B2B brands and social media don’t always seem the most natural of pairs.

When you think of a typical social post, you generally imagine something fun, punchy and provocative. Things that (if we’re being really honest) B2B brands characteristically are not. Propositions can be wordy and abstract; content can be serious and straight-laced.

But it doesn’t have to be, if you go about it the right way. Here are some dos and don’ts to help your B2B product or service engage on social media.

What to say about your B2B offering on social media.

Social posts shouldn’t be approached as simple summaries of content or assets you’re linking to. Treat them instead as what you’d say to someone to stop them in the street and get them to engage. You can do that by going back to why you’re sharing this particular asset in the first place – articulating exactly what it is about your product or service that they need to know.

But don’t just hammer away at product and service messaging. Vary it with brand-level messaging – such as your values, people and culture – and rotate the messages you use for each. This will help you add more flavour while casting your net wider with hooks that’ll resonate with different audiences. Pull through your people and culture to humanise your brand, rather than standing out as coldly corporate on platforms that are designed to be personal.

Use customer testimonial to give your offering some real-world grounding that should be more immediately relatable to your audience. It can also spark conversations – you may find customers with similar positive experiences sharing kind words about your company in the comments. Likewise, any short and snappy how-to or product-demo videos not only bring your B2B proposition to life, but can also prompt viewers to comment how impressive or valuable they find it.

Draw on insight from customer interviews. Heed any words of warning about what sounds hollow, off-putting or overly repeated within your competitor landscape; embrace exactly what it is they like about your tone of voice, the imagery on your website and content, to show off on your channels.

How to post about your B2B offering on social media

Keep post length as short as possible for clarity and energy. Even on LinkedIn where you have more characters to play with, don’t over-explain as you’ll blunt the impact and intrigue. You don’t need to give it all away, just entice with enough points of interest so readers go on the journey to find out further info for themselves.

Let visuals do the talking, especially on a platform like Instagram. A strong brand will do a lot of the work for you and lift content that may be on the dryer side. Brand creative such as a gradient background can soften nuts-and-bolts product imagery or sales collateral, while helping it pop on users’ feeds.

Different image types, such as colourful illustrations or graphics, will be more eye-catching and appealing than stock photography, and therefore more likely to stop people in their scrolling tracks. Mixing up formats helps that, too. But don’t stick to the mainstays of static images and carousels; GIFs and animations can make a particular brand line more lively and memorable, while polls get users interacting with your brand.

We speak from experience, creating and managing both organic and paid social for our happy host of B2B businesses. Get in touch if this sounds like something we can help with.