Social media including Twitter is a powerful tool for businesses to help their buyers to understand their products and services, according to new research.
The study found that, in business-to-business channels like garment decoration, social media could be used by companies to secure a place within the “ecosystems” of their business sector.
The report, whose authors included Dr Catherine Pardo, professor of marketing at Emlyon Business School in Lyon in France, highlighted how social media could be used for “constructing or changing potential buyers’ representation of them”.
The researchers explained that the report proved that social media was not only for communication or commercial purposes, highlighting the value of Twitter alongside other platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
It could also be used to educate buyers and help them better understand what a supplier company can do for them, their report said.
They advised companies in the B2B channel to consider social media as more than just a channel for creating awareness for a brand or attracting consumers to their website.
As a place where companies could share discourse on their role in an industry sector, social media “should also be used to integrate the business into a coherent omnichannel strategy”.
For instance, it could be a way for companies to share their ability to adapt or even tailor-make their products and services for customers.
The researchers also highlighted how social media could be used by companies to emphasise their ability to establish and develop relationships with different partners in a business network.
The research has been published in the journal Industrial Marketing Management.
