We’ve endeavored to keep you abreast of the research on B2B use of social media… as in our recent “Super-high adoption” and “Why social media matters” posts. We realize that the decisions of whether and how to invest in social media are major ones that touch on numerous issues; so we believe you should be as informed as possible as to what your peers are doing.
Given that, we felt compelled to mash up Adam Holden-Bache’s recent post on Social Media B2B, which presents “another 18 awesome stats” concerning B2B social media. We’ve shortened it a bit, primarily by deleting any points that duplicated those in our two earlier posts referenced above…
Usage:
- More B2B companies (52.6%) have been using social media for one year or more than their B2C counterparts (46.2%).
- Despite customer acquisition being B2Bs’ top goal for social media in 2010, less than half of respondents were actually using it for lead generation. (Yet as we saw in our earlier post, companies active in social media now report a 59% higher lead conversion rate for organic search traffic.)
Budget:
- 69% of B2B organizations are increasing marketing budgets this year for inbound marketing tactics, including social media.
- Social media has become an integral part of marketing for B2Bs, with 62.6% of marketers planning to increase their spending on it this year.
- In 2010, social media, websites and email each received a median of 10% of B2Bs’ online marketing budgets.
Channels:
- B2Cs are more focused on Facebook, while B2Bs are more focused on LinkedIn and video. Also, B2B companies utilize blogs more.
- B2B companies are significantly more likely to increase their use of LinkedIn than B2Cs (71% to 51%).
- 39% of B2B companies plan on increasing their forum use (versus 34% of B2C).
- 41% of people using LinkedIn for marketing say they have generated business with it.
Mobile:
- 64% of B2B decision makers currently read their email via mobile devices.
- B2B mobile marketing spending will quadruple over the next five years, from $26 million in 2009 to $106 million in 2014.
For those desiring backup, Adam’s post includes research sources for each of the points he cites.
In summary, the data make clear that social media have become a major vehicle for B2B marketing; that LinkedIn, blogging and forums are the “go-to” tools; and that the objective is shifting rapidly from brand-building to lead/business generation. It’s a train that’s leaving the station… so we do hope you’re on board.
