B2B Data Provision - Social Media Lead Generation

Contrary to what is generally associated with a B2B business set-up, the B2B business requires equal amount of marketing and targeting efforts as in a B2C business set-up. The most fundamental difference, however, between the two still remains, is the target audience. Unlike B2C business marketing, a B2B business set-up is more focused on professionals and traders belonging to the same industry or business field. Thus, the efforts need to be targeted.

As a crux of the matter, even B2B marketing is required to be as rigorous as a B2C marketing, particularly when done through the online medium. Earlier businessmen believed that social media is only for B2C lead generation, but experts have shown that social media can equally be used for B2B business set-ups. Following are a few tools that are used by B2B data provision companies to generate B2B leads:

1.        Building Strong Network: Creating strong networking in your related trade and business is not only crucial but is also one of the keys to successful marketing. Affection, interaction and time are the three most essential ingredients of a strong networking system, which a marketer must offer when looking at generating leads, particularly through the online medium. Social media offers the ideal platform to marketers to generate leads over the internet. You form connections, nurture them, facilitate sharing of vital information and knowledge and gradually work towards building strong business bonds with these leads.

2.        Content Sharing: One of the best means for increasing lead generation online used by B2B data provision companies is through publishing and sharing informative content with people from related trade and business. However, while working on the content to be shared through the social media, it must be kept in mind that the content should be more solution-oriented than product-oriented, which would prove to be more beneficial for the people reading the content. As a matter of practice, you must indulge in more third-party content rather than own product related content, which would inculcate more trust in the minds of the readers. Once the lead is generated, you can slowly work towards achieving business targets through them.

3.        Buy Social Ads: Another way of generating leads through the social media used by B2B data provision companies is by setting up a means of paid advertising. Posting ads of social networking websites, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Plus etc., are some of the means to divert traffic to your website website. 

4.        Social Media Outreach: Social media outreach to influential people is another way in which B2B business set ups can facilitate lead generation online. This essentially entails building a rapport and relationship with most influential personalities and/or organizations in your business trade or field using the social networking websites. For instance, on Twitter, you can engage interaction by re-tweeting, favoriting and replying to the tweets of such influential persons. Even on LinkedIn, you can engage interaction by joining same communities and groups as such influential persons and facilitating conversations and discussions with them. Over a period of time and gradually, you can then indulge in private chats and email conversations so as to initiate business development.