A new study from Immediate Future in the UK (“B2B Report: What Has Social Media Ever Done For Us?”) has some unique insights into the changing ways that B2B marketers are using social media for lead generation. Based on a survey of 150 senior B2B marketers, the four statistics below suggest important ways that B2B companies are changing their views of social media.
33% of B2B marketers are tracking sales through social media
Who said it wasn’t possible to use social media as a sales platform? Currently, one-third of all B2B marketers are now including social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn as part of their overall sales strategy. This would suggest that it’s possible to make social media a key part of your strategy at both the top of the sales funnel and the bottom of the sales funnel.
58% of B2B marketers say their ability to measure social media activity is between “average” and “poor”
Right now, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done to embrace data within the world of social media marketing. For some B2B marketers, it could be as simple as using a social media dashboard to track conversations. At the very least, these marketers need better insight into who is talking about them online, and what types of conversations they are having.
67% of B2B marketers are at least somewhat confident about their ability to improve the way they measure social media marketing success over the next two years
The good news is that there has been an explosion in the number of social media dashboards that make it much easier to follow the success of a social media campaign. If you’re not tracking key performance indicators (KPIs), it’s time to start. The majority of B2B marketers are optimistic about the ability to “up their game” over the next two years.
9 out of 10 B2B marketers don’t have social lead generation targets in place
If there’s one clear way that B2B marketers can step up their game in 2017, it’s setting precise targets for how many leads they expect to generate from social media. It’s time to stop blasting out social media content, and hoping that something resonates in the minds of potential customers.
One easy way to improve in this regard is to focus on the type of content that’s being created for social media platforms. In a best-case scenario, you should be creating content that offers immediate value to prospects. Are you helping them solve the types of problems that they encounter every day?
Overall, the statistics point to changing perceptions about social media by B2B marketers. They appear more optimistic about chances to realize ROI from their social media marketing. And they appear more hopeful about increasing their ability to measure and track future success.
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Dane
Dane Cobain is a published author, freelance writer, book blogger, poet and (occasional) musician from High Wycombe, UK. Before going freelance, he worked as a social media marker, now specialising in writing about publishing, technology and marketing.