budget, and business goals. Ensure you have a strategic vision with clear objectives to achieve positive results.
Creating and maintaining your brand’s digital footprint requires more work than many realize. It’s no wonder many organizations make the strategic decision to outsource certain marketing functions to scale their efforts without incurring the costs of an in-house team.
Could your organization use a helping hand? Contact us today about our marketing strategy and planning solutions.
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