Ways to improve your B2B social media presence, supported by BrandWatch research from the top B2B brands on the internet.

How are the top B2B brands behaving on social media? They’re behind the curve, with 24 percent lacking a presence on social media, according to new BrandWatch research.

BrandWatch compiled a list of the top 200 B2B brands on the internet, determined by “the number of positive and neutral mentions they received online over a two-month period.” This included mentions across social media, news posts, forums, videos and b2b BrandWatch Reportreviews. The report went on to say that “social mentions were weighted more than news mentions, meaning smaller brands with successful social activities could compete against larger brands with many news hits.”

Software companies came out on top, with IBM receiving the #1 spot on the list as the B2B brand receiving the most mentions . Oracle and Cisco were among top performers on this list, and made our list for 15 B2B brands that prove you don’t have to be boring on social media.  

Outside of software companies, aerospace, energy and medical also made up the percentages of those receiving the most mentions online.

What about the quarter of B2B brands that aren’t on social media at all?

At this point, most people are familiar with the  benefits of social media:  

  • It drives referral traffic

  • It boosts engagement

  • It increases brand awareness

However, some long-established B2Bs mentioned are making their web marketing work without it. Still, we can’t help but wonder how much more successful they’d be if they built strategies to reach their audiences.

3 Ways to improve your B2B social media presence

  1. Tweet on weekends: Top B2Bs post to Twitter an average of 4.9 times per weekday, but this number drops to 1.8 posts on weekends. The report added that audiences were actually more engaged on weekends, retweeting and mentioning twice as often per post.
  2. Create a Twitter account and use it for conversations: This seems basic, but the study revealed that a whopping 42 percent of the internet’s top B2Bs aren’t on Twitter. Of those who are, a quarter operate more than one account for customer service, recruitment, etc.

Max is sharing our thoughts on brands hosting multiple Twitter handles:

3. Post visuals to Facebook: More than half of the Facebook posts created by top B2B brands contain a photo – and it’s working, because these posts drive the most engagement. But don’t stop there – while photos may receive the most likes of any content format – research showed that videos foster the most comments and shares.

One thing is clear: those who are using Twitter are using it for both broadcasting of their own information and creating conversations with followers. Only four percent of the B2B brands are using the network for broadcasting – which suggests brands are aware that the network isn’t a “one-way communication platform.”

Want to learn more about creating a B2B Twitter strategy? These 3 resources can help:

Molly Buccini is Brafton's community manager. She joined the team with a background in digital journalism and social media. She's a theatre nerd, pop culture junkie and lover of summertime.