B2B Social Media Strategy: 3 Lessons from B2C Brands

It can sometimes feel like consumer-facing brands dominate the world of social media. And it’s easy to see why. B2C brands often target a much wider audience, making it easier to create content that’s relatable to the masses with ‘viral’ potential.

But can the social tactics used by successful B2C companies also work for B2B audiences? We think so. After all, everyone’s a consumer when they’re not at work.

So, here are some lessons from B2C brands killing it on socials to integrate into your B2B social strategy (with real examples included).

Successful B2C brands often do a great job of putting a spotlight on the human side of their brand by sharing stories, experiences, and the people behind the business. This works because people buy from people, and increasingly customers don’t want to buy a product or a service from a faceless business.

In a study from SproutSocial, 70% of consumers reported feeling more connected when a brand’s CEO is active on social. This shows that customers need to learn more about the people behind their favourite brands to build trust.

B2C brands often don’t directly reference their product or service in every post, and for good reason. A 2016 study found that too many promotional messages cause 46% of people to unfollow a brand. Instead, it’s better to focus on the results or the impact your products have on customers.

One of the best examples of this is from Apple. Apple’s social media campaign, ‘Shot on iPhone’, has been running since the launch of the iPhone 6 in 2014 and is designed to collect sharable customer stories. The concept is simple enough. Real Apple users post images and videos taken with an iPhone on their own feeds and tag the campaign hashtag, ready for Apple to reshare. As a result, if you take a look at Apple’s Instagram feed, there are very few images of its products. Turning the spotlight onto how a product or service has enhanced customers’ lives, rather than promoting products directly, is an easy tactic for B2B brands to try.

 

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Other B2C brands use interactive content – such as quizzes, polls, and games – to boost engagement, better understand their audience, and build communities.

Spotify’s iconic annual ‘Spotify Wrapped’ campaign is an example of interactive content done well. At the end of every year, it provides users with a personalised summary of their year in music, showing their top songs, artists, and genres. This shareable, interactive content sparks millions of user-generated social media posts and conversations each year. In fact, I can hardly scroll through Instagram stories in December without seeing a sea of ‘Spotify Wrapped’ shares.

A bonus example is one of my favourite brands to follow on social: Duolingo. Duolingo’s Instagram and TikTok offers more great lessons in harnessing interactive content to engage followers. The language-learning brand posts trivia, interactive polls, and challenges to encourage followers to test their skills and share their results.

Want to find out more about Energy PR’s approach to B2B social media strategy? Find out more or get in touch with Louise at louise@energypr.co.uk.