Social media managers in 2023 could be forgiven for feeling that their B2B marketing strategy is built on a 'burning platform'.

This graphic metaphor emerged in business strategy circles after the 1988 Piper Alpha disaster when a catastrophic explosion on the oil rig forced workers to jump from the flaming platform into the sea. In business circles, a ‘burning platform’ is a crisis point that demands immediate and decisive action.

While not a matter or life or death, for marketing managers looking to justify their social media spend, the heat no doubt feels very real. And with social network owners seemingly doing everything in their power to degrade brand trust and the user experience, the uncertainty is almost palpable.

So, what's your next move? Do you stick with your current strategies, hoping for the situation to improve? Or is it time to jump off the burning platforms and adopt a new approach? 

To answer that question, we’ve compiled an analysis of the current woes of social media and some suggestions on how to hedge your social bets without totally abandoning this key channel. 

Are Social Platforms in Decline?

For a while now, headlines have been hinting at social media’s imminent demise, only for active user stats to keep rising anyway. While reports of its death are exaggerated, the social experience has inarguably seen better days. 

For many people, top-tapped apps like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (now X) are starting to feel more like a necessary evil than places for meaningful connection. User sentiment seems to hover somewhere between ‘meh’ and outright disgust.

Put another way: while the platforms aren’t exactly ablaze, there’s an undeniable whiff of smoke in the air.

What first drew users to social media was the promise of connection through shared interests and conversation. But increasingly, scrolling feeds are less about interaction. Instead, apps encourage more passive consumption and offer an endless stream of content served up by an algorithm that doesn’t care how it captures our attention, just so long as it has it.

Profit-driven algorithms learned early on that any attention is good attention. When posts eliciting outrage, shock, or salacious curiosity prove incredibly engaging, the algorithms promote them. It doesn’t matter whether the content uplifts or defames, informs or misleads - if it grabs your attention, it’s amplified. User well-being, civil discourse, and truth itself are secondary to capturing users’ finite focus to drive profits.

Social media is now a pay-to-play space. Feeds overflow with commercial content created by influencers, brands, and bots rather than everyday users. Unless you’re already established as a social media superstar, it’s a pay-to-play world if you want to cut through the noise. But when even the digital 1% have cause to complain about a lack of organic reach and the prioritisation of video, the new reality is apparent - social media as an open playing field is a relic of the past.

It certainly feels like something has to change, but the question is — what? If you’re waiting for the platforms’ owners to step in, the Musk vs Zuckerberg cage fight débâcle should tell you all you need to know.

It all makes for an experience that is as dizzying as the cognitive dissonance you experience as your feed whipsaws from outrage bait to cat video to gut-wrenching news and back again with every upward flick of the thumb. It’s exhausting enough to make anyone long for the days when people just tweeted pictures of their breakfast. Indeed, some users are checking out entirely, opting to reconnect with the analogue world instead.

But for most, social media remains a significant (if potentially distressing) part of day-to-day life. Rather than swiping left on social media accounts, doomscroll-wearied and disillusioned users are waiting for the next big thing to come along. Will the Fediverse provide an answer? Or are more intimate, community based sites like Reddit, Discord, Patreon, and Substack the future of social?

The truth is, no one knows. But while it's easy (and more than a little cathartic) to get sidetracked by the doom and gloom, it’s not constructive. Despite having problems at almost a genetic level, social media remains an unavoidable channel for key B2B marketing activities. And it can be a viable one, too - as long as you approach it strategically.

If you’re a social media manager for a B2B business, you need answers for your boss and a plan for how you’re going to use these social media channels for your marketing campaigns.

Making the Most of Social Media in Uncertain Times

Just because social media’s a bit of a mess right now doesn’t mean B2B marketers can afford to totally disengage. Your social media efforts should still be considered and part of a deliberate marketing strategy that guides customers smoothly from awareness to conversion.

To help you maximise your on-platform opportunities, even if you are keeping one eye on the exit, we’ve developed a few no-regret plays you can make in the near term.

Create Your Own Certainty in Uncertain Times

First and foremost - no matter which social media strategies you pursue, developing your own platform outside of social media is critical.

Build bridges from your social profiles to “owned” channels, like your company’s blog and email marketing distribution list. 

Think of owned channels as the ultimate social platform fallout bunker: if everything goes up in flames, you’ll already have a safe haven where your customers can easily keep in touch.

Have a Wait-and-See Policy 

Don’t spread yourself too thinly. Stay up to date on the latest news and key trends so you can make a judgment call on where you want to put your resources.

