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Each issue of CMO Close-up features an interview with a CMO, as well as other marketing executives answering that issue's "Big Question."
This week's feature:
Close-up with Laura Howard, CMO, ECI Telecom
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Social media use soars among b-to-b marketers
Ellis Booker
Story posted: July 20, 2009 - 6:01 am EDT
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Social media and viral video have seen dramatic growth among b-to-b marketers, and virtually all forms of newer media are now valued by these marketers as demand generation channels, according to an exclusive survey of b-to-b and b-to-c marketing professionals by BtoB and the Association of National Advertisers.
“Harnessing the Power of Newer Media Platforms for More Effective Marketing,” which updates a survey BtoB and the ANA conducted two years ago, shows dramatic growth in the use of social media as a marketing tactic. Sixty-six percent of the marketers surveyed said they are now using social media, up from 20% of respondents to the 2007 survey. Among b-to-b marketers specifically, 57% are now using social media channels, up from just 15% in the earlier survey.
The survey finding will be presented on the opening day of B-to-B Marketing in the New World, a conference that will be produced by BtoB and the ANA Aug. 4-5 in Chicago.
Asked what “newer media” tactic they are not currently using but plan to use within the next year, both b-to-b and b-to-c marketers responded that blogs topped the list. The next highest response was mobile. According to the survey, mobile is currently used about three times more by b-to-c marketers than their b-to-b counterparts (52% versus 18%). B-to-b marketers also expressed high interest in using viral video and podcasts within the next year.
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FACEBOOK TOPS SOCIAL MEDIA
Asked about specific social media networks they currently use, an overwhelming 81% of b-to-b marketers cited LinkedIn, compared with just 25% of the b-to-c marketers. Interestingly, microblogging service Twitter ranked higher among b-to-b (70%) than b-to-c (46%) respondents. Facebook is the most-used social media site overall (74%), and enjoys high use among b-to-b marketers (60%).
Generally speaking, b-to-b marketers' objectives in using newer media platforms have moved strongly to demand generation since the 2007 survey. For example, in 2007, 49% of the sample said the primary objective of their company's Web site was “brand building.” This year, that dropped to 34%, and the objective of demand generation increased from 39% two years ago to 47% now.
Similarly, the objective of social media use shifted. This year, 51% cited brand building as the objective compared with 65% in 2007. And demand generation has increased from 10% to 30%. Even viral video, which in 2007 almost two-thirds (65%) of the b-to-b marketers said was mostly for brand building, is now seen as a demand generation medium. In the latest survey, 35% cited viral video for brand building, while 58% (versus 27% in 2007) cited demand generation.
Regarding the measurement of newer media, this year's survey found b-to-b marketers tend to have more of a process in place on newer media such as social networks (44% b-to-b versus 32% b-to-c), viral video (39% versus 19%), blogs (50% versus 24%) and mobile (83% versus 70%). Also, the effectiveness ratings by b-to-b marketers increased from 2007.
While the Web site ranks at the top for both b-to-b and b-to-c marketers (58% and 54%, respectively), b-to-b marketers differ greatly from their b-to-c counterparts when it comes to one newer media tactic: webinars. Just 6% of b-to-c marketers scored webinars as effective versus 48% of b-to-b marketers.
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ROI, SPENDING
The top concerns for both b-to-b and b-to-c marketers when considering newer media platforms is the inability to prove ROI (44% b-to-b, 56% b-to-c) and having metrics to properly allocate the mix of traditional and digital media (42% b-to-b, 49% b-to-c).
In terms of spending on newer media, b-to-b marketers tend to spend a greater percentage of their budgets on newer media platforms. B-to-c marketers, meanwhile, are much more likely to shift funds from their traditional media budget (78% versus 42%) to fund newer media.
Coming as no surprise given the recession, about half of both b-to-b and b-to-c marketers are projecting that they will spend less overall this year versus last (49% b-to-b and 56% b-to-c).
For newer media spending, however, 62% of b-to-b and 71% of b-to-c marketers said they planned increases; those planning to spend less were a much smaller group (14% and 7%, respectively). Nearly a quarter (23% b-to-b, 22% b-to-c) said they would spend about the same.
The online survey, conducted in June, tabulated the responses of 172 client-side marketers, of whom 77 were “primarily” b-to-b, 41 were primarily b-to-c and 54 were an equal mix of both. M
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10 Comments
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John sonnhalter
Sonnhalter Advertising
August 2, 2009 01:54 pm
While I agree with Liz's observation that SM is just another tool I think the B to B community especially in the Construction and Industrial sectors need to be more open minded about using these tools.SM won't sell anything.Neither do ads in trade magazines. They both are vehicles to get your message out whether it be on a product or brand.
