Some people think that B2B and B2C social media are very different. I think they are similar, however. But one thing people often see as the hallmark of B2B social media is actually useful in some B2C situations as well. I am talking about a technique that is missing from many social media playbooks: proving your expertise. Now you might believe that there are lots of ways that proving your expertise can be common between B2B and B2C social media—writing a blog, for example. But I want to tell you that many businesses need this technique no matter who their customers are. It depends more on what kind of offering you have than you whom sell it to.
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Proving your expertise is a well-worn approach, but I still see fewer marketers using it than need it. Any company that makes a high consideration product needs this tool in its tool belt. If you have product that solves a problem, you first need to win the trust of your customer by being the expert in solving that problem. Only then can you hope to win the sale.
You might be selling B2B. You might be selling B2C. It doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that you have information to convey that your customer needs.
Take insurance. Does it really matter if you are selling life insurance to a consumer or professional liability insurance to a business? In both cases you have to prove that you know your stuff. And social media can help you do it in either case. A well-written blog or a well-made video speaks volumes.
And in both cases, specialization helps. Instead of making the video about life insurance, make it about using life insurance as a way of passing your estate to your grandchildren. Or about helping a new parent protect the family. Take a very specific problem and explain its solution, just as you do every day in your office.
Professional liability is a big subject, too. The store owner has very different problems than the consultant. Write one blog post about protecting yourself from customers slipping and falling and a different one about intellectual property problems. Your high consideration product needs to be made real to a customer by solving a problem they know they have.
So, what about you? Do you sell something that takes a lot of explanation? That might be a bit complex? That people don’t buy all the time? If so, the Web is a great place to explain it. But social media is the right place to show off your expertise. If you prove that you are an expert in solving their problems, you’ll persuade a lot of customer to buy from you.
