Since 2020, we’ve seen a significant change in the strategies and approaches businesses leverage to promote themselves over social media. According to Statista, over 3.6 billion people were using social media globally in 2020.
Predictions say that social media users may be 4.41 billion by 2025. Leveraging social media can strengthen any company’s SEO campaign. Building a robust online presence is an excellent way to bolster sales.
B2C companies are not the only ones using social media to generate revenue. About 75% of B2B buyers use social media during the purchasing process, which may explain why 41% of B2B marketers mentioned social media marketing as one of the tactics they wished to implement in 2022.
With this in mind, B2B companies must remain alert to social media trends when building an effective strategy. Continue reading to learn about the eight most effective B2B social media marketing trends you need to know in 2023.
1. Influencer Marketing Continues to Grow
Brand advocacy: Companies increasingly employ leaders and trusted influencers to promote their products and services. This B2B social media marketing trend has gradually continued to gain traction throughout the years.
Expect growth in influencer marketing spending to $4.6 billion in 2023. Expected growth for 2022 is $4.14 billion, compared to 2021’s spending of $3.69 billion.
Working with established influencers within your field will help give your brand more visibility and credibility. Successful use of this strategy requires marketers to identify influencers with engaged followers and correctly target corporate buyers or decision-makers.
Companies should seek out influencers producing high-quality, relevant, SEO-optimized content that is professional and credible.
Before working with an influencer, ask for their rates to see how much they charge for their services. As you work with more influencers, you’ll better understand the average industry rates.
Also, measure each influencer you work with’s return on investments (ROI). Measurements help determine whether you want to keep working with a specific influencer.
Some influencers may double your investment, while others might grow your investment sevenfold, so this is an essential measure.
2. More Companies Will Use Brand Ambassador Programs
To piggyback off influencer marketing, another one of the influential B2B social media marketing trends we’ll see gaining traction in 2023 is ambassador programs.
Choose ambassadors who love your brand and wish to enter an agreement to showcase your product or services to their communities. They share the experiences they’ve had with your brand, and they encourage others to learn more about your brand.
A brand ambassador program:
- Offers structured recruiting and training
- Ensures brand advocates are equipped with the correct information, news and updates on your organization’s work
Unlike affiliate programs, brand ambassadors are more focused on building relationships than selling your brand’s products. Brand ambassadors also differentiate from influencers because their contracts are usually long-term.
Research showed that consumers trusted ambassadors are a trusted source of brand information. Consumers in the study cited below-ranked family and friends first at 93%. Advertising had the worst results, ranking lowest at 38%.
A leading reason ambassador programs are so effective and a primary reason why we will see more of these programs leveraged by B2B marketers in 2023.
Spreading awareness of your brand is crucial for company growth. This strategy is great for reaching more B2B opportunities over social media.
3. Leverage LinkedIn Creator Mode
Whether you are a business owner, freelancer, consultant, or part of an agency, take advantage of LinkedIn’s Creator mode – it is a valuable tool.
LinkedIn is among the best platforms for B2B social media marketing. Their Creator mode provides tools that help marketers develop original content to improve visibility, become thought leaders, and increase audience size.
It also offers the ability to publish a newsletter on the site and provides easy access to the LinkedIn Live streaming feature that allows businesses to broadcast content to their networks.
You can use Creator mode to display up to five hashtags that will appear under your profile headline. LinkedIn includes a short-form video feature as part of Creator mode, making the platform an excellent location for B2B video marketing content. We’ll touch more on the importance of short-form videos in the fifth trend of this series.
4. Augmented Reality Is Becoming Popular
More businesses are beginning to engage with potential customers via interactive experiences like those provided by augmented reality (AR). This is another B2B social media marketing trend that has experienced steady gains in popularity over the past few years.
A 2022 study by SEMRush estimates that the number of active mobile AR users worldwide will be 1.4 billion by 2023. For 2024, it’s projected to rise to 1.73 billion. That number is almost triple the active user base we saw in 2020.
AR allows businesses to virtually demonstrate how their products or services work in “real life” scenarios while buyers learn about the benefits these products or services offered. AR also improves engagement and makes marketing more personal, which leads to better customer relationships.
As this technology continues to integrate into everyday life, more companies will need to keep up with their competitors by utilizing AR technology creatively and holistically.
5. Paid Social Media Marketing Is Essential
Compared to organic content, paid advertising targeted to the proper purchasing departments generates results quickly while increasing ad exposure, sales revenue, and ROI. This was a B2B social media marketing trend we saw in 2022, which we expect to continue through 2023.
What does a paid ad strategy look like?
- Personalizing promotions via segmenting your target audience by industry or job title
- Determining what your prospects are seeking
- Offering short-term promotions as opposed to long-term
- Making content that demonstrates how to use your products and services to help customers overcome their challenges
- Offer detailed content so potential customers can conduct further research
LinkedIn Ads
LinkedIn Ads is a paid marketing feature that grants users access to different LinkedIn communities and networks through sponsored posts and other helpful tools.
