B2B Social Media Marketing Trends

Transcription

1 B2B Social Media Marketing Trends

2 Table of Contents. 3: Introduction 4: Most Important Objectives 5: Social Media Marketing Success 6: Challenging Obstacles to Success 7: How the Budget is Changing 8: Tactical Effectiveness 9: How Effectiveness is Changing 10: Executing Difficult Tactics 11: Tactical Resources Used 12: Most Effective Types of Content 13: About the Research Partners 14: This Document 2

3 Introduction. Building brands and engaging audiences with relevant and compelling content is what social media marketing does best. But what are the most effective types of content social media marketers use, and how do they use them? To find out, Marketo in partnership with Ascend2 fielded the Social Media Marketing Trends Survey and completed interviews with 294 marketing, sales and business professionals from around the world. The data in this edition of the study titled B2B Social Media Marketing Trends represent the opinions of 161 survey respondents that are dedicated exclusively to the business-to-business channel. We thank them for sharing their valuable insights. This research has been produced for your use. Put it to work in your own marketing strategy planning and presentation materials. Clip the charts and write about them in your blog or post them on social media. Please share this research credited as published. Methodology Ascend2 benchmarks the performance of popular digital marketing strategies and practices using a standardized questionnaire, research methodology and proprietary 3-Minute Survey format. Findings are examined in a quantitative context by experienced analysts and reported objectively. This survey was conducted online from a panel of more than 50,000 marketing, sales and business professionals. B2B professionals responding include: Role in the Company Owner / Partner / C-Level 39% Vice President / Director / Manager 42% Non-Management Professional 19% Employees in the Company More than % 50 to % Fewer than 50 55% 3

4 Most Important Objectives To increase awareness of your brand on social media, your audience needs to be engaged more frequently and more effectively. Achieving these outcomes are the most important objectives of a B2B social media marketing strategy. 4

5 Social Media Marketing Success Two-thirds (66%) of companies consider their B2B social media programs somewhat successful and another 11% are very successful. The remaining 23% are struggling to develop and execute a strategy for social media that will achieve their important marketing objectives. 5

6 Challenging Obstacles to Success An inability to measure social media ROI is a top barrier to achieving success for 45% of the B2B professionals interviewed. It is much more difficult to measure and attribute soft objectives like engagement and brand awareness directly to revenue than it is to measure and attribute hard objectives like lead generation. 6

7 How the Budget is Changing An inadequate budget is a top challenge for only 19% of B2B professionals, so it comes as no surprise that budgets for social media marketing are increasing for 63%. Only 2% acknowledge a decrease in their marketing budget for the social media channel while 35% are maintaining current levels. 7

8 Tactical Effectiveness Tactical effectiveness is key to achieving important B2B social media marketing objectives. Creating compelling content and posting it on social networks are the most effective tactics B2B marketers use. 8

9 How Effectiveness is Changing The effectiveness of the social media marketing tactics that B2B professionals use to achieve their important objectives is increasing for more than three-quarters (76%) of companies. Social media marketing is no longer an immature channel. And the more mature a channel is, the more difficult is to continue to increase effectiveness to this significant extent. 9

10 Executing Difficult Tactics Creating compelling content for social media marketing is a time- and resource-intensive tactic that is difficult to execute for 73% of B2B professionals. But content creation is also the most effective tactic used and is an important part of an effective B2B social media marketing strategy. 10

11 Tactical Resources Used 82% of B2B professionals outsource all or part of their social media marketing tactics to gain experience and skills not available internally. The degree of difficulty required to execute many of the most effective tactics especially content creation is driving a growing reliance on outside resources. 11

12 Most Effective Types of Content Videos and infographics have become the most effective types of content used for B2B social media marketing purposes. Humans are hardwired to want things now. It s called instant gratification, and it s a powerful force driving the popularity of content like videos and infographics. 12

13 About The Research Partners Helping Marketers Master the Art and Science of Digital Marketing. Marketo provides easy and powerful marketing automation software and everything a marketer needs: , social, analytics, lead management, and more. Marketo allows marketers to interact seamlessly with their customers across channels and supplies the data and analytic insights to understand where and how to allocate their budgets for maximum return. Learn more at Research-Based Demand Generation for Marketing Solution Providers If marketing professionals are your ideal prospects, we help you find more of them. Marketing software and data companies, and digital marketing agencies partner with Ascend2 to reliably generate demand and supplement marketing content for their firms. Our Research Partner Programs are transparent spotlighting your brand and the interests of your market. Learn more at 13

14 This Document B2B Social Media Marketing Trends Ascend2 Research Conducted and Published in Partnership with Marketo Marketo, Inc. Allrights reserved. More About Marketo: Marketing Software. Easy, Powerful, Complete. Marketo (NASDAQ: MKTO) provides the leading cloud-based marketing software platform for companies of all sizes to build and sustain engaging customer relationships. Spanning today s digital, social, mobile and offline channels, the Marketo solution includes a complete suite of applications that help organizations acquire new customers more efficiently, maximize customer loyalty and lifetime value, improve sales effectiveness, and provide analytical insight into marketing s contribution to revenue growth. Marketo s applications are known for their breakthrough ease-of-use, and are complemented by the Marketing Nation, a thriving network of more than 150 LaunchPoint ecosystem partners and over 30,000 marketers who share and learn from each other to grow their collective marketing expertise. The result for modern marketers is unprecedented agility and superior results. Headquartered in San Mateo, CA, with offices in Europe and Australia, Marketo serves as a strategic marketing partner to more than 2,500 large enterprises and fast-growing small companies across a wide variety of industries. For more information, visit: info@marketo.com 14

15 Fin Thank You