Essential B2B Social Strategies for 2023

Obvious statement: Social media marketing is undergoing some pretty seismic changes at the moment.

We know, we know: “the sky is blue, grass is green…” Still, it’s hard to deny that social in 2022 has been pretty exceptional.

As certain social platforms grow in strength and influence while others undergo very public identity crises, B2B marketers are faced with a 2023 of uncertainty and a pressing need to be more agile and proactive than ever.

Enter stage right: DigiConf.

The rolling masterclass of B2B social media returned at the end of the year for the first of a fresh series of expert-driven, free virtual sessions. Guest speakers and audience members alike offered up plenty of valuable insight from across the industry in what proved to be an excellent opening discussion.

So, without further ado, here’s a closer look at the key talking points from DigiConf: 5 Essential B2B Social Strategies for 2023.

The Essential B2B Social Strategies for 2023

To address the biggest B2B social challenges and opportunities of the new year, we were joined by an esteemed panel of expert guests.
Bian Salins, formerly Head of Content & Marketing Consulting at LinkedIn; paid social and SaaS specialist, Gery Slov; and Joe Morris, Global Head of Social Media at Cap Gemini, pitched their top strategies for 2023.

Once again, humanisation, creativity and authenticity were at the heart of the conversation.

Authenticity in Digital Marketing

Humanisation was a common thread throughout the discussion. Time and again conversation reiterated the fundamental truth of B2B digital marketing: we’re not selling to businesses, we’re selling to people. We are all consumers. Brands need to be creative, relevant and add value.

Creativity has been the marketing buzzword in recent years. With the rise in popularity of short-form content on platforms such as TikTok, Bian noted a more widespread sense of brands having ‘permission to play’ – the idea that creativity is more important than ever, with an increase typical TikTok-style formats spilling over into the likes of LinkedIn.

When seeking to produce content of value, it’s not enough to replicate formats. Joe explained why companies should never undervalue the emotional aspect of the content we produce: as marketers we need to think how our content will make people feel – not just how it will look.

“‘B2B’ in marketing doesn’t really exist anymore. The traditional corporate tone of voice doesn’t work in a post-pandemic world where we crave authenticity. Yes, there will always be business-to-business companies, but the customer experience requires genuine human interactions.”

That’s why the notion of putting the ‘social’ back into social really resonates.

Putting the “Social” back into Social Media

With the social status quo shifting, there is a need – and an opportunity – to seek fresh audiences: new, innovative communities of interest.
Gery Slov made the case for tech companies in particular to look beyond LinkedIn to find communities of people interested in niche topics, citing Slack as a great place to identify and communicate with niche communities or technical experts.

As B2B social marketing output becomes more human and brands begin to ‘socialise’ and engage in conversations, will we see social executive comms replace corporate organic social? As Joe suggests, we might see a shift in focus away from corporate social channels towards the personal social channels of senior executives and subject matter experts (SMEs) working in B2B companies.

Experts engaging with experts on their level could well be a social marketing dealbreaker in 2023.

Going Live

The next session saw OST’s own Luke Brynley-Jones and Helen Sharpe explore live streaming for B2B social, featuring a case study of our award-shortlisted #DellTogether EMEA LinkedIn Live campaign.

The #DellTogether campaign saw our team run a series of LinkedIn Lives across Europe in Spring 2022. Dissecting this complex, multi-language programme in detail, it didn’t take long for the topic of ‘people power’ to pop up again.

As Luke explained, one of the key takeaways from these LinkedIn Live was learning the extent that employee empowerment can impact lead generation.

“One interesting finding was that the organic social media sharing of the local Dell Technologies teams within each country had a demonstrable impact on the number of signups to the live event.”

Getting employees to engage with your audience is just part of the challenge: getting them to engage with your content on a meaningful level will give your campaign a solid foundation to build upon.

TikTok & The Metaverse

By now you’ve clocked that newer platforms like TikTok are having quite an impact on the content being produced and how it’s consumed.
Our final guest session saw social strategist, Kwai Chi, join us to break down the exciting B2B opportunities to be found in TikTok & The Metaverse.

Echoing Bian’s observations on the growing trend of TikTok-style content formats spreading to platforms such as LinkedIn, Kwai acknowledged the fresh wave of creativity and innovation being exhibited by leading B2B brands across social.

It’s important to celebrate this innovation (we love to see it!), but it’s important not to get carried away and excited with these new ideas. Kwai noted the need for caution: like with any investment, it’s important to avoid putting all your eggs in one basket.

The trick to ‘safely’ innovating? Experimententation, according to Kwai. Be brave, try new things, and dare to be different – but don’t be reckless!

Sage advice for life as well as B2B social marketing, we daresay.

You can now watch DigiConf Session 2 – Hyper-Creativity in B2B Social here.

Next Up: DigiConf Session 3- Is Exec Comms the Future of B2B Social? Sign Up Now.

It’s safe to say that DigiConf: 5 Essential B2B Social Strategies for 2023 was a success.

A very big thank you to our panel of esteemed guests, and to everyone who followed and joined the discussion on the day! With all the expertise offered up by speakers and audience members alike, 2023 promises to be a very exciting and transformative year for B2B social marketing!

Don’t worry if you missed our first session; you can watch the recording in full here.