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6 B2B social media marketing tips for eventprofs

January 31, 2017 by Anne Thornley-Brown, MBA 11 Comments

6 B2B social media marketing tips for eventprofs

For some time now, there has been a lot of discussion on social media channels about the effectiveness of business-to-business (B2B) social media marketing. The key question has been: Can the results that have been generated through business-to-consumer marketing (B2C) be replicated when marketing to businesses? The answer to this question is far more complex than anticipated: It depends.

In preparation for this blog post, I set out in search of answers. I combed the internet for studies and posted in a number of forums, including LinkedIn Groups and Quora, to request success stories. (In fact, I have been doing this for a number of years.) I wanted to share success stories and cases to identify some tips and takeaways. Unfortunately, once again, the silence was deafening.

business-to-consumer B2CThere has been a lot of hype about B2B social media marketing. Social media marketing coaches will tell you that B2B social media marketing is effective. That’s understandable. That is how many of them pick up their own clients. For this reason, it is hard for them to perceive the difference between B2B and B2C social media marketing. They base their conclusions on their experiences with entrepreneurs and very small organizations.

RELATED STORY: 6 tools to extend the life of social media content

B2B social media marketing definitely works for coaches and consultants who work with independents and entrepreneurs. The reason for this is simple: Social media marketing is “social” by nature and based on relationships. If the people who are in a position to make decisions and engage your services are active on social media, the process can be simple.

Here is what we know for sure. When marketing services to medium-to-large companies, decision-making is often a multi-tiered process. The initial contact or the individual who reaches out to event planners to request a quote is rarely in a position to make the final decision. In fact, since the 2008 economic meltdown, decision-making authority has been moved higher and higher in many companies. It is not unusual for a CEO, VP or executive VP to have “sign-off” for many purchasing decisions.

B2B social media presence by the numbers

CEO.com conducts an annual study about the presence of Fortune 500 executives on social media. Once again, the results are not encouraging. According to the 2015 Social CEO Report:

  • 61% of Fortune 500 CEOs have no social media presence whatsoever
  • 70% of CEOs who are active on just one social network joined LinkedIn
  • Only 60% of the CEOs who have Twitter accounts are actually tweeting

A report issued by FORTUNE magazine earlier this year reached similar conclusion, stating “Fortune 500 chief executives aren’t the most social bunch.” This report identified 50 Fortune 500 CEOs with Twitter accounts, 57 Fortune 500 CEOs on Facebook and 157 Fortune 500 CEOs on LinkedIn.

However, few of these accounts are active. Currently there are only eight CEOs on the “Fortune Social Register” of active Twitter users.

RELATED STORY: Get started on social media

B2B social media takeaways and tips

If event professionals are hoping to engage with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, social media is the wrong channel. The encouraging news from the CEO.com report is that all of the CEOs who recently opened social media accounts are new CEOs.

Based on this data, here is an approach worth trying for B2B social media marketing.

  1. Focus on smaller organizations and start-ups.
  2. Do your homework and identify executives and entrepreneurs who are active on social media.
  3. Focus on CEOs but don’t forget CMOs who are making more and more decisions about event marketing.
  4. Reach out to executives of smaller companies through offline marketing, such as direct mail or live networking events.
  5. Nurture these relationships through social media. Content marketing to establish your expertise and share what you have done for other clients is particularly important.
  6. Follow up offline from time to time.

Eventually, as millennials who are active on social media move into the C-suite, the picture should change. I hope that by the time we re-visit this topic, there will be a dramatic shift in these figures.

If you have success stories involving the use of social media to generate business with medium-to-large companies, please reach out to me. It would be a pleasure to share them.

RELATED STORY: The hidden impact of post-event marketing

Filed Under: Event marketing and PR, Networking and lead-generation, Social media Tagged With: B2C, social media marketing

About Anne Thornley-Brown, MBA

I'm the President of Executive Oasis International, a Toronto team building firm. I am a professional team building facilitator, keynote speaker, and meeting facilitator.

I have served corporate clients from 18 countries including Holt Renfrew, Mars Canada, ExxonMobil Canada, Bell Mobility, Royal Bank of Canada, Scalar Decisions, Mister Safety Shoes, EPICPCS, Xerox, OCBC Bank (Malaysia), Telus Mobility, CIBC, Rogers Communication, Baxter (Dubai), Thomson Reuters (Dubai), Blue Nile Dairy (A DAL Group company based in Sudan), Ingram Micro, Bidvest (South Africa), Sidra Capital (Saudi Arabia), Caribbean Development Bank (Barbados) and many more.

My extensive business experience in a variety of industries includes banking, wireless communications, high technology, transportation, the non-profit sector, and film and television.

Before launching my own business, I shaped the management development strategy for two major Canadian corporations.

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PYM @ MPI seeks to empower the people who make meetings happen by providing best practices education, helping them forge strong business partnerships with suppliers and find mentors in the industry. We firmly believe that meeting and event planners are the movie producers of the corporate world. Meetings move us. Meetings mean business. When we meet, we can change the world.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Insight Social Media says

    October 13, 2016 at 12:11 AM

    That’s very important information about B2B social media marketing, which are mentioned on rare sites. The difference between B2B and B2C is explained very well.

    Reply
  2. Saltmedia says

    October 26, 2016 at 1:53 AM

    Thanks for sharing the insightful information on B2B social media marketing, Anne! I’m sure every B2B social media marketer will find this useful.

    Reply
  3. ppc says

    November 22, 2016 at 3:36 AM

    Thanks so much for all of the great tips! It’s so easy to social media take over your time and so important to plan ahead and use proper planning and an automated system.

    Reply
  4. Kelly says

    March 20, 2017 at 4:29 PM

    Great article! Definitely still a huge gaping hole in the market of social media for businesses to take advantage of. It’s 2017, wake up!

    Reply
  5. Raymond Grey says

    May 12, 2017 at 6:26 AM

    Great article and very well explained. I believe in professionals so this is a very useful article for everyone. Many thanks for your share.

    Reply
  6. Jayson Walker says

    May 18, 2017 at 6:44 AM

    This article helped me a lot as these tips are very important and one should keep these helpful tips. You have done excellent work in passing out the message through this blog, keep up the good work!

    Reply
  7. iprism says

    October 5, 2017 at 5:11 AM

    Thanks for sharing such a great, very informative and useful article to social media marketing tips.
    Keep it up.

    Reply
  8. BR Brains says

    February 10, 2018 at 12:23 AM

    i was searching for this info thanks for sharing it

    Reply
  9. BR Brains says

    February 20, 2018 at 3:04 AM

    Informative article thanks for sharing it

    Reply
  10. Jonathan Bowers says

    August 13, 2019 at 2:45 PM

    Absolutely great read! I was searching for information relevant to social media marketing and how it pertaining to the average business owner.

    Reply
  11. Rossow coblin says

    November 25, 2019 at 7:20 AM

    Most informative blog I’ve ever read thanks for sharing with us.

    Reply

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PYM @ MPI seeks to empower the people who make meetings happen by providing best practices education, helping them forge strong business partnerships with suppliers and find mentors in the industry. We firmly believe that meeting and event planners are the movie producers of the corporate world. Meetings move us. Meetings mean business. When we meet, we can change the world.

2711 Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway, Suite 600, Dallas, Texas 75234

PYM @ MPI Privacy Policy  |  Contact Us

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