In an effective paid social media strategy, ads are placed simultaneously on several social media channels to increase their chances of success. With this in mind, you should concentrate on LinkedIn Ads and utilize its tools to the greatest extent possible, as that’s where you’ll find the most B2B target audience.
6. Short-Form Videos Are a Trend to Watch
In a study conducted by the internet publishing group Hubspot, 33% of B2B marketers stated that of the different types of video formats available, short-form videos created their most significant ROI.
Many online users prefer watching videos as opposed to reading content. While people often lose interest in long marketing videos, they typically watch a short video (a minute or so in length) all the way through.
Research shows that the optimal lengths for short-form marketing videos are 31 to 60 seconds and 21 to 30 seconds. The lowest performing lengths for short-form marketing videos are 2 to 3 minutes in duration and under 10 seconds long.
Short-form videos are also more manageable and less expensive to produce than long-form, in addition to being found on all of today’s major social media platforms.
What type of short-form videos should B2B marketers create?
Consider the following video ideas:
- Product demos
- Case studies
- Testimonials
- Interviews
- Event information
- Company news
Additionally, storytelling videos increase brand awareness, improve engagement, and are easily accessible, which can lead to sales and revenue growth.
TikTok
In terms of short-form friendly platforms, TikTok is predicted to continue growing in popularity in 2023 and beyond. TikTok is still overwhelmingly consumer-oriented, but B2B marketers increasingly recognize the opportunities to increase brand awareness and improve engagement on this platform.
B2B marketers have traditionally avoided TikTok due to its heavy reliance on emotional appeal, but according to LinkedIn: “B2B marketing strategies that appeal to an audience’s emotions drive a massive 7x more considerable business effects in the long term than campaigns that appeal to them on an emotional, rational level.”
The average employed business owner’s age is 44 years. Since the TikTok audience is trendy among younger generations, it may seem like the wrong platform for B2B companies to market their brand.
Although their audience skews young, with the 10-19 and 20-29 age range being their largest demographic of users, there are plenty of older adults on TikTok as well. Research shows that 21.7% of their users are 30-39, and 20.3% are 40-49%.
In terms of marketing, using locally specific hashtags in your TikTok videos makes networking with other professionals in your area more accessible. Since fewer B2B marketers use TikTok, there is less competition, making it easier for your brand to reach your target audience.
As we discussed, videos on TikTok should be more emotional and personal than typical B2B videos. Think about sharing your values or telling “humanizing” stories about your company and showing the fun side of your workday.
7. Breaking Up and Repurposing Long-Form Content
Short-form content is not just for videos. Be sure to trim your written and audio content to social media.
We are often bombarded with significant loads of information. Our attention spans are declining, making engaging with long content increasingly tricky. Despite this, long-form content is not going anywhere. While it might not thrive on social media, it is beneficial for platforms such as websites.
Consider reusing and repurposing your existing long-form content — in written, audio, video and blog format — by breaking it into smaller pieces for relevant social media platforms. The key is to post a concise yet exciting message that grabs your audience’s attention and directs potential purchasers to your long, informational content.
Understanding what may or may not work in your repurposing strategy is essential. We suggest strategically placing content on the appropriate platforms and channels. Moreover, use existing long-form content as inspiration for new material.
8. Using Social Media to Share Brand Values
Today, many brands openly support one or more social, environmental, philanthropic, or community causes. Social media is the ideal medium for businesses to express their views. Of the B2B social media marketing trends for 2023, this is one that most people in our society care about, and it requires transparency and authenticity.
Businesses tend to work with companies that have principles that reflect their values. Values-based social media marketing can increase engagement, and increased attention helps a business create meaningful relationships with its customers.
Shopify holds parenting in very high regard, and values work flexibility for busy parents. The company proudly showcases an employee’s positive experience as a mother and a support intelligence analyst in this post.
Original and thoughtful posts like this are typically very well-received. They may help facilitate new B2B marketing opportunities and partnerships with like-minded brands.
Conclusion
The future of marketing is moving increasingly toward digital. As the number of businesses entering the online marketplace continues to grow, you’ll want to use every available resource to help gain your target audience’s attention.
Any B2B companies that do not implement social media into their marketing campaign strategies are already falling behind. If you aren’t doing so already, please take advantage of these 8 B2B social media marketing trends, as they will serve you tremendously.
The ability to be adaptable and continue learning in today’s ever-changing marketing world is fundamental for your company’s current and future growth.
Author Bio: Aaron Wittersheim is Chief Operating Officer at Straight North, a digital marketing company. He helped startups, middle-market, and Fortune 500 companies improve organizational structure and grow through his expertise in process conception, task automation, technology and internal project management.
Stefanini delivers innovative, creative marketing solutions in flexible, agile environments. Our teams are the vanguard of digital marketing. Co-create a custom solution with us to drive your business forward. Reach out to one of our experts today.
