Social Media: Where to Distribute B2B Content Marketing [Research/Chart]

7 Social Media Platforms B2B Content Marketing Needs

About nine out of ten B2B marketers use social media to distribute their content marketing according to recent research by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs. On average these marketers use five social media sites to spread their content marketing more broadly through social sharing. 

For B2B marketers, this requires that your content marketing be formatted to work well on the social media platforms where you place it and that you encourage readers to share it. (Here’s a chart showing how to leverage different types of content marketing across social media.)

Respondents cited fourteen different social media platforms that they used to distribute content. (Here’s additional research and analysis from the content marketing survey.) Half of the social media venues were used by over 20% of respondents.

Interestingly, blogs weren’t mentioned. This is attributable to the fact that blogs are a form of content as well as a CMS (content management system). As a result, blogs provide a built-in way to distribute and share content. Further, B2B blogs tend to be integrated into an organization’s website to maximize search optimization results; as such, they’re not viewed as social media entities.

Social Media: B2B Content Marketing Distribution Chart

©2012 Heidi Cohen – Riverside Marketing Strategies  https://heidicohen.com

B2B Usage via 2013 B2B Content Marketing Benchmark
Social Media Size sources: LinkedIn, http://visual.ly/just-how-big-twitter-2012 Facebook June 2012, YouTUbe; Google+ via Compete July 2012; http://www.businessinsider.com/pinterests-traffic-explodes-to-23-million-uniques-2012-8

5 Tips to enhance social media distribution of B2B content marketing

To extend the reach of your content marketing on social media platforms, here are five tips.

1. Adapt your content to a format that stands out on your chosen social media platform. With social media one size doesn’t necessarily fit all. Tailor your content to the platform to maximize results.
2. Include links to your product and website. Once readers have taken the time to go through your information, guide them to your website by including links to your offering.
3. Include relevant hashtags. These shorthand abbreviations help your message get to a wider audience. They work for Twitter and Slideshare.
4. Encourage social sharing. Don’t just assume that once you publish content lots of people will find and read it. Add relevant social sharing buttons at the top and bottom of the content.
5. Incorporate a relevant call-to-action. Once you’ve primed your prospects with your content marketing, it’s important to guide them to take action. Use a relevant social media call-to-action.

Social media is a great to expand your content marketing’s reach by using a variety of different platforms and taking these five steps to maximize your content’s impact.

Which social media channels do you use to distribute your B2B content marketing and why?

Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen

Here are some related articles you may find of interest:

• 5 Ways Social Media Boosts B2B Marketing [Examples]
• 30 Insider Tips to Extend Your Content Marketing Without Really Trying.
• How to make the case for content marketing. 
• Facebook versus Twitter: What works

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nanagyei/5697045951/