With 70% of B2B decision-makers employing social media to research and glean information about their purchases, it is becoming an increasingly essential aspect of any business’ B2B marketing strategy – but it is of particular importance for technology companies. If you are going to stand out from the crowd in an already crowded marketplace, you need to make use of all available resources to shout your marketing message as loud as you can. It is absolutely mission-critical for any respectable technology company to have a watertight inbound marketing campaign, and in order to maximise its success, you must know how to leverage this channel.

Here are 6 reasons why B2B technology companies should be making use of social media in their inbound marketing strategy.

1. Demonstrate you know technology – Any respectable technology company must be able to show they are tech-savvy, after all why would you purchase software or hardware from a company that doesn’t seem to know how to fully leverage technology to further their own business? If your customers see that you are not using social media effectively or at all then this could reflect negatively on your business. All the big technology companies today have a strong social presence, so if you are not employing this channel, or simply not using it to its full potential then you will be left straggling behind the industry giants such as IBM who have seen enormous customer generation success through their social platforms. Over 80% of B2B IT decision-makers use social networks to research their purchases and so your social presence will have to make a good first impression.

2. Tech consumers use social more than anyone else – People who work in technology tend to maximise the use of every digital tool they have available to them. Whether it’s the latest Smartphone, tablet, Google Glass or whatever other gadgets the future has to offer, they’ll be using this technology to access social networking sites on a regular basis to inform their B2B technology purchases. A good social strategy can allow you to be right there to assist them and influence their purchasing decisions when they do.

3. Integration with products – One of the key benefits for technology companies is that in many cases there is the capability to integrate social into your product or service, for example if you are selling mobile apps or software. This is a great way to optimise your products and services for the digital age.

4. Return on investment – One of the best things about social networking for B2B technology marketing is that it gives you direct access to millions of potential prospects for a relatively low investment. Whilst you may want to invest in marketing tools such as HubSpot to streamline the processes, social requires minimal expense and it can be easily adopted by your team in no time at all.

5. Quick and efficient customer service – Allowing your customers to follow you and make contact with your business via social provides you with a great platform for quick and efficient customer service. This means you can provide your loyal customer base with the real-time up-to-the-minute service they need, fielding complaints, answering queries and letting them know about any upcoming events or industry news.

6. Establish yourself as a technology industry leader – Your social strategy should not just be designed to promote your business and generate customers. This is your ultimate goal, but not every tweet should be an outright promotion. You can also use your social presence to post about industry news, technological developments, upcoming events and any other relevant information your followers might be interested to hear about. Show how well you know the industry you are in and you can build trust with your followers and establish yourself as a thought leader. The increased authority this bestows upon your brand will make you appear more knowledgeable and trustworthy, and as a result potential customers will be much more likely to choose your business when making a purchase.

To summarise, a good, well thought-out social media strategy will result in a huge wealth of benefits for your B2B technology company, and overlooking these benefits could result in several missed opportunities in terms of lead and customer generation. A quick return on investment can be achieved through this channel, as long as you know how to use it effectively.

As well as social media, it is beneficial to look at your whole Inbound Marketing performance. To learn more read our eBook around these techniques:

To find out more about how we can help you with your Inbound Marketing, from strategy through to deployment and ongoing management, contact us to arrange an initial conversation.