B2B brands started getting interesting when they realized that “professional” is not synonymous with “serious,” or an antonym of “personable.” The most successful B2B brands on social media can stay professional while also exhibiting traits like creativity, empathy, and even (gasp!) humor.
Social media marketing is your brand’s chance to show off its personality, highlight the people behind the brand, and build relationships with your audience.
Here are some of our favorite B2B social media marketing examples to inspire your next campaign.
8 B2B social media marketing examples we love
The majority of best-of roundups like this focus on a single attention-grabbing campaign. For this list, we’re going a different route; we’re looking at brands who are continually seeing success on social media, and highlighting how they do it.
#1: ACCIONA wins with video
ACCIONA is a leader in infrastructure and renewable energy. They chose the unusual tactic of sponsored video content on LinkedIn to tell their brand story in a more engaging and engrossing way.
They produced two 60-second videos and used LinkedIn’s audience segmentation to target three distinct audiences.
Using video to tell their story paid off: Analytics showed over a million unique individuals watched the films, with completion rates well over established benchmarks.
We love to see B2B brands investing in video, whether it’s a simple talking-heads-style interview, a fully-produced spectacle, or anything in between.
#2: Mailchimp curates an eclectic Instagram
What do you do when your product is intangible (cloud-based software) and you’re on a mostly visual platform?
If you’re Mailchimp, you bring plenty of personality, a wide variety of content, and some eye-catching statistics and graphics. Mailchimp’s Instagram is a perfect example of how B2B social media can be fun, informational, and even beautiful.
#3: Adobe gets UGC right
When you own one of the biggest image creation and manipulation platforms in the world, it makes sense to highlight user-generated content (UGC). Adobe’s Instagram highlights beautiful work, but also showcases the designers and creators who use their products.
Adobe’s smart use of UGC helps build community while showcasing what Adobe’s solutions can do.
#4: Shopify builds a YouTube empire
YouTube is an outlier in the social media landscape. It’s part search engine, part video hosting service, and part social engagement platform. The way to win on YouTube is to treat it with the same strategy and care as any content marketing effort. Shopify’s channel is a great model to follow.
Shopify’s content is firmly focused on their audience: Small business owners. To help these entrepreneurs, Shopify produces how-to content for getting started with their platform and using it most effectively. But they also create inspirational videos aimed at helping people come up with their next big idea. The entire content mix is carefully curated to be valuable and informative to their current and potential customers.
#5: Loom pulls off next-level personalization
LinkedIn makes it easy for B2B marketers to personalize ads, at least to some degree. Dynamic ads can address individuals by name. You can segment audiences by other demographics to use more specific messaging, like “Here’s what other CMOs are doing…”
Loom achieved a special feat of personalization, though: The appearance of highly specific personalization with minimal effort. They created audiences based on their most sought-after corporate accounts. Then they created images for each business that included customized details like the company logo and number of employees already using their solution.
But each image was just a quick modification of an existing template — minimum work for an outsized return on investment. Loom nearly quadrupled the benchmark LinkedIn CTR with their clever, focused ads.
#6: Huawei gets smart on X
When you think of complex, in-depth, thought-provoking content, you probably don’t think of X (nee Twitter). But Huawei is making the most of their character count, offering substantive, thought-provoking content.
Whether it’s asking tough questions about AI and human interaction, or highlighting lengthy quotes from business leaders, Huawei proves that you can say a lot on a platform meant for saying less.
#7: Intel takes a stand
Tech giant Intel could use its social media accounts to tout the features and benefits of its many products. It could simply highlight customer stories or industry awards the brand has received. Instead, Intel puts its corporate values at the center of their social media strategy.
Scroll through their LinkedIn feed and you’ll see post after post about sustainable and renewable energy, diversity, equity and inclusion, and many other social issues. Their strategy helps make the world a better place while it helps build Intel’s credibility.
#8: Dropbox highlights employees & culture
“Humanizing your brand” is a common goal in the marketing world, one of those that seems like it should be easier than it is. Your company is made up of people, and those people create the corporate culture. It should be simple to highlight them and show the people behind the logo.
But not many B2B companies manage the feat. Dropbox is a notable exception. Their LinkedIn Page includes regular posts with the hashtag #LifeInsideDropbox. The brand creates space for employees to tell their stories. Even better, Dropbox celebrates employee achievements and offers public recognition.
Be sociable with your brand
These eight examples show just how broad the possibilities are for B2B brands on social media. You can champion a cause, show your corporate values, educate potential buyers, help current customers, and much more. And you can do it all with compelling visual and even video content.
TopRank Marketing has helped some of the world’s biggest B2B brands to level up their social media marketing. Learn more about our B2B social media marketing solutions.
