These 15 companies break the misconception that B2B social marketing has to be boring to come across as professional and drive ROI.

We know social media is more important than ever, and 79 percent of B2B decision makers agree it’s the most effective channel for digital marketing. However, we need to let go of the idea that social campaigns should be dry and serious to target professionals.

Click through this interactive list of 15 B2B brands that prove why ‘boring’ is a mistake, and pave the way for more innovative and effective social marketing:

1. General Electric

General Electric’s Twitter account makes technical fun with social content that engages people on a relevant and personal level.

2. Sprinklr

Sprinklr’s Twitter feed moves at the speed of social in a way that makes sense, by posting about events in real time and pairing graphics with stats for maximum impact. 

3. Boeing

Boeing’s YouTube page hones in on consumers’ interest in aviation to get them engaged with playlists like “Stories of Innovation” and catchy video headlines.

4. Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments regularly hosts Facebook contests that get people to interact with the brand and generate product buzz. It’s latest “What would you connect?” contest got followers talking about a new product and explain how they would use it.

5. Chesapeake Energy

Chesapeake Energy’s YouTube presence is both entertaining and informative. Its strong community focus shows off the people behind the brand, and it’s Careers page features a particularly funny video about securing a summer internship. 

6. Dell

Dell shares a wide variety of content on its Twitter page, including text, graphics and videos. This diversity gets more clicks than a single format alone. Plus, Dell has 60+ handles for fine-tuned News Feeds (which is enough to make our social strategists jealous). 

7. Kapost

Kapost uses its Twitter page to distribute creative graphics that have a lot of personality and focuses on creating content that speaks directly to its target audience (marketers). 

8. Wacom

Wacom harnesses the power of G+ for one of the best pages we’ve seen. It holds weekly Hangouts to show innovative ways to use products, and it invites influencers and customers to share their latest work in addition to creating GIFs about employees that add a (hilarious) human touch.

9. Constant Contact

Constant Contact’s Pinterest boards focus on the “person,” not the “business,” with titles such as: Marketing Humor, Small Business Quotes and Holiday Marketing Tips.

10. Raytheon

Raytheon uses its LinkedIn page to demonstrate its expertise by breaking down the complex stuff into accessible conversations that people want to participate in. 

11. Concur

Concur builds a strong Twitter community by repurposing website content, and its Tweets are almost always accompanied by images or videos for a strong visual component.

12. Cisco

Cisco has a robust YouTube channel that boasts numerous playlists and consistent video production. The categories are diverse and clearly target different demographics to widen the audience, showcasing customer success stories, offering tech solutions and breaking down industry news.

13. Canva

On its Twitter page, Canva shares a lot of the clever graphics it makes that compel viewers to click. Then, it backs that interest up with helpful expert tips about marketing and design. 

14. Microsoft

Microsoft uses multiple Twitter handles to speak to its various audiences, from busy professionals to tech geeks and college freshmen. The range of its content keeps the messaging it relevant to both current and legacy customers.

15. WordStream

WordStream takes smart risks with its LinkedIn page by taking trendy topics and pairing them with valuable tips that its audience wants. This is a winning combination that its target demographic responds to and clicks. 

What are your favorite B2B social marketing campaigns? Let us know who else we should follow!

Lauren Kaye is a Marketing Editor at Brafton Inc. She studied creative and technical writing at Virginia Tech before pursuing the digital frontier and finding content marketing was the best place to put her passions to work. Lauren also writes creative short fiction, hikes in New England and appreciates a good book recommendation.