Thursday, August 18, 2011

Think Facebook is Not For B2B Companies, Think Again

Written by Brittany Miller, Neu Concepts 

At Neu Concepts, we have the privilege of working with a lot of interesting companies who offer B2B products. When I ask if they have a Facebook page for their company, they wrinkle their noses and reply, “Facebook is for my personal stuff.” 

Don’t you want your company to be more personal?

Start a Conversation

There are over 750 million active Facebook users worldwide. That’s a lot of conversations B2B companies are missing out on! Facebook is a great way for B2B companies to engage with their target audiences. Actively participating in the conversations happening on your wall and encouraging customers to talk about how they are using your products are some of the easiest ways you can connect with people and start conversations.

iContact does a great job starting conversations on their B2B Facebook page. They utilize multiple tabs to give users free, useful content in the form of articles, slideshows and videos. They also make it really easy for users to interact with their product by providing a free edition of their famous email marketing software AND the conversation does not stop on their wall. They encourage users to connect with them via their email mailing lists and questions tab. Pretty impressive iContact!


Display Company Culture

Has your company done a community service project? Hosted an event at your space? Bought an office bunny? Facebook lets you post pictures and status updates talking about all the exciting things your company and its employees are doing. Your page is an outlet for your business to express its culture and show the softer side of your company. Your company is not just a product or service. Facebook allows people to get an inside look at what makes your business so successful—its people!

BrontoNation, the Facebook fan site of Bronto Software, does a great job at displaying their company culture via Facebook. With interesting staff photos, the adventures of Brontosaurus, and examples of Bronto art, BrontoNation doesn’t just tell you about their fun, company culture, they show you. A picture is worth a thousand words! A B2B Facebook page allows you to say less by showing more.


Show Fans a Face

People want to do business with people. Facebook gives you the ability to show your audience that behind your company logo are real people. Actively participating in customer conversations on your Facebook wall creates happy customers. Happy customers share happy experiences with happy friends who come to your happy company for a happy experience—okay maybe I am getting a little carried away here but you get the idea! When you show people there is someone who cares behind your brand, you are giving customers a personalized social experience that allows them to put their trust into your brand.

Feedly’s Facebook page is a perfect example of a company showing fans a face. On their Facebook wall they are constantly posting new content, asking for users opinions on software updates or icon styles and responding thoughtfully to users comments. They really care about their users and engage in meaningful conversations. Taking the time to invest in these conversations will reap huge rewards for any B2B company.


The bottom line: B2B Facebook pages help your company engage in a personable way with consumers. People want to do business with people and your B2B page is the way to start doing just that.

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