Posted 04.18.2023 by Josh Krakauer

B2B Social Media on a Budget: 7 Effective Tactics to Test in 2023

Want to leverage alternative tactics to boost your social media strategy? Here are 7 cost-effective tactics to test in 2023.

Working smarter, not harder, applies to more than just your daily to-do list. When companies slash their operating budgets (thank you, economy), the marketing engine still needs to run. And while you and I may know that social media is no longer just a nice-to-have in your marketing arsenal, it’s a misunderstood channel and often one of the first cuts.

So how can you make your efforts work smarter without a lavish budget for ads and expensive experiments?

7 Cost-effective social media ideas you can implement right now (without breaking into your paid media budget)

1. Build a LinkedIn Newsletter

Newsletters are like iPhones — they’re everywhere. Just ask newsletter giant Substack, who hit over 1 million paid subscribers in 2022 with no signs of stopping.

But you don’t have to go the paid route to get people talking. LinkedIn Newsletter lets you create a free newsletter to share your company or C-suite views in an engaging blog-style format (that gets great distribution). LinkedIn users can even comment and react to it, similar to a LinkedIn post.

LinkedIn makes it even easier by removing the email opt-in step and instead allowing for opting in through the reader’s notification dashboard, so they never have to leave the screen. They’ll even get a notification each time you post a new one.

Similar to your blog posts, these newsletters will have a permanent home on the internet and can show up in the SERPs (hello SEO).

What makes a LinkedIn newsletter great?

  • It’s free to create and share with followers.
  • Subscribers get notified about the latest publication both in the app and in their email.
  • Increased reach with the ability to share a newsletter, similar to a social post.

GTM geniuses, Gong, use this free feature to make the most of their insights and keep the conversation going.

Boston Consulting Group uses LinkedIn newsletters to dive into critical topics related to their service offerings, focusing on trends that matter to leaders.

2. Use your free invitation credit to increase your LinkedIn followers

Did you know that LinkedIn offers every page admin 100-250 invitation credits every month? If you’re scratching your head wondering what these credits are, keep reading.

On your company page, each admin can invite their connections to follow the company page. The best part is once they accept your invite, you get the credit back, so you can continue to invite more people.

These invitation credits can be used to:

  • Invite your new LinkedIn connections
  • Invite talent/candidates you’re recruiting
  • Invite prospects during the sales process
  • Invite past and current clients
  • Invite referral partners

Think of a Company Page follower as someone who’s shown interest in your business. This is a big win with no spending. It’s a free way to grow your audience with relatively low effort.

Pro tip: Every month, the credits reset. So use them up each month.

3. Engage with brands and trending stories in your business category

Many B2B brands spend too much time on their social media content, and not enough time on their social media community management, and it shows.

But the possibilities are there. Social media is a powerful way to connect, engage, and develop relationships with potential and current customers while also growing brand authority.

Take 20 minutes daily to engage with your followers, comment on other company posts, and join in on the conversations that apply to your industry. See a newsworthy story that relates to your business category? Talk about it. Join the conversation in the comments. The more you engage, the more likely people will engage with you. And if they find what you have to say valuable, they’ll reply back or share. And the best part — it doesn’t cost a thing.

On Twitter, you can quote a tweet and add your own context. This allows brands to join the conversation and expand their reach — for free.

Use the post topic as a jumping off point and remember to keep things human. You can also use memes creatively.

Another way to earn reach, for free, is to hop into the comments section of others’ posts. There’s two ways to do this: Proactive engagement and reactive engagement.

Proactive engagement: Remote.com loves to join the conversation about the future of work and ask questions about the things that matter to those speaking about remote work. The company follows #remotework and #workfromhome to easily find the most fitting conversations to join.

 

 

Reactive engagement: If someone tags your company in a post, take that as a warm welcome into the conversation, just like communications giant, Slack. When the company is tagged in a post, they make sure to hop in and acknowledge that person.

 

5. Partner with micro-influencers with a high engagement rate

Influencer marketing isn’t going anywhere, and it doesn’t require a Kardashian-sized budget. Companies need to match their influencer choices to their brand and their audience. Nano and micro-influencers (1k-100k followers) are a great way to leverage the “human element” in marketing while gaining substantial exposure and interaction.

This sweet spot in the influencer world helps you reach people who want to see your content. Micro-influencers typically focus on a specific niche and have followers with shared attributes — like role or interests. That often translates into higher engagement on their posts.

While tapping creators will come at a cost, it’s a reasonable investment if you find the right match.

Here are some questions to ask as you source relevant influencers:

  • What are the demographics of their audience?
  • Is all of their content relevant and brand safe?
  • Have they worked with competitors before?
  • Is their audience and engagement real and healthy?
  • Do they have management representation or established rates?
  • Do they have authority in your space?
  • Has their past sponsored content performed well?
  • Will they provide access to their analytics?
  • Will they allow you a license to re-use their content or boost it if it performs well?

6. Host live video sessions

Live sessions — instead of pre-recorded webinars — are a great way to earn attention and encourage real-time interaction.

You can host live sessions on topics related to problems you solve, or open up a Q&A session to encourage deeper conversation. Live conversations allow for a more natural flow and for your audience to get their questions answered.

And while the fact that it’s free is great, it becomes even more valuable because you can record it for repurposing options down the line. After the session, atomize and remix footage into video clips for social media distribution, embed in articles, and more.

Here are some event ideas for a live session:

  • Launching new products or features
  • Discussing talent branding or hiring opportunities
  • Product demos or answering FAQs
  • Fireside chats with C-suite execs
  • Expert interviews with special guests (influencers or customers)
  • Broadcasts of in-person events

And best of all, you don’t need a fancy setup to get started. Check out Riverside.fm or OBS Studio for recording LinkedIn Events.

7. Lean into your employee and executive advocacy program to drive reach and share of voice

People want to hear from people. Consider these stats from LinkedIn:

  • On average, a company’s employees’ networks are at least 10x larger than a company’s follower base.
  • When employees share a post, it is seen as 3x more authentic than when the company shares it
  • When employees share content they typically see a click-through rate that is 2x higher than when their company shares the same content.

So ask your team to share on social — it’s free, and it’s effective. Employee advocacy gives your social media marketing a new perspective, fresh voices, and a larger reach, which can translate into revenue.

Here is how to get started with your employee advocacy program:

  • Set participation or reach goals for your employee advocacy program.
  • Identify passionate employees and executives who want to represent the brand on social media.
  • Develop posting guidelines, but allow individuals to do just that — individualize.
  • Provide employees with creative assets such as templates, images, or suggested copy
  • Set up an approval process for posts written for senior management.
  • Track employee advocacy impact metrics to track how it’s working

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How to Create a B2B Social Media Strategy: The 2024 Guide

B2B on a Budget: Wrapping it Up

Budget cuts don’t mean you have to watch your social media program come to a halt. Prioritize these tactics for cost-effective ways to make the most out of your budget while going beyond “keeping the lights on.”

Remember, these methods are just a starting point. To succeed, focus on:

  • Optimizing for one pillar goal at a time
  • Choosing one strategy to achieve that goal
  • Testing one tactic per month or quarter to support that strategy

Looking for other ways to make your social media efforts faster and easier? Check out our article: How to Use AI to Improve Social Media Marketing Ideas/Planning: 12 Prompts and Examples.

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Josh Krakauer

Josh Krakauer is the CEO of Sculpt, that B2B social media agency you just discovered. Josh has launched social media campaigns for best-selling books, publicly-traded corporations, and early-stage startups. Josh works from Washington, DC, but still thinks Iowa City is the best city on earth.

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