"Social Media: A Key Tool for B2B Growth and Engagement"

Social media has become an essential tool for businesses to engage with their customers and prospects. This is not just limited to consumer brands, as B2B companies are also leveraging social media to drive awareness, sales and customer satisfaction. In fact, Salesforce, a leading CRM platform, has invested in social media marketing and technology to reach customers and prospects on over 150 social channels.

In 2022, Salesforce partnered with Sprout Social, a social media management platform, to enhance their capabilities in social listening, analytics and managing direct messages. This has allowed them to gain valuable insights from social media and effectively manage their messaging, impacting their organization beyond just social media marketing. This shows how B2B businesses can use social media to grow their brand and connect with their audience.

The growing importance of social media in the B2B world is evident, as key decision makers are increasingly using social media to conduct self-guided research on businesses. According to Marissa Kraines, Vice President and Global Head of Social Media at Salesforce, people are now more likely to visit a company's social media channels rather than their website when trying to learn about their brand. This shift has led Salesforce to increase their investment in social media marketers and technology.

Internally, Salesforce uses Sprout Social to manage and gain intelligence from social media. For their customers, Sprout Social is integrated into their Service Cloud, allowing for a seamless experience. Kraines' team has also grown from four social media managers in 2019 to over 20 people, who work collaboratively with marketing, content organization, communications, and external partners and agencies.

One of the key benefits of leveraging social media is the ability to gain real-time insights and streamline social media reports from all channels. This allows businesses to understand their audience's interests and preferences, and make informed decisions for future campaigns. Kraines and her team also use social media analytics to present biweekly reports and insights to other teams, helping them to act on the findings.

Moreover, social media also provides a unique opportunity for B2B marketers to engage in two-way conversations with their audience. Through social listening and tools like Sprout Social's Smart Inbox, businesses can respond to both positive and negative sentiment, and transfer customer service inquiries to their Service Cloud. This not only improves customer satisfaction but also helps build a community of advocates online.

In conclusion, social media has become an essential component of a full-funnel marketing strategy for B2B businesses. It allows them to reach their target audience, gain valuable insights, and engage in meaningful conversations. By leveraging technology like Sprout Social, businesses can effectively manage their social media presence and drive business growth. As Scott Morris, CMO of Sprout Social, puts it, social media is becoming increasingly business-critical for organizations of all sizes.

Originally reported by Martech: https://martech.org/salesforces-full-funnel-approach-to-social-media/
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