B2B Social Media Marketing

It is a common perception that social media for B2B is far different than that of B2C. I wanted to do some research to see if the two were really that different. As a firm believer in social media for B2B, I was looking for evidence that the two were more similar than they were different.

Jay Baer, author of the blog Convince and Convert, blogged about a similar topic. Below you will find information from his blog:

According to the State of Social Media Marketing Report published by MarketingProfs, B2C and B2B social marketing efforts are more aligned than they are different. The report shows that B2C and B2B marketers are using the same channels at close to the same rates, Baer suggests the difference lies in how they are using the social channels, not in what channels they are using.

The other main point Baer draws from the data is that budget is not really a factor. According to the MarketingProfs’ report, the difference between those spending millions on social media to those spending very little is incredibly small. The presence on the top social media sites remains almost identical.

Here are some compelling stats from Social Media B2B:

 

• More than half (53.5%) of (B2B and B2C) marketers surveyed said they currently use social media as part of their marketing strategy. This is up from 2009, when 45.0% of marketers said they used social media for marketing. (Source)

• 86% of B2B firms are using social, compared to 82% of B2C. (Source)

• B2B advertising spend on social media and lead generation sites is forecast to grow at an annualized rate of 21% and 17% respectively to 2013. (Source)

• B2B firms combat much more internal criticism that B2C firms. Internal “perceived irrelevance” is prevalent in nearly half of B2B firms, the same can be said of only 12% of B2C firms. (Source)

Though these figures indicate that B2B’s social media presence is on the rise, they also indicate that it will be a tough road ahead for those working internally at B2B firms. Convincing other expansion stage team members that your influence marketing/inbound marketing strategy is a priority will be far tougher at a B2B than a B2C.

What are the best ways to prove relevance?  Facts. Work on tracking the progress of various social initiatives. Here are some tips:

• Arm yourself with data. How many followers do you have? How many people are reading your blogs or case studies? How has that number increased over time? How has your SEO improved with time?

• Keep track of success stories. Have you received emails from clients telling you how valuable they find your blogs? Save them! Do some of your prospects regularly engage with you on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook? Document it! These success stories will come in handy when having conversations about the impact of your initiatives.

The OpenView team is very supportive of our B2B social efforts, but I still keep track of our progress like I would with any marketing initiative.

Questions of the week: How do you track your social progress? Do you have any tips for those combating internal “perceived irrelevance”?