Social media can be scary for B2B companies. Getting your desired audience to see your posts can sometimes be challenging. Let’s discuss the importance of hashtags as it pertains to B2B companies on social media.
Today’s B2B Social Media Dilemma
Social media is a great tool for many companies. B2C companies are marketing directly to the buyer who can often make a purchase decision on the spot, especially for lower-cost products.
On the other hand, B2B companies seem to struggle on social media for a few reasons.
Individuals often don’t have purchasing power. Many times, purchases have to be approved and budget has to be allocated.
People don’t want to follow B2B companies on social media because they use social media for personal reasons.
Sales cycles are often longer in B2B and people are not buying directly from social platforms, so it’s difficult to track sales that originally came from social media.
Because of these challenges, many B2B companies decide not to make social media a priority in their marketing strategy. Don’t be one of those companies that avoid social media!
The Importance of Social Media in a B2B World
Social media is a free tool that is available to every organization. It’s a tool that should be used for brand recognition and educational purposes. Show your audience that you’re a real company that is a true expert in your field.
Why Hashtags are Important
One metric that B2B companies struggle with most is impressions, which trickles down to engagement and conversions. Since they generally have fewer followers than B2C companies, they need to find a way to reach other members of the social media community.
Hashtags are a way to join in on a conversation about a specific topic. For example, if you want to learn about social media marketing, you may decide to search Facebook for #SocialMediaMarketing to do some initial research. (If you try it, you may also find this blog post!) Hashtags are a great way to get your brand and message out there to people who are looking for information on a specific topic. According to research by Hootsuite, Instagram posts with at least one hashtag get 70% more likes than those without hashtags.
That being said, you want to make sure you’re using the right hashtags. Here are some tips on how to find find the right hashtags for your business:
Use a variety of hashtags. Use some hashtags with 100,000s of posts and others with 10,000s of posts. That variety should get you a range of impressions.
Don’t over-hashtag. Some platforms only allow for a certain number of hashtags, for example, Instagram only allows 30. You also don’t want to hashtag spam, so only use hashtags that are relevant to the specific post.
Engage with other posts in hashtags related to your business. Engaging is a great way for people to see your expertise in your field.
Need Help Finding or Using Hashtags?
Mountaintop Marketing has experience finding appropriate hashtags for B2B companies in many industries. Contact us for help with social media marketing today!