Business to business strategy: How to use Facebook to increase sales

Facebook.com is the number two most visited website in the world. Facebook has been a proven asset for b-to-c companies. Customers have direct contact with a business via Facebook. However, B-to-B marketers have not fully adopted the social networking site due to the effectiveness that seems to be lacking. Facebook definitely has it’s place in B-to-B if marketed properly. The question remains, how do you market Facebook for B-to-B? First step, navigate your way to Facebook.com and create a page.

Getting Started

Do not skimp out on this step. Creating an intriguing page is the first thing your customer base will see. The first step is simple enough, create a profile.

You will need two images – one for the profile image (32px by 32px), and one for the cover photo (851px by 315px). Make sure they are high resolution! This is the first thing visitors will see on your page. It’s a big deal! This is a reflection of the business, do not go without quality graphics.
Fill out all the business information – i.e. about, contact, hours, method of payment and anything else that can help describe your company. Don’t fast-forward through this; the page is an impression on your company. If your “about” is short, viewers of your page may think that your company doesn’t have much to offer. Fill out as much information as possible.

You have a Facebook page, now what? The second step is to fill your page with good quality content. When your fans come to the page, give them a reason to “like” you! If there is no content, then there is no point to click “like.” Make sure you are using videos and images to create a dynamic environment for your fans to interact with your company. Try setting a goal to post three out of seven days of the week. Do not post on Facebook to just “be active.” Only post content that your viewers will want to see or read. Always remember that Social Media does not stop, it is 24/7 – your customers are online during the weekend hours (sometimes more often on the weekend). Facebook allows you to pre-schedule posts for the future. One or two posts a day has proven to get the most interaction among followers; with Facebook’sEdgerank, this may change. Make sure to set goals on your Facebook page progression – track success and failure, and post content that your help your fans. Find out why they would like your page, and cater to their wants.

The third step can be done simultaneously with the second step as your page progresses. Search Facebook to find companies you do business with – customer’s sites, vendors, trade magazines, industry news, products you sell etc. As your business page, ‘like’ their page and start commenting on their posts. This is a business to business strategy. B-to-C pages more-or-less wait for customers to come to them online. They can advertise in store easier. B-to-B marketing must connect with other pages to promote and share content. Interact with the pages you follow, as users on Facebook who like these pages most likely will be interested in your business as well. Fans of these pages will notice your activity and will take a look at your page. If they find their interest compatible with your page, they will click “like,” that’s the goal!

Step four: Continue to post high-quality content, share content from the pages you follow and continue to form an inviting environment for discussion on your page. Now it will be beneficial to start advertising your page. This is especially important for business-to-business strategy, as maximizing contacts is needed. B-to-C generally has more volume of customers which allows for more leeway, B-toB must maximize on all touches with people.

• Start by linking the Facebook logo in your email signature. Every email you send will have the logo. The people receiving your emails are already interested in your company, and will most likely visit and like your page.
• If you have a company newsletter, send out a post explaining that you are on Facebook and let your customers know why they should be following you on Facebook.
• Whenever you make promotional material, incorporate the social media logos in the corner of the page – these logos are widely known. People will see the logos and visit your social media pages.
• Educate your employees on how to use Facebook. This sounds foolish, as poor choices in the past have caused companies huge public relations problems. Teach the threats of Facebook, and the glory of the social media site. Employees need to know how to use Facebook. For some, this will include a how-to on creating a Facebook account.

This is a basic strategy on how to grow your Facebook page organically. Content is king is a phrase that truly applies to social media. If you are posting bad material, people aren’t going to follow. If you are posting high-quality material, people will follow your company. Beyond the content it’s all about advertising your page through the resources you have. From here you can start trying different strategies, such as deals, photo contest, sweepstakes etc. to get fans excited about your company. This will end up hyping chatter online, which leads to more users discovering the page.

Helpful Posting Tips

-Statistics show that posting photos will result in the most interaction among fans. Videos, polls and links are second in interaction rate.

Don’t ever include a link without a thumbnail or photo – it just looks bad, and people generally won’t comment on something that isn’t interesting.

-Ask your followers to do things for you. Yes, this sounds odd, but it works! Ask for a ‘like’ or a share. For instance, if you sell mass quantities of industrial strength tape to businesses, a post may look like this (with a photo): “That’s a lot of tape. And guess what?! The first five people to comment with a caption for this photo get a special gift from us! “Like” if you use industrial tape every week!”

-On social media less is more. People aren’t going to read long posts. Social media is all about quick hitting in-formation that comes from a lot of different people/sources (that’s why it is called “social media”).

-Always put yourself in the shoes of your customers. Why are they on these sites and why do they like your page? Why do they not like your page? The answers to these questions can help mold a winning online strategy.

Learn more about how Keystone Click can help you with your Facebook!