Why Going Viral Can Make You Sick…

Many companies that market through social media aspire to go viral with their content, reaching as many people as possible and bringing attention to the brand. Seeing the numbers tick upward might be a good feeling. But what real value would it bring to the company? Would those who saw it likely to convert and become customers?  Separating surface-level metrics from tangible value can be a real challenge when it comes to B2B communications. 

Multi-channel marketing is an important consideration – and an obsession with going viral on social media can end up tainting your communications strategy and making it sick. And that’s not sick in a good way. It’s important to step back, understand the breadth and potential of a well-rounded marketing mix, and approach promotion by engaging the best channels for your business.

Understanding the importance of multi-channel marketing

Likes, views, comments, and shares on social media can be a good indicator of the success of one aspect of marketing. But they’re often just vanity metrics – they might look good, but possibly won’t translate into sales or awareness. That is why full consideration of different marketing channels is important. Not all of your multi-channel marketing activity will make for a water cooler conversation, but the right combination of message and medium can help drive more successful business communications.

An important factor of marketing is establishing your key messages and delivery channels. What do you want to say, and how do you want to communicate it? What are the main features and benefits of your business, and how do to turn these into motivating messages? What is the unique selling point (USP) that makes you stand out from your competitors?

 

Where to reach your audience

Knowing your target audience is vital for delivering your marketing objectives. Find out where they like to get their information, then use those channels to engage with them. This could be in publications, via industry events, in social media groups or forums… the list goes on.

Your company website should be one of the most informative multi-channel marketing channels for your business. Here, you can go more in-depth about your products or services, write opinion pieces related to the industry, or give an inside look at your business. If done strategically, this content can increase your domain authority and help your business appear higher in search engines. 

Another good way of increasing awareness is appearing in targeted publications and enabling them to write about your product. This method of PR can engage an audience that may have been previously unaware of your product or service and enables you to create motivating messages and showcase a business that can then lead them to engage with your business. Earned coverage as an editorial also has an intrinsic value that is different from paid media. 

By keeping niche with press activities you are also being smart with targeting your audience. Viral posts will have a great degree of waste with people who are not relevant to your company. A targeted article on the other hand could be worth its weight in gold, because of its laser focus on those who will set it.

For B2B communications, the social media platform that will be a key part of your strategy is LinkedIn. Here, you can post professional, company-related content that dovetails with your broader marketing mix. Instagram, Facebook, and X are all useful for more informal messaging although organic engagement is becoming harder and harder to cultivate across all platforms. 

Tracking the success of your marketing 

You will already have ideas for how to promote your business. You’ve read some helpful advice on how to pinpoint your target audience with content, so go and get it out in the world! The final (and ongoing) stage of establishing an effective marketing mix is tracking the success of your content.

Sites like Google Analytics, Semrush, and Meta Business Suite can help you analyse the traction your marketing activity achieves. It’s important to keep an eye on these statistics to make sure your business is on target for its goals 

If you see the engagement drop for social posts, don’t worry – that can be part of the process involved in refining your content. Posts that don’t perform well will steer you in a more effective direction in creating content that appeals specifically to your audience. From there, you will see all that hard work come to fruition.

So, next time you go starry-eyed at the thought of a social post going stratospheric, take a deep breath and a step back. Social stardom may give your business a transient rosy glow but, more often than not, you’ll be reaching the wrong audience and engagement won’t have any long-term meaningful benefit. Don’t get sick going viral. A much healthier approach is to devise a considered and targeted strategy for your communications. A multi-channel marketing approach is a range of channels tailored to your business needs. 

If you’re interested in tech/B2B marketing from Grammatik, get in touch.