by Jame Moore
A study of B2B technology and marketing decision makers (*KnowledgeStorm), revealed that over 90% of B2B’s have finally gotten on board with video; 80% are blogging; 69% are finding their way across the social networks
and over 50% actually understand and use Podcasts. Close to ninety percent of B2B marketers have made the attempt, gone down the runway and taken off, joining with consumer firms who are diving into the world of social media in order to increase profits.
B2B companies shied away from social marketing for quite a spell, wishing to stay with more out-dated marketing and advertising models to achieve success. But as times continued to change, research changed, and the B2B’s finally broke down and added social media marketing to their budgets.
LinkedIn is seen as the Holy Grail for B2B, but there are other platforms rising from the ashes, as well as being created all the time for B2B ROI. Twitter and Facebook use has increased, but LinkedIn is the one and only that focuses on being a network where industry professionals can reach one another without delay.
It has been very clear that B2B marketers are trying many new tactics in order to increase revenue and build ROI. Whereas reports and print advertising may one day become a thing of the past, at least this study shows that B2B is making extreme progress in their marketing models.
Most B2B marketing departments are searching for that analysis that shows the cost effectiveness of social media – utilizing analytics and web traffic statistics. In fact, many companies in all areas of industry are coming to the conclusion that having a Social Marketing Management Team that can compile and oversee all analytics 24/7, issues in the market, and the negatives and positives coming out of every marketing campaign they put together, is an absolute must. These social media stats are necessary to find out if a company’s marketing efforts are truly effective.
With this newfound urgency, B2B marketing budgets are expanding – increasing their content marketing budgets. With these increased budgets, more and more social media management teams – with the skills and expertise to take a company name and turn that brand into a household name – will be needed. This will, in fact, leave the only real challenge being the fact that enough content (blogs, websites, videos, etc.) must be done continuously to make their marketing efforts worthwhile.
This demand is out of control. Writers are needed more than ever. Good writers, who know exactly what it takes to keep up with the latest industry material. Making a partnership or alliance with a social media marketing team that keeps content fresh, exciting and new is the goal of the B2B world.
The more ‘open’ PR becomes, and the more paths social media introduces, the more promise of ROI. B2B companies should utilize all paths available in order to become involved in their communities, and to locate where specific customers are already established. This way, they can target their market by offering optimal content and news.
Traditional marketing is the past. And as with anything else in this world, stepping into something new always feels like an impossible task. But for B2B companies to be successful, social media marketing is needed. Therefore, increase the budget, hire that Social Media/PR team and get your company’s ROI rising!
Talk with the Social Media/PR Team: BeFirst Media Group
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