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With the use of social media gaining popularity as a new marketing trend, there are hundreds of instances of businesses that have fan pages on Facebook and have gathered a large number of 'likes'.
From Ford to Coca Cola, big brands have adopted Facebook for getting in touch with their customers, whether it is for product launches, increasing their fan base or integrating with their presence or campaigns across other media. Needless to say, as per statistics (see table below) in India B2C pages are the ones with the largest number of fans. In comparison, success stories of B2B marketing on Facebook are rare, partly because of the lower reach compared to B2C.
However, this is no indication that Facebook as a social media does not work for B2B marketing. In India, as per the 2011 Regus Study, 69% of companies that use social media to acquire new business have seen increases in revenue in 2011 as against 64% in 2010. So clearly Facebook pages work for businesses, but B2B strategies need to be focused and formatted a bit differently, primarily because Facebook has inherently different characteristics compared to other media. Although Facebook pages of both B2C and B2B companies are similar in the sense that they are both aimed at people, B2C is dependent on individual preferences, while B2B customers are influenced by organizational guidelines. Hence, strategies have to be fine-tuned and only companies that streamline their pages to target their business customers will reap benefits.
Here is a look at what works for B2B pages.
A well-defined content strategy
The Facebook page of a business is more than just a fan page where customers log in to express their 'likes'. While a business cannot have an interesting profile picture, it can have an attractive wall with photographs and videos that present its products in a way that customers relate to. This is especially useful for industrial products as seeing photographs of the equipment or viewing demo videos can give customers a better understanding of the product than from reading technical specifications.
ABB successfully uses its Facebook page to showcase its range of industrial products. With different pages for robotics, automation & power and medium voltage power products, among others, they have mastered the art of making industrial products interesting. Besides this, with posts that update customers on the latest news from the company, whether it is a delivery of a substation, an acquisition or a participation in an event, they have succeeded in effectively providing useful information to customers through Facebook.
Interactions and discussions
Unlike other platforms such as a company website, Facebook presents a forum where companies can go beyond just providing routine information. Wall posts should change frequently to reflect current trends and news. From providing updates on new products, to getting reviews from customers or answering queries and concerns that the customer might have, the business can keep customers engaged through interactive discussions.
Infosys has a highly interactive Facebook page that follows a question format, which is designed to spark interest and incite responses. It's no wonder that the page has generated over 58,000 Likes, possibly the highest among Indian B2B companies.
Responsiveness
Often businesses make the mistake of having a Facebook page to keep up with the competition and subsequently not investing the required time and resources to respond to customer queries. Having a quick turnaround time for customer queries can help in building up the business' image and keeping customers engaged. It can also help in averting negative comments by creating an image of reliability and dependability. This wall post on ABB Robotics' Facebook page gives an idea of how a quick response can help in creating a good image and winning over a customer.
Integration with other initiatives
By clearly defining the role of Facebook in the company's media strategy, the business page can be used to link or redirect to other media. Many businesses have a call to action on their page to encourage customers to click on a link to visit their website, register for a conference or read blogs and white papers.
Wipro's page is a perfect example of how Facebook can be used to link to other sources of information about the company. With links to YouTube videos, white papers and event pages, communication across various channels is completely integrated, and the Facebook page is serving as a hub for everything else.
B2B marketing on Facebook has definitely grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years. Facebook has also revamped its terms and offerings to companies in a bid to encourage more businesses to use this media effectively. While there are a few instances of Indian companies that have used Facebook for B2B marketing, the numbers are still too small compared to businesses in the west. However, with the growing interest shown by corporates in the social media sector (we have seen this at Digital Vidya's social media marketing workshops across various cities) it should only be a matter of time before more Indian case studies emerging.