As and when new platforms arise, you might consider registering an account to ward off cyber-squatters. But that doesn’t mean you need to sink your resources into them immediately and risk diluting your impact elsewhere. 

Hold back on any significant investment until you have a better sense of what you want to achieve by using them, and whether they’ll give you the traction needed to impact ROI.

Go Low Risk, Low Reward 

If you're sceptical about the value of social, you could choose to maintain a presence with minimal effort. Use a good social media management tool to schedule posts and put your channels on broadcast. The aim is to be active enough to be found, but no more.

However, be aware that while this minimises your risk, it also caps the potential returns.

If you’re not going to use social media posts to engage and deepen connections, you need to replicate that experience elsewhere. Ensure your 'link in bio' serves as a gateway to deeper engagement on platforms you trust and focus your resources where you see a higher ROI. 

Go All In

While the social landscape may be fragmenting, niche communities are thriving and act as tiny islands of sanity amidst the chaos. In uncertain times a sincerely human approach could be the strategy to pay dividends. If you’re still a social media enthusiast despite everything, you might want to go all in and allocate a good chunk of your budget to community building.

You can foster a brand-centric community on some social platforms through consistent, genuine engagement and social listening. It’s certainly a long-term play, but it offers tantalising potential for customer loyalty and repeat business. LinkedIn and Facebook also offer the opportunity to build closed communities via groups.

Employee advocacy and thoughtful influencer collaborations can also help you reach your target audiences and humanise your marketing. 

Remember: people buy from people, not faceless corporations - so empower your team members to be brand advocates on social media. When your people speak for your brand, it boosts your reach and shows your team are behind the brand mission, adding a dimension of trustworthiness and authenticity that no sponsored post can achieve.

Seek out micro-influencers or internal subject experts who have built up their network and an incredibly engaged follower base. When executed carefully, these partnerships allow you to reach into tight-knit communities without compromising your credibility or the influencer’s. It's like being introduced by a trusted friend, which is invaluable in the B2B world.

While it requires greater investment upfront and a consistent investment ongoing, the potential benefits are also greater. Successful community building can create a gravitational pull around your content, leading to those coveted organic shares, user generated content, brand loyalty and advocacy.

Broaden Your Social Sights

Don't underestimate the role of social platforms as a foundational component of your overall marketing strategy. 

Potential customers often use social media to search for and research brands, so using social as a distribution channel for your content can have an outsized impact. And say what you will about reduced organic reach, but platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn still offer hyper-specific advertising capabilities, allowing you to zero in on demographics, buyer personas, and behaviours to make your ad budget count.

It’s also worth remembering that AI is changing everything, including search. As AI-powered search evolves, so will its ability to cover people’s basic informational needs. However, there will always be a place for commercial and transactional content that offers buyers insight or a unique point of view. And previews of Google’s SGE suggest that social content might be part of how it provides a more satisfying and diverse search experience.

In short, don't silo your social efforts. Integrate it into your content calendar and make it part of your broader advertising and search initiatives. By incorporating educational content and thought leadership on your social profiles, you can both position yourself as a voice of authority within your niche and target key decision makers.

Don’t Put All Your Likes in One Basket

Mix things up. If you’re producing more thoughtful, in depth content that takes time and money to produce, consider where your efforts will be most appreciated and rewarded. 

Although Facebook’s toxic “Look at me!” behaviour has begun to creep into LinkedIn, it’s still a bastion of professionalism for B2B brands looking to establish authority and a unique voice in their niche. LinkedIn users regularly engage with original, long-form content on the platform, and it’s not unusual for substantive conversations to break out in the comments - giving you a unique insight into how your customers think.

Alternatively, you could focus on developing video case studies for a YouTube channel or hosting events through LinkedIn. Despite its ubiquity, video remains a high-converting, engaging format for storytelling and brand-building. It’s also eminently sharable, which opens the door for creative, unexpected content strategies to gain traction.

Perhaps you could consider repurposing your blog posts on Medium. If you think your content would find a more appreciative audience via a social newsletter. LinkedIn and Substack are great options.

Standing Still is Not an Option

In the increasingly unpredictable world of social media, the one thing you can control is your strategy. You’ve got choices — and they're not all leaps into the unknown! 

Whether hedging your bets, doubling down on targeted ads, cultivating an intimate community, or expanding your voice through thought leadership, the key is to be agile and deliberate in your tactics.

Dictate your own fate. Don't let external uncertainties decide your social media future. Get ahead of mounting issues with proactive strategies now. We’d love to chat about how the 1827 Marketing team can help you navigate your social media quandaries with creative talent and engaging content.