Nate's comment-"While social media is not a 'magic bullet' that will make you better at sales, marketing or business development, it does help you open more doors to opportunities faster and more efficiently than ever before." is right on the money.
SM isn't going away and it isn't going to make this horrible economy turn around. But given it's great opportunities for us to reach out and touch potential customers it can't be ignored.
Kimmo Linkama
Linkama OÜ, Owner & Copywriter
August 4, 2009 10:27 am
Liz Stott gets my vote, too. I would also like to add this: B2B discussions often involve strategic purchase decisions, which are not discussed in public.
Laura Ramos
Forrester Research, VP and Principal Analyst
August 5, 2009 02:17 am
The ANA and B-toB Magazine are featuring this data during a jointly sponsored conference this week in Chicago. The ANA's August 3 press release -- and my colleague Josh Bernoff's presentation on Tuesday, Aug 4 -- prompted me to look at this a bit closer.
The B-to-B sample size is 77 respondents and, from the article, it is not clear how "social networks/social media" was defined in the original question. Just two examples of how the findings may show social media use in a more positive light than deserved.
I wrote more about this in my blog at: http://b2bmarketingpost.com/2009/08/04/social-media-use-soars-among-b2b-marketers-really/
I'm not looking to stir up controversy, but only point out that data is what it is. Happy to hear if you agree or disagree. I also agree with both Liz Stott and John S. on this -- the social media genie is out of the bottle in B2B, but we need to be much more audience-focused about how we use it.
Henk Hoets
FocusGroupTips.com
August 8, 2009 08:05 am
In addition, Social Media Listening is a way to research communities. It's a form of qualitative marketing research. Especially in brand, awareness, and sentiment research.
Nikita Irmal
Tradeseam.com
August 9, 2009 01:14 am
I believe Social Media is going to become an essential media channel, the b2b marketers that can listen and facilitate the social dialogue will be the eventual winnners.
David King
Gutenberg Communications, Social Media Lead
July 21, 2009 01:58 pm
I think it would be useful to compare the popularity of various platforms for B2B marketers to the demographics of users on those platforms.
If you do - you'll find that we're on the right track.
For example, over half of Facebook users are now within an age range frequented by professionals and managers, whereas just last year the audience was predominantly young.
Twitter is full of professionals who often Tweet from work about work-related topics.
As B2B companies we have to avoid communications strategies that have a lot of hype in the media, but don't have a genuine business audience.
Nate Riggs
Huber + Co. Interactive
July 22, 2009 02:43 pm
Finally! Hard evidence that BtoB marketers see value in using tools that allow them to tap into the social graph and create relationships.
While social media is not a 'magic bullet' that will make you better at sales, marketing or business development, it does help you open more doors to opportunities faster and more efficiently than ever before. At the very least, it's changed the way that I personally approach business.
Yet, a fair amount of BtoB marketers are still thinking in terms of a 'push' mentality. You can see evidence of this proliferating Twitter. Tons of BtoB folks are approaching the medium like it's television advertising. FAIL!
All this social media has one goal - better communication. People talking to people. The basic rules of networking apply more than ever.
Successful BtoB social media marketers will that embrace that concept and become rockstar communicators...
Liz Stott
Marketing Strategist, Penton Media
July 23, 2009 09:56 am
MARKETERS use of Social Media has risen....but Big Question - are their customers and prospects using it?
It really depends on the market. In the engineering/B2B market space, the answer is an overwhelming No. (Data based on returned surveys from over 1000 design engineers, June 2009). These engineers, on the other hand, DO use SM to a degree for Personal use, but not for business. They don't have the time to twitter all day long - they'll go straight to Google and at that point, companies who have done a good job branding and building trust, will be the ones the engineer selects.
Word of Mouth has always been very powerful, and now SM wants to play that role. But the difference is, you're hearing stuff from complete strangers who are not necessarily "trusted sources".
David, above, is correct: "As B2B companies we have to avoid communications strategies that have a lot of hype in the media, but don't have a genuine business audience."
My only word of caution to marketers would be to determine if your prospects/customers are really using SM for business decisions, before you dedicate full time employees to community building roles. Marketers see SM as "free" - but it's not free at all, especially when you consider the Value of Time, and the high costs associated with community building personnel.
SM is just one tool in your marketing arsenal, and it's not the panacea.
viewsagent.com
July 23, 2009 12:19 pm
Its where the attention is.......
Patricia Sonego
IndustrialWebTalk.com
July 28, 2009 10:25 am
Lisa Stott is dead on. SM is another tool to let companies know you exist. It is a great way to reach out to a particular industry with questions and/or answers. It is more a public relations tool and less a sales tool.
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