6 B2B Marketing Lessons Facebook Taught Us
There’s no doubt that Facebook is a force to be reckoned with. A meteoric growth, combined with a successful acquisition strategy, made it a social powerhouse, with 2.2 billion monthly active users.
But lately, it hasn’t been smooth sailing for the social giant, which faced growing privacy and misuse concerns. The tactics Facebook has used to weather these regulatory and PR storms, as well as the strategies it has employed throughout its path to tremendous global success, are B2B marketing lessons you could benefit from.
1. Create a Mission Statement and Let it Guide You
Facebook has never been shy about its mission: “to bring the world closer together”. It seems to be at the root of every strategic decision the company has made, such as the introduction of the new Newsfeed algorithm designed to prioritize “meaningful interactions” with friends and family.
The B2B Marketing Lesson
Your company’s mission (and core values) are the bread and butter of your brand and should be ingrained in every marketing activity or decision. Whether it’s being data-driven or providing a superior customer experience, following your brand will allow you to create a compelling message that customers respond to.
2. Improve on What your Competitors Do
Remember MySpace?
When was the last time you streamed content on Periscope?
MySpace and Periscope both introduced new ways of social networking that were good but not good enough. Periscope wasn’t integrated into the Twitter feed, its parent company, for 21 months since its launch. And MySpace failed to keep up with Facebook’s fast-paced innovations.
Clearly, being the first in the market wasn’t their path to success. Oftentimes, it’s about taking an existing product and making it superior.
The B2B Marketing Lesson
Following your competitors is certainly important but don’t be quick to replicate everything they do without validation. The key is to identify the gaps in their tactics and improve on them to reach audiences with better methods.
Even if all of your competitors are buzzing about video, use your marketing data to confirm the trend and determine if and how it could work for your specific audience.
3. It’s OK to Make Mistakes, As Long As You Own up To Them
The Russian-led bot activity, coupled with the recent Cambridge Analytica revelation, is perhaps the biggest crisis faced by Facebook yet.
In response to these events, Facebook announced new policies to combat “fake news” on its platform and close loopholes in its privacy policy. In his testimony before Congress, Mark Zuckerberg admitted that Facebook “could have done a better job of protecting its users’ data” and vowed to make changes for the future.
The B2B Marketing Lesson
Accountability is an important element of any marketing strategy. While its value is often overlooked or underestimated, marketing is an integral part of a company, and as such, has a distinct impact on the bottom line.
Whether you drive brand awareness or lead generation, setting clear goals and KPIs is the only way to demonstrate your ROI – and similarly, to reveal any failures. For instance, if you accidentally send out an email campaign to the wrong audience, those KPIs will help determine the negative impact and enable you to learn for next time.
4. Listen to Your Customers
As you can imagine, Facebook receives A LOT of feedback from its users across a number of channels – Help Center, Surveys, and even on its own page! They keep this process transparent, accessible, and editable for all individuals.
According to Mark Zuckerberg, the recent Newsfeed change was a response to distinct user feedback regarding the personal-to-brand content ratio on its platform.
The B2B Marketing Lesson
Any feedback collected from prospects or customers should be a valuable source of information. Any feedback collected from prospects or customers should be a valuable source of information. Click To TweetIt could come directly in the form of traditional forums and review sites or indirectly through social data and social listening tools.
For example, social data will tell you which types of content resonate with your audience and which don’t. Incorporating these insights into your editorial calendar will allow you to boost audience engagement, and ultimately enhance your content strategy.
Social listening, on the other hand, will let you in on which topics are trending and what your audience is buzzing about. The key is not only to establish buyer personas with distinct needs, goals, and pain points – but to constantly adapt these characteristics to incoming feedback.
Whatever you do, don’t limit customer feedback to content intelligence only. It’s also a powerful product marketing tool. Incorporating use cases and customer quotes on your website will provide credibility and serve as great collateral for your sales teams.
5. Adapt to Changing Needs and Environments
Facebook has always been one to roll with the punches. As video networks and content creation platforms became increasingly popular, Facebook has decided to launch its own version, called “Facebook Live” – a live streaming service.
More recently, Facebook has tapped into the bot trend, launching Messenger Bots that serve as an automated customer service solution for B2B and B2C companies. It doesn’t seem to be afraid to dare and innovate, nor does it shy away from being an early adopter of trends.
The B2B Marketing Lesson
Flexibility and agility cannot be overestimated when it comes to B2B marketing. You must be in sync with the market and adapt to new technologies if you want to create truly effective strategies and remain relevant.
6. Multi-channel Strategy is Key
Facebook runs a number of separate brands, including Instagram, Oculus, and WhatsApp. Companies often use Instagram for employee recruitment and engagement, while WhatsApp is used to connect between people. Each platform caters to different needs and offers distinct value.
The B2B Marketing Lesson
B2B marketers also need to diversify the channels they use to generate quality leads. Not all prospects are looking for the same content on the same channels. By creating a multi-channel strategy, you will cast a wider net while still accurately targeting your qualified leads.
Let Us Take You Back in Time
Do you remember what your Facebook marketing account looked like when you first opened it – we dare say more than 10 years ago? It’s a whole new world today! Facebook has integrated multiple services, transformed the visual layout of its Newsfeed, and gave users new ways of communicating with their friends and family.
Since its inception, Facebook continues to evolve and create a slightly different “Facebook” every time. This kind of innovative thinking and level of commitment to your brand values should serve as an inspiration for all B2B marketers. Click To Tweet Since its inception, Facebook continues to evolve and create a slightly different “Facebook” every time. This kind of innovative thinking and level of commitment to your brand values should serve as an inspiration for all B2B marketers.
