1. There exists an outdated skepticism: “Social media marketing doesn’t work for B2B companies like ours that have complex businesses compared to B2C companies”

This is a common misconception among B2B companies, who believe that new media channels are better suited for B2C businesses—where a purchase is just a click away—compared to traditional methods.

For a long time, B2B marketing relied on classic tactics such as seminars, events, emails, and newsletters. Many companies are now beginning to post organic content on social media, but they still primarily measure engagement metrics like likes and comments. This content tends to focus more on employer branding rather than driving sales. Due to a lack of understanding about the potential of digital marketing, there is a general distrust of its effectiveness, as it differs significantly from traditional reach-based media.

However, B2B companies that have been brave enough to test digital marketing often rush to evaluate its results. It’s important to consider how long it takes for your salespeople to convert a lead into a deal. Just like that, it takes time for an advertisement to create brand awareness, showcase products or offers, and ultimately lead to a deal. On average, we can expect to see results within 3-6 months, depending on the complexity of the deal. Social media marketing can contribute to long-term growth and profitability if approached strategically and provided with the right conditions.

2. Lack of cooperation between the marketing and sales departments in terms of lead management and evaluation

One challenge that many B2B marketing departments face is the lack of collaboration with the sales department. Although both units work towards the same business objectives, they often operate independently. This results in a lack of shared communication and understanding of the customer journey and touchpoints with the target audience.

There are opportunities for these departments to work together and leverage each other’s knowledge and insights. The marketing department should focus on generating hot and qualified leads through social media, which can drive higher volumes compared to the sales force. This would significantly streamline the sales team’s time and improve their success rate. On the other hand, the sales team can contribute valuable insights and key information for targeting the right audience and effective communication. It’s crucial to prioritize and act on the activities identified by the marketing department.

3. Reluctance to adopt a more customer-centric communication approach

One notable distinction between B2C and B2B companies is how they communicate with their respective target audiences. B2C companies tend to emphasize their brand and services in a more emotionally engaging and easily consumable manner. In contrast, B2B companies primarily focus on information-heavy communication that promotes their products or services, often with materials designed for internal use. These materials highlight what the company excels at instead of emphasizing the added value it provides to the end consumer. It’s time to shift the perspective and think more from the outside in, adopting a more customer-centric approach.

What is often overlooked is that behind every buying decision, there is a person with real feelings and interests. As humans, we have both rational and emotional sides. While our professional roles may prioritize efficiency and rationality, as individuals, we make purchasing decisions that shape our lifestyles or fulfill our personal needs. Therefore, it’s essential to tap into the emotional side of the target audience by leveraging insights such as demographics and interests.

Let’s consider a shift from B2B to B2E, “Business to Everyone,” and draw inspiration from how B2C companies communicate. This would allow salespeople to focus on hard facts and enable the marketing department to translate them into emotional and engaging contexts based on soft values. Ultimately, B2B marketing aims to create value and interest among relevant target groups, which reduces the time spent on unqualified leads and increases the focus on qualified leads.

4. Lack of digitization in the sales process and lead management

Many B2B companies still rely on manual labor and have not fully digitized their sales processes. This makes it challenging to track the return on investment from social media efforts and understand their impact on actual business outcomes.

Each sales process is often assigned to an individual salesperson, and the results related to marketing activities tend to fall through the cracks. To develop and streamline the process, it is crucial to map out the existing workflow and identify areas for improvement. This comprehensive approach allows you to follow the entire process, from the target audience’s interaction with your ad and website content to lead qualification, CRM-controlled events, agreement signing, and associated business. By doing so, you can measure the return on investment more accurately and identify patterns that contribute to more cost-effective campaigns based on valuable insights.

5. Inadequate implementation of technical aspects for fair evaluation

Finally, once a B2B company has established a digitized sales process and started generating leads through social media, it is common to neglect tracking the final return on investment. To effectively evaluate the outcomes, it is necessary to have the right technical setup in place. Implementing tracking pixels that capture the entire customer journey allows for assigning a value to each conversion and understanding the cost per lead and the actual revenue generated from each channel in the media mix.

Start by defining your cost per lead and determining how many leads you need. Collaborate with the sales team to analyze the sales price and cycle. Decide on an acceptable investment for each lead in relation to your margins on a deal and consider the resources required to close a deal. By aligning your actual sales process with the measurement of your social media investment, you can establish a fair starting position and set realistic revenue expectations based on previous sales results.