When creating a B2B social media lead generation strategy, especially one that includes LinkedIn, generating quality content has to be considered an essential element. LinkedIn effective lead generation techniques should include quality content since B2B buyers use LinkedIn to conduct research. If you are looking to attract business leaders, quality content helps executives learn how to solve business issues and prove you are an influencer.
When are B2B Buyers on LinkedIn?
Social media is an important part of the B2B buyer’s journey. Senior executives and B2B buyers turn to social media at two distinct times during their decision-making process:
- After the company has decided that it is worth investing in a solution or improvement for a specific business process, decision makers turn to third-party experts
- When executives are seeking answers regarding how they solve their specific problem they turn to social media sites to make an informed decision
Turning to Third-Party Experts
Executives turn to third-party experts to discover possible solutions to their problems, learn about vendors who may have a viable solution, and to create a short-list of vendors to contact. These third-party experts can be found in different locations on the Internet, including social media sites, blogs, forums, mastermind groups, and industry Internet magazines.
This is the perfect time to help prospects learn about your business and what it does by creating content that answers common questions your ideal buyer asks. The more in-depth your content is, the better chance you have that your prospect will find your content.
B2B buyers may find your content in different ways:
- Content that is over 2,000 words long consistently rank high in Google results
- Long-form content receives more social shares
- When you consistently publish long-form content you are seen as an authority
- Influencers often link to authoritative long-form content
Therefore, if you want to be seen as a third-party expert by your prospects and the industry, you have to create quality, long-form content.
Social Media Sites Help Make Informed Decisions
Once the executives have a short-list of vendors and some idea of the type of solution they need, they will want answers to specific questions. Turning to social media helps decision makers learn from peers about the solutions and vendors on the buyer’s short-list.
Case studies, testimonials and other types of social proof published on your company website and social media sites will help buyers learn more about your company and your offerings. If you have brand advocates, the content they post regarding your company will also affect business decision makers.
If the executives like what they see on social media then they will reach out to your company and talk to a salesperson.
B2B Social Media Lead Generation and Quality Content
Effective lead generation techniques include nurturing qualified prospects until they are ready to buy. If you can attract the attention of a prospect early in the buyer’s journey, then you will be able to nurture them and qualify them to make sure the two of you are a good fit for one another.
Part of the lead generation process is sharing curated and company-generated content with prospects that you feel will help them solve common problems. When you share content that answers a question the buyer is currently researching, you provide them with value. If the content that answers a relevant question is company-generated content, this also positions your company as an expert.
Providing value to buyers early in the sales process increases your chance of converting that prospect into a buyer.
Becoming an Influencer as Part of a Social Media Lead Generation Strategy
If you are seen as a third-party expert, then you will increase the likelihood that prospects will find you when they are researching possible solutions and vendors. Blogging frequently about common problems your market faces, answering questions on forums, commenting in groups on social media sites, and posting regularly on industry online magazines will lead people to believe you are an industry expert.
If you are seen as an authority, peers will share your content with executives who are researching a problem in your area of expertise. If you generate enough quality content on a specific topic, then when a decision-maker researches that topic online, one or more of the sites where your content is published will appear.
If you are in the B2B service industry, becoming an influencer on LinkedIn will help you increase awareness as part of the lead generation process. Becoming a social media influencer will make prospects automatically turn to you in the early stages of their research.
Unofficial LinkedIn Influencer
To be a true LinkedIn Influencer, you have to be invited by LinkedIn. However, unlike other social media sites, LinkedIn members have a distinct set of criteria they use to determine a true LinkedIn influencer. Therefore, you can be an influencer on LinkedIn without having the title officially added to your LinkedIn profile.
Providing content that is engaging, tells a story and brings value to your network and other members of LinkedIn will allow you to help people in your market. Helping others is one of the main ways an influencer stands out from someone who is just knowledgeable in a particular field. When you continuously look for ways to help people in your network you can become an unofficial LinkedIn influencer.
LinkedIn Content Marketing and B2B Social Media Lead Generation
Content marketing will help attract more attention to company generated content. LinkedIn content marketing can be incorporated in your B2B social media lead generation so that you have valuable information to share with your network and you are able to increase search engine results for high-quality content.
LinkedIn content marketing elements in social media lead generation strategy can include:
- Sharing a link to a guest post article in your newsfeed
- Creating a native video for a blog post and link to that post
- Writing a LinkedIn article and linking to a relevant blog post, case study or e-book
- Include links to your best company content in the Summary and Experience sections of your LinkedIn profile
- Send a direct message to specific first-degree connections who will find specific content relevant
Finding different ways to share company-generated content on LinkedIn will ensure that your first-degree connections don’t feel bombarded by your LinkedIn content marketing strategy. Those who are researching specific topics on LinkedIn will also be more likely to find your content using this approach.
B2B social media lead generation strategies include finding ways to provide value so that you are nurturing prospects. If you can attract buyers when they are searching for third-party experts as part of the decision-making process, then you will be able to increase your chances of converting the prospect into a sale. By creating quality content, you are positioning the company as an expert, answering common questions to provide value, and increasing the likelihood that prospects will come to you as part of their buyer’s journey.
Do you want to understand more about how quality content can improve the results of your B2B social media lead generation strategy? Then click here to gain access to our comprehensive online guide How to Generate B2B Leads in a Social World.
