Technology companies rise and fall in the blink of an eye. Even with the best SaaS services or IT solutions on the market, it can be extremely difficult to cut through the noise and attract the kind of attention you need to truly thrive.
One of the most effective ways to gain a foothold in the highly saturated technology industry is to become a thought leader—and paid social is a reliable and cost-effective way to do it. Paid social comes in a variety of forms, including LinkedIn Sponsored Content and InMail, Facebook ads, promoted Tweets, and sponsored Instagram posts, to name a few.
Learn how and why paid social is the driving force behind any effective thought leadership strategy. But first, get a quick refresher on what it means to become a thought leader today.
Becoming a Thought Leader
Effective thought leaders express progressive ideas with data-driven, research-rich content that gets published, pitched, read, and shared by industry KOLs, the media, and potential clients and partners. It comes in the form of high-quality, long-form content, which includes bylines, whitepapers, research papers, eBooks, guides, and so forth. This type of content tells your prospective clients that you know what you’re talking about and will be a trusted technology provider for their business.
Paid social media marketing is an ideal tactic for promoting your thought leadership because it guarantees your content will be seen by the right people, fast. In 2019, 73% of marketing strategies included some form of social media advertising, and the 2020 B2B Marketing Mix Report shows that you can expect similar numbers for 2020.
With that, let’s look at the five main reasons why paid social is a mission-critical tactic for B2B technology companies seeking to become thought leaders.
1. It’s Quick and Easy to Start Your Campaign
Whether you’re just getting your business off the ground or you’ve been in the industry for years, launching a paid social media marketing campaign is quick and easy (especially when you have an agency to help). With a few budgeting and scheduling details, plus information about your target audience and the content you want to share, you can get your campaign up and running in minutes.
As you continue to observe how your audience interacts with and digests your content, you can hone your campaign by micro-targeting smaller segments with more specialized content that solidifies your company’s place as a thought leader in your industry’s niche.
2. It Provides Comprehensive Insight into Your Target Market
Did your readers download your eBook or technical guide? Have they been sharing your posts or commenting on their experiences with your products or services? Detailed platform analytics and reporting tools that are available from paid social media marketing campaigns allow you to understand exactly how your audience interacts and engages with your content.
By studying how people connect with your offerings, you can continuously publish content that resonates with your audience. You’ll also gain a deeper understanding of the people who benefit most from your products or services, and what they need to make their experience even better. This means that you can quickly address current issues within your industry and stay at the forefront of ideas and trends that are on the horizon.
3. It’s Highly Customizable to Suit Your Needs and Budget
Customizing and optimizing your campaign over time ties directly into the analytical data we just talked about. With paid social marketing, you can set a specific budget for your campaign that only makes you pay if a user takes a desired action, such as visiting your website, submitting a form, or downloading your content. This means there’s little risk of overspending, and you can always know exactly how your money is being used. Additionally, you can continuously refine your targeting and budgeting parameters to suit changing needs of your business.
Along with your budget, the content you publish is entirely up to you. Maybe your audience had an overwhelmingly positive response to your eBook or whitepaper about new advancements in artificial intelligence, for example. With detailed metrics, you can observe how people interact with and digest your content and gain a better idea of how and where to direct your creative and monetary resources in the future.
4. It Gives You Exposure to Reach More People
The days of simply creating a nice post and feeling confident that your followers will see it are long gone. As of 2019, LinkedIn boasts 660 million members in 200 countries around the world, and more than two new members sign up every second of every day.1
LinkedIn and other social media platforms use complex algorithms to ensure their users see relevant, up-to-date content from a wide variety of competing sources. With a paid social media marketing campaign, you’re guaranteed to put your content directly in front of the right people.
Another aspect of your audience to consider is the sheer number of people who spend most of their internet time on mobile devices. A recent report by CNBC shows that by 2025, almost 75% of the Earth’s population will only access the internet via mobile devices.2 Social media platforms have developed alongside mobile technology and are directly integrated into their core experiences. Best of all, they’re already populated with your ideal audience; all you need to do is reach them with your content.
5. It Maximizes Your ROI
As you explore social media marketing and advertising options, you’ll frequently come across the term “social media presence.”
Your presence is important on social media, but at this point, you probably realize that simply being present isn’t enough to have a real impact. Pure organic traffic takes a few months to yield tangible results. Paid social media marketing can provide you with the kind of audience insights you’ll need to make your organic efforts that much more successful.
Paid social guarantees exposure, bringing you more awareness and leads from the moment your campaign launches.When you invest in paid social, you can be confident that not only will your content be seen, but it’ll be seen by those who it’s most relevant to and who are most likely to become clients.
Take Advantage of Every Opportunity to Promote Your Business
The new year is quickly approaching, and it’s clear that social media isn’t going anywhere. Paid social media marketing is a powerful tool that can help you establish yourself as a thought leader in today’s over-saturated digital landscape. To become and remain a thought leader, you must regularly create and promote new and exciting content that gets people interested in what you’re doing and what you have to say. Paid social is one of the most effective ways to accomplish that.
The five points discussed here are just a quick overview of some of the benefits of paid social media marketing. As you plan for the next phase of your marketing program, use our 2020 B2B Marketing Mix Report for guidance. Or, for hands-on advice about your social media marketing campaign, talk with our experts. We love getting to know new companies and helping accelerate their success.
