For B2B / SMEs: What advantages does Google Discover and Google News offer compared to social media?

Finding the right marketing mix: Strategic decision support: Social Media or/and Google Discover for B2B?

Deciding between social media and Google News/Google Discover for B2B marketing depends heavily on your goals, audience, and resources. Both approaches have advantages and disadvantages. Let's strategically analyze the two options:

Option 1: Social media – reach and community building

Advantages:

1. High reach: Platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter (now X), and even niche platforms offer access to millions of potential B2B contacts.
2. Targeted approach: Social media ads enable precise targeting by industry, job title, company size, etc.
3. Interactive communication: Direct engagement with customers, dialogue instead of monologue.
4. Brand awareness: Social media helps establish your brand in your niche.
5. Data-driven insights: Get detailed analytics to optimize campaigns.

Disadvantages:

1. High competition: Social media is crowded, making it harder to stand out.
2. Cost-intensive: Good content requires resources (content creation, community management, advertising budget).
3. Dependence on algorithms: Reach is often unpredictable and dependent on platform updates.

Option 2: Google News/Google Discover – Hidden champion for traffic and visibility

Advantages:

1. Less competition: Since many companies don't actively use Google News/Discover, you have a strategic advantage.
2. High visibility among target groups: Content is curated and displayed in a targeted manner - often to decision-makers who are looking for current industry trends.
3. Organic reach: One-off technical effort (e.g. structured data) can deliver free traffic in the long term.
4. Authority through content: High-quality articles in Google News increase the credibility of your company.
5. Opening up new touchpoints: Many users consume content via Discover and News without actively searching for information - you can “pick it up” there.

Disadvantages:

1. Technical barrier: You need in-depth knowledge of SEO, structured data and Google News/Discover requirements.
2. No direct engagement options: Unlike social media, Google News/Discover does not offer any interactive features.
3. Dependence on content quality: You depend on excellent content - mediocre content is not shown.

Strategic consideration: When is which option better?

1. Social media is better when:

• You want to generate targeted leads (e.g. LinkedIn Ads - however, experience shows that the conversion rate to a qualified lead is low ).
• You want to establish yourself as a brand in a competitive industry.
• Your target group is active on social media (e.g. HR, IT decision-makers).
• You want to use interactive features such as comments, groups or events.

2. Google News/Discover is better if:

• You want to show thought leadership and expertise.
• The focus is on organic reach (rather than paid ads).
• Your target audience often reads industry-specific news.
• You want to use an “underrated” marketing tool that remains stable in the long term.

Recommendation: Combined strategy

• Start on Google News/Discover: Initially invest in technical implementation and create high-quality, SEO-optimized content. This brings you visibility and traffic from an underrated source.
• Use social media for distribution: Share this content on social media to create synergies. This allows you to reach both the masses (social media) and specialized interested parties (Google News/Discover).

Example of practical implementation:

1. Google News/Discover:

• Set up structured data.
• Write high-quality articles, white papers or studies on a regular basis.
• optimize for keywords that are relevant to your niche.

2. Social Media:

• Promote your content through LinkedIn posts and groups.
• Use targeted ads to promote your items to relevant audiences.

Would you like more details on the technical implementation for Google Discover/News or tips on optimizing your social media strategy? 🚀

More about it here:

• B2B marketing: Google Discover and Google News – the underestimated secret weapons against social media

Suitable for:

• Triosmarket is an innovative marketing strategy for online digital and metaverse marketing or SMarketing
• Triosmarket model and the important market attributes: speed, automation, flexibility and scalability