As I said yesterday, social media is NOT one size fits all, especially sites like Facebook, which can be very difficult to get engagement from people more interested in chatting with friends or playing games. Having conversations and engaging with customers is one of the most difficult aspects of social media for many companies (who are used to just promoting and advertising). Engagement for B2B companies can be even more tricky, with layers of customers and little direct connection to end-customers. Here are examples of 2 B2B companies that are doing a great job of engaging with their audience (disclosure: both are clients, but are responsible for their own Facebook engagement).
Mango Languages
Mango Languages, is a language learning software developer (think competitor to Rosetta Stone). Everything Mango does is about having fun, including their software (it really is fun), marketing, company culture, etc. That fun spirit really comes out in their social media engagement. While they do mix up their helpful content with some promotional material on their Facebook page, everything is presented in a light-hearted and fun manner. Their customers, who initially were mostly libraries and government agencies, really love the product and get involved by telling as many people as they can. Mango’s Facebook page is a mixture of posts by the company, as well as questions and testimonials posted by customers. Mango does a great job of replying and answering questions in a timely manner, which means that any new visitors get the impression that what they say matters.
Spartan Chassis
Spartan Chassis designs, engineers and produces chassis, speciality vehicles and aftermarket parts for defense, emergency response and outdoor recreation/RV markets. Spartan is lucky in that their primary end-customer in the emergency response market, firefighters, are extremely passionate about their work (and fire trucks!). Spartan just recently started their Facebook page for the emergency response market and has already seen great engagement by, not only their end customers (firefighters), but also dealers and firetruck enthusiasts.
While it certainly helps to have an audience that is already participating in social media, having conversations and being responsive to that audience (and providing information they find valuable) goes a long way to creating an environment where they want to engage with your company.
How do you increase engagement with your audience?
(photo by visualpanic on Flickr CC)