How to Market Your Coatings Company on Social Media

Business to business marketing, or B2B marketing, has a completely different marketing strategy compared to business to customer marketing, or B2C marketing. Marketing your products to a painting company or contractor involves going toe to toe with national leaders in the coatings industry.

Reaching reputable painting companies doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are a few tips to get your coatings company on social media so you can build connections, industry trust and increase sales.

B2B Marketing on Social Media

Before getting your coating manufacturing business liking, commenting and sharing, you’ve got to determine which social media platforms work best. In the social media world, not all platforms are equal. Your target audience likely uses just one or two platforms. For a business that’s marketing to other businesses, the most credible social platform is LinkedIn. In fact, roughly 96% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn over other social sites. That said, there are many painting businesses thriving on Facebook as well.

Build Brand Awareness

Building brand awareness is important. Not falling in among competitors requires painting businesses to know who you are and that you’re a trustworthy player in the paint & coatings manufacturers' game.

There are many ways to build awareness, including:

• Customer engagement;
• Add visuals to content to put a face to your company name;
• Invest in SEO (Twitter can directly contribute to your organic search rankings);
• Incentivise referrals with B2B affiliate programs.

Consistency is also the key to brand awareness success. The more you put yourself out there, the more visible you become. According to Small Biz Genius, on average it takes between 5 to 7 impressions of your brand before businesses add you to their list of worthwhile suppliers.

Share Original Content

Social media is a competitive place to market, but you can reduce some competition by posting original content. B2B marketing is more successful when you set yourself apart from others in your industry. Why would a painting company choose you over another paint and coatings manufacturer? Because you offer something others can’t. Even if that something is being a greater authority in your field.

If the content you post is easily found elsewhere, recycled from other local paint suppliers, or common knowledge, painting companies aren’t going to get through the first few sentences. Original content is easier to create than you might think. Use real updates from your company, post about promotions, and post things local businesses will want to share.

Educate Your Audience With Videos

Videos have become the best medium to quickly digest information and are a great way to showcase your products. Social media platforms such as Facebook are more likely to show videos in news feeds than simple images or articles.

If your brand isn’t well known, tell painting businesses why they need your product. Social media posts are the perfect place to highlight new products and educate would-be customers on the coatings and paint available.

When you educate social media followers, you begin proving yourself an authority in your field. Painting businesses look to painting authorities to help choose the right products and tools to thrive in their industry. As you spotlight your knowledge through education, you simultaneously build trust.

Monitor Trends

Being successful on social media requires a little research. You need to know what the current trends are to keep your brand in the spotlight. While it’s not the most common B2B marketing tool, TikTok is an up-and-coming social media phenomenon that more and more businesses have been taking advantage of.

TikTok isn’t as intimidating as it first appears. As TikTok says, “Don’t make ads, make TikTok videos.” Simply say what you want to say in a social media post in a video. The videos can be edited to include filters, music and text.

Keep your eye on other social media trends to keep your brand relevant. Just be sure to maintain professionalism while you post. Painting businesses are more likely to see your popular posts shared when they’re on-trend.

Conclusion

Social media is a useful tool, not a battlefield. Produce value-adding content, post often, and engage with your audience. Measure your results to ensure the tactics you’re implementing are generating a return on investment. 

Interested in learning more about marketing your coatings business on social media? Visit Base Coat Marketing for more information.