StrategySocialMediaSince social media is gaining in importance in our everyday lives, marketing and sales teams must adapt to these consumer habits. Today’s customers expect relevant, personalized, and up-to-date content; therefore, traditional methods of cold calling and email marketing do not do justice to this, but the use of social media has a major impact on the success of marketing and sales.

According to a Forrester study, salespeople who use social media for acquisition, create more sales opportunities than those who don't. Despite this, just 25% of B2B companies equip their marketing and sales employees with supporting social engagement tools, meaning social media still holds enormous potential for companies.

If you want to seize these opportunities, you need a clear strategy

In the context of the megatrend of digitization, companies should not be concerned with transferring existing methods and strategies into the digital space, but rather developing new formats to use the potential of the new digital channels. Currently, however, many B2B companies still treat the use of social media as an extra that is only peripheral to their overall planning and strategy.

Especially because the social media landscape is developing quickly and customer expectations are consistently changing, the channels cannot only be used incidentally, rather, must be firmly integrated into the corporate strategy.

To set up the most efficient and effective strategy possible, it is crucial that marketing and sales teams combine their skills. In this way, framework conditions can be created within which everyone involved can work smoothly.

The most important thing here is that the social media strategy aligns with the overall vision of the company. Social media should be used as a tool to support the company's overall vision and culture, and to strengthen the company's image in a sustainable manner.

In addition, it is crucial for companies to formulate clearly defined goals and implement metrics to measure the effectiveness of their strategy. In this way, successes become comprehensible and potential for improvement can be easily recognized and implemented. In the fast-paced world of social media, companies also need to ensure that both marketing and sales have access to the right social media tools and training. Just like the social media strategy itself, the further training measures should also be well structured and arouse interest among employees as well as create a deeper understanding.

Social media dos and don'ts

As soon as the strategy is in place and the relevant tools have been implemented, companies need to define guidelines that employees can use to guide them when implementing the strategy. Therefore, you might be interested in the following dos and don’ts we recommend when dealing with social media.

  • Show your expertise by commenting on relevant content. Social media thrives on interaction. Put your own expertise to the test and learn from other experts at the same time.
  • Build up a strong network. For businesses, social media platforms are all about building long-term relationships and connections with potential customers. Spending time engaging with users about relevant content may not result in an immediate sale, but it greatly contributes to the above goal of building your status as an expert in the field.
  • Maintain your personality on social media and focus on topics relevant to prospects. Be creative and use formats like videos to present yourself as part of a modern company and offer more engaging customer experiences.
  • Don't overdo it with self-promotion! Less is more in this regard, as potential customers on social media platforms are not interested in advertising but in relevant content. It may seem paradoxical, but in the long run, this leads to more deals and a better customer experience.
  • Do not send unsolicited offers. Don't fall into the same trap as with traditional selling. The goal is to build a relationship of trust with potential customers via social media channels. A hit-and-run style offer is more of a hindrance to building a relationship.
  • Don't share anything without first considering whether it's effective and relevant. There is a fine line between revealing your own personality and representing your company. Always keep the overall strategy in mind and follow it religiously.


When used effectively and efficiently, social media platforms can establish themselves as experts in their field, build lasting relationships with potential customers, and ultimately close more deals. Many companies are currently failing to implement this type of social media strategy, consequently, those that do will be able to stand out from the crowd and generate a competitive advantage.

By Daniela La Marca