NEXT-GEN MARKETING B2B SOCIAL MEDIA AGENCY

Recent events have sent shockwaves through the economy, the likes of which few have ever witnessed before. Within adversity, however, lie the seeds of opportunity. One result of the pandemic was to drive unprecedented numbers of people online to work, play and shop. Businesses too were forced to move many of their core functions online in order to accommodate remote workers and navigate around travel restrictions.

The bottom line is that if your B2B marketing efforts are not keeping up with current trends, you will find your enterprise floundering while others thrive in the post-pandemic boom. But besides shifting operations online, what exactly are those trends?

Social listening is not a new concept; businesses have been using it for years to get a clearer picture of what their target customers want. What is new is that B2B companies are beginning to understand the implications of so many of their suppliers, buyers, competitors and customers investing in their online presence and how that increases the B2B social media buzz.

Social listening enables a company to glean valuable insights into what others are saying about their products or services. Insights that can help shape their B2B social media marketing strategy in a way that enhances both their brand identity and brand image. Look for B2B social listening to take off now that more businesses than ever have larger online profiles than ever.

One of the side effects of online migration has been the democratisation of many businesses. Ephemeral content fits right in with this more casual approach.

Ephemeral videos eschew glitzy production values, are typically up for about 24 hours and can address just about anything. They’re often used by businesses to provide a simple reminder that they have a product launch coming up or that this team member or that will be out of town for a few days—things like that. Think of them in the same vein as one of those “Back in 10 minutes” signs you’ll see on the front door of a shop or café.

Ephemeral content is trending because it’s effective, doesn’t cost much to produce, and can provide a veneer of authenticity to even the stodgiest brand.

Chatbots can answer customer questions, anticipate customer needs, manage financial transactions and save you a ton of money that otherwise would have gone to enable your customer service efforts. Wouldn’t that be something?

Chatbots first appeared a few years ago, but it’s only recently that the AI behind them has advanced to the point that they’re a viable alternative to customer service reps. Today’s chatbots can quickly and effectively resolve 3/4 of all customer issues and be integrated with Facebook Messenger and other social media platforms.

Chatbots can create a highly personalised experience for your customers. They can talk to them, ask questions that will provide you with actionable information, answer questions, resolve complaints and promote your product or service. It’s a world of human/machine interaction, and it has some incredibly important implications for B2B social media campaigns.

Soon, nearly 75% of all data coursing through the internet will be video. Videos are the hottest thing in marketing, including social media marketing, and companies great and small are looking for a way to get greater returns from the videos they’re paying for. This desire to glean more from their video production budget is one of the most important factors driving the rush to personalised video.

But why has personalised video become such a hot marketing commodity? A couple of reasons actually. The first is that wireless broadband is now ubiquitous. As a result, there is nothing preventing just about anyone just about anywhere from viewing your video. The second reason is that record numbers of people are turning to ad blockers, which is bad news for traditional online marketing.

Toss in the fact that personalised video has been proven several times more effective than generic, broadcast-style video, and the fact that there are just as many people put off by chatbots as there are those who are impressed by them, and you have fertile ground for personalised video to take root.

Let’s say someone has just subscribed to your service or placed a significant order. The personalised video app notifies you immediately. You quickly generate a hearty ‘thank you’ video and send it on to them. Minutes after making their purchase they receive the kind of personalised thank you they would normally only receive in a high-end brick and mortar store.

But that’s just one example. You can create personalised videos for nearly any situation you can imagine, with the app handling automation of all the repeatable content and you simply supplying the personal touches. It’s fast, cheap and effective. All those things you want your B2B social media marketing to be.

Our final B2B social media marketing trend comes to us courtesy of the folks over at LinkedIn. About a year ago they began a staggered rollout of their new polling feature. That rollout is now complete and it’s become such a hit it deserves mention on our list of B2B social media marketing trends of 2021.

There is nothing new about polling. Many white label app developers have been enabling community leaders to poll their memberships for some time. What’s new is that this feature has finally secured a big-time social media presence.

Polling is a simple, effective way to gather useful information, provide customers and would-be customers with a way to influence the future direction of your products or services and, of course, to enhance the user experience. LinkedIn polls can be created in under a minute and have demonstrated an ability to drive engagement like few other features you’ll find on social media channels.