POV: You’re a B2B brand, and you feel that Instagram is just for the influencers, and small business owners. Let me correct you, you are totally wrong! With over 800 million users and a constant rise in the new users, Instagram is a social media platform, that no business can ignore.
From engaging with the target audience, to increasing the customer base, or raising an awareness about the brand, Instagram can facilitate the B2B owners in more than one way possible.
Instagram is an excellent platform for business-to-business marketers. It provides a space for new connections to be made in almost any industry, at almost any stage of development. It's a gold mine for connecting with current and potential customers, with over 600 million users.
What is B2B?
B2B (business-to-business) is a type of electronic commerce (e-commerce) in which products, services, or information are exchanged between businesses rather than between businesses and consumers (B2C).
A business-to-business transaction takes place between two companies, such as wholesalers and online retailers. In most B2B business models, each organization benefits in some way and has comparable bargaining power.
What is a B2B Company?
B2B companies encourage companies that provide the funding necessary by other business owners to develop and expand. Payroll network operators and industrial distributors are two examples.
This varies from Business-To-Consumer (B2C) models, which advertise messages to specific customers, and Consumer-To-Business (C2B) models, wherein users offer solutions to businesses (such as customer reviews or influencer marketing).
B2B companies cater to a different market: they provide the crude ingredients, final assembly, services, or counselling sessions that other employers require in order to operate, grow, and profit.
Examples of B2B Companies
B2B businesses can be observed in any sector, from manufacturing to retail. You can bet that dozens of new B2B suppliers and advanced practice will be present wherever the company is operating.
Every B2C industry earns B2B exercise because it requires specialized products, assistance, and expert guidance.
Automobile manufacturing is an example of a traditional B2B market. Everyone is familiar with some of the most well-known consumer-facing brands, but dozens of other companies' products can be found in every model of car or truck they produce. These include the tires, hoses, batteries, and electronics required for the final consumer product – the vehicle – to function properly.
The manufacturer obtains these items from various suppliers and incorporates them into the finished product. When you buy a car from one company, you're buying parts made by dozens, if not hundreds, of other companies all over the world. Business-to-Business sales are an essential component of any industry's supply chain.
5 Helpful Ideas For The Growth Of B2B Brands Using Instagram
Instagram ought not to be your primary platform for B2B marketing.
However, it can always be a platform where you can establish your presence in order to reach out to younger audiences, raise brand awareness, and stay in touch with existing customers.
Here are a few ways by which B2B brands can benefit from Instagram marketing.
1. Concentrate On The Solution Your Brand Offers Its Customers
It's common for B2B companies to avoid Instagram, especially if they consider themselves to be too “boring” for the average Instagram user to enjoy. However, as Carolyn Miller points out, “There are no boring brands, only boring marketers.” It is critical for your Instagram marketing to explain what your brand does.
However, pitching your products and services directly on the platform may be ineffective because users are not here to discover new companies but to view beautiful images and videos.
With that in mind, consider why your company was founded in the first place. Perhaps your brand, like IBM, was created to “Create innovation that matters.” Perhaps you're a financial services firm that simply wants to help small business owners become better business owners.
Whatever your story is, use it as a source of inspiration for creating visually engaging content.
Example:
NASA, which was founded on the innate desire to “Explore the new ocean” that is outer space, educates its followers on technological advances in aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA accomplishes this through short, to-the-point video content that is also visually stimulating, such as this animation featuring two neutron stars.
Instagram should be viewed by your company as a platform for sharing your story, connecting with your audience, and building your brand. Buying instant Instagram views would be helpful in the process.
2. Know Your Clients
Understanding your customers is critical because you must create content that adds value to their lives.
Marketers should work hard to get to know their B2B customers better. As unlikely as it may sound, B2B marketers may not always have a clear idea of what their customers actually want, despite the fact that it is the essence of their job.
Example:
If you're convinced that your customers aren't interested in engaging with your company on Instagram, or that the channel is only for millennials, consider the following statistics: 30-49-year-olds are the fastest-growing demographic on Instagram.
On Instagram, 80% of users follow a business.
If you're marketing to people aged 25 to 54, you should interact with them in a way that they enjoy. Consider Instagram not only as a platform for engaging with your customers personally but also as a tool for nurturing and creating long-term and mutually beneficial relationships.
By documenting life through the lens of an Amex cardholder, American Express gives it's brand a relatable personality.
3. Humanize Your Instagram Brand
Authenticity is important to B2B buyers. People connect with brands they have faith in the B2B buying process. Hence, it is essential that you give a human touch to your brand. This can be anything, from introducing your team, to showing a video of how your business processes typically look like.
With so many features at its disposal, Instagram is the ideal platform for your B2B company to show its uniqueness, human value and authenticity.
Here are a few ideas for humanizing your B2B Instagram profile:
- Share your employees feature interviews with your team and CEO that explain the company culture.
- Use videos to describe a day at your workplace.
- Start living your life.
- Add videos of behind the scene is possible.
- Add posts and videos of celebrations or special events
If you want to take a step further, you can also design personalized merchandise for your business. These can be used as giveaways. Anything, from books to T-shirts, coffee mugs can be customized.
Your employees are most certainly going to share the images with this personalized merchandise, thus spreading the word about your brand.
Humanizing your brand on Instagram is one of the most effective ways to provide personalized B2B marketing, differentiate yourself from competitors, and engage followers
4. Run Lead Ad Campaigns on Instagram
You can interact with people who do not follow your business profile when using Instagram for B2B promotion. Running Instagram lead ad campaigns that help cut through the noise and find potential customers outside of your following is a good idea.
Instagram advertising provides advanced options for advertisers looking to reach the right audience and convert visitors into customers. As a B2B marketer, you understand how difficult the buying process is, so gaining more leads with ads like the one below can be a great idea:
- The rise in popularity of Instagram marketing has had a significant impact on many businesses.
- Although Instagram isn't the most obvious marketing channel for B2B companies, it has tremendous potential for B2B companies looking to promote their products, find B2B buyers, and stand out.
Here are some of the most effective ways to use Instagram Ads:
- Website visitor retargeting
- Nurture leads and prospects at various stages of the deal.
- Promote new features to existing customers in order to upsell them.
- Customers' success stories should be promoted.
Using the best practices listed above, you can create an Instagram marketing strategy that produces results for your B2B company. So don't waste time jumping on the bandwagon!
5. Make Use Of Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories appear at the top of every user's feed and are an excellent way to stay top-of-mind with your target audience.
Your stories don't have to be complicated. Use them to promote internal projects, product updates and launches, and the company culture. Consider the following:
- Showcasing your company culture: for example, behind-the-scenes content such as a day in the life of one of your employees.
- When sharing your events, remember to include geographic locations and tag your collaborators.
- Making promotional offers: Take advantage of Instagram Stories' 24-hour lifespan to make exclusive offers.
- Creating engagement: Use Stories to start conversations with your community, such as by creating a poll.
- Drive engagement to other channels by reminding your followers to visit your website's latest blog or a content offer on a landing page.
- Instagram stories can also be tracked. You can keep track of who has interacted with your content and adjust your social strategy accordingly.
Conclusion
Instagram is not as simple as Twitter or Facebook, where you can simply share industry-relevant content and receive clicks back to your website. It takes a little more time and creativity. You need to express yourself more. Your followers will want to feel as if they share something with you.
It probably won't translate directly to sales or conversions right away, but it will once your following grows large enough. It will also assist you in creating the impression you want to make with your current and prospective customers.
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