'BtoB' study - Social marketing pervasive, LinkedIn most important

New York—B2b marketers are embracing social media marketing, in particular LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, and see branding as its most useful feature, according to a new study by BtoB.

“Emerging Trends in B-to-B Social Media Marketing: Insights From the Field” found that 93% of b2b marketers are engaged to some extent in social media marketing. Twenty-six percent of respondents to BtoB's survey cited LinkedIn as their most important social channel, followed by Facebook (20%), blogging (19%), customer communities (14%) and YouTube (7%).

Respondents said social sites are useful overall in supporting branding efforts, although different channels are considered to have their own unique strengths. LinkedIn, for example, was cited primarily for supporting lead generation, Facebook was considered strong in promoting products and events, and Twitter was noted for its website traffic-building qualities.

The online survey was conducted in January and February with 577 respondents. The full report can be accessed here.