Which social media platforms should you use for your B2B SaaS company?

In today's digital age, social media has become an essential tool for SaaS companies to connect with their audience and promote their products or services. However, with so many social media platforms available, choosing which ones are best suited for your SaaS marketing strategy can be overwhelming.

In this post, we will provide practical tips and advice on why you should leverage social media and how to identify the right social media platforms for your business. Whether you're a startup or an established SaaS company, our guide will help you navigate the social media landscape and make informed decisions about where to invest your time, effort, and resources.

So, whether you're looking to build brand awareness, generate leads, or engage with your customers, keep reading to discover how to choose the social media platforms that will help you achieve your B2B SaaS marketing goals.

What should you consider?

Social media platforms aren’t just a great way to keep in touch with friends, stay on top of the latest trends and get your fill of cat videos—they are also a highly effective marketing tool. Many B2B SaaS companies still mistakenly believe that social media marketing is only for B2C brands, which just isn’t the case. IDG reports that 84% of C-level and VP-level buyers use social media to make buying decisions and 55% of B2B buyers look for information on social media before making a purchase decision. As you can see, it’s worthwhile getting to grips with your social media platforms and crafting a strong social media strategy.

Ramping up and maintaining your social media presence, however, takes a great deal of time and effort. Determining which social media platforms will be most effective for you to focus on is important. To help you make that decision you will want to ask yourself the following questions:

1. Where can you find your target audience?

Take a look at the user information and demographics for each social media platform. Use this information to pick out key trends (age, gender, location, etc.) and align them with your own target audience or ideal customer profile (ICP). Don’t be fooled into thinking that the biggest platforms are what you should target; it’s the platforms where you find your target audience that will provide the best results.

2. What are you looking to achieve?

You need to align your business objectives with your social media strategy. It’s important to understand how each platform works and how they can help you achieve the results you are looking for. For example, if you want to show off images or videos of your latest product/service, why not use Instagram?

3. How much time can you commit to managing your social media marketing?

Successfully running a social media platform takes time. Although it is always tempting to use as many platforms as possible, it’s not a good idea. By focusing on too many platforms, you will spread yourself too thin and fail to achieve your desired results.

4. How are your competitors using social media?

Look at what platforms your closest competitors are using and how they are using them. It’s okay to follow the same strategy if it’s working but be sure to look at what their social media strategies are missing and see if you can fill that gap.

Which platform is right for your social media strategy?

There are hundreds of social media platforms that you could use for your SaaS company. However, in this post, we will focus on just four: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We will look at the benefits of using each platform, their limitations, and why each could be right for your SaaS social media strategy.

LinkedIn for SaaS social media marketing

LinkedIn is a powerful platform that has emerged as the go-to choice for B2B SaaS social media marketing. With nearly 900 million members, including business professionals, decision-makers, and influencers, LinkedIn provides an excellent opportunity for SaaS companies to connect with their target audience, build relationships, and showcase their expertise.

One of the key advantages of LinkedIn is that it is a professional networking platform where users expect to find high-quality, informative content. As a result, LinkedIn can be an effective channel for thought leadership, industry insights, and educational content that aligns with your SaaS product or service. By sharing valuable content, your company can position itself as a trusted authority in your niche and attract potential customers.

One technique you should leverage to get the most out of LinkedIn is content sharing. When you post content on a LinkedIn company page, it will only reach the followers of that page. However, employees and individuals in your business often have far more connections. Therefore, by coordinating your content so that it is shared across multiple personal pages and your company page, you can ensure that your content has a much wider reach and gains greater visibility. This can be hugely beneficial when generating trust, as buyers are three times more likely to trust content shared by people rather than brands.

LinkedIn also provides several features that can help SaaS companies achieve their marketing objectives. For example, LinkedIn Groups allow you to join or create communities of professionals who share similar interests or challenges. Participating in relevant groups can help you build relationships, generate leads, and establish your company's credibility.

You could also consider targeted advertising options, including sponsored content, sponsored InMail, and display ads. These features allow you to reach your target audience based on their job titles, company size, industry, and other criteria. By targeting your ads to the right audience, you can maximize the ROI of your social media marketing efforts on LinkedIn.

Facebook for SaaS social media marketing

Facebook is the most widely used social media platform, with over 2.9 billion monthly active users. As a result, it can be an effective channel for SaaS social media marketing, allowing companies to reach a large audience, promote their products or services and build online communities.

With Facebook you can easily create a business profile for your SaaS company. Once you set up your profile, you can post behind-the-scenes images of your company, keep customers updated on news and offers, and even interact with followers and provide customer support.

One of the key advantages of Facebook is that it offers a range of paid advertising options that can help SaaS companies turbocharge their marketing objectives. For example, Facebook Ads allow you to create targeted campaigns based on user demographics, interests, and behaviors.

Top tip: Check out your competitors' ads by visiting their page and going to the Ad Library Report. This is a handy feature for obtaining competitor insights and preparing your own social media marketing plans.

Overall, Facebook can be a very useful marketing tool. However, it's essential to note that Facebook's organic reach has declined over the years, making it more challenging to reach your audience without paid advertising. As a result, it's important to have a solid paid strategy in place in conjunction with your organic strategy before you start spending.

Instagram for SaaS social media marketing

Instagram is a much loved social media platform, with over 1.3 billion monthly active users, that has become increasingly popular for B2B SaaS social media marketing. While Instagram was originally known for its focus on visual content, it has evolved to include a range of features that can be used by SaaS companies to humanize their brand and promote their products or services. The addition of business accounts and targeted ad campaigns are also part of the reason that more SaaS companies are utilizing the platform in their social media strategies.

One of the key advantages of Instagram is its captive user base, with users spending an average of 53 minutes per day on the platform. Instagram also offers a range of ways to engage with your audience:

• Posting on your main feed — high-quality image with caption
• Instagram story — photos or 15-second videos that vanish after 24 hours
• Instagram TV — video channel
• Reels — short entertaining videos

Instagram's visual nature can be leveraged by SaaS companies to showcase their products or services in action, highlight customer success stories, and provide insights into their company culture. Instagram Stories, in particular, provide a space for creative, behind-the-scenes content that can engage and connect with your audience on a more personal level.

Top tips: Before you start posting random content, it’s important to establish a theme that is in line with your company’s messaging and positioning. This should consider the colors used, and whether you will post images, videos or graphics, etc.

As we mentioned before, Instagram hasn’t always been a popular platform for SaaS companies. But today, some of the largest companies in the industry are producing great content and really seeing the benefits of leveraging this highly visual platform. Let’s take a look at an example:

As you can see, not only does Slack produce Instagram content that introduces the people behind the software, but they also effectively use videos to show off new features and functionalities. 

Twitter for SaaS social media marketing

Twitter is a popular social media platform that B2B SaaS companies can use to connect with their audience and promote their products or services. With over 450 million monthly active users, Twitter offers a range of features that can benefit SaaS companies, from creating awareness to acting as a customer service tool. In fact, because there are so many uses, some larger companies have multiple Twitter accounts, depending on their products/services, location, etc.

The real superpower behind the value of Twitter is the hashtag. This symbol groups conversations by turning a keyword into a clickable link. Twitter's use of hashtags can help SaaS companies increase the visibility of their posts and connect with their target audience. By using relevant hashtags, SaaS companies can reach users who are interested in their industry or product and participate in relevant conversations to establish themselves as thought leaders.

Another advantage of Twitter is its fast-paced nature, with users frequently posting and engaging with content in real time. SaaS companies can leverage this by sharing updates, announcements, and industry news, while also engaging with their audience through replies and retweets, and trending topics.

Top tip: Twitter is very fast-moving, so make sure that you post often and during times of the day when your followers are most likely to be online.

It’s time to consider social media for SaaS

Entering the world of social media can be a daunting thought, but a careful and well-thought-out social media strategy can really set your SaaS company apart and help you achieve a range of goals and objectives. 

By understanding your target audience and their preferred social media channels, you can start to interact with your audience directly in their homes and on their phones. However, it's important to remember that social media is just one piece of the marketing puzzle. You should always evaluate your results and adjust your strategy as needed to ensure you get the best return on your investment.

If you liked our content, then don’t forget to like, comment and subscribe….just kidding, but why not check out our beginner’s guide to social media marketing and continue your journey into the world of social media for B2B SaaS?