Generating more leads is a B2B marketer’s biggest challenge, with 49% of marketers ranking it as their top priority.
With dozens of different B2B demand generation tactics, how do you decide which strategy is worth your time?
Check Out The Ultimate Guide to B2B Lead Generation
B2B marketers use an average of 13 different marketing techniques, social media being the most frequently used. 83% of B2B marketers put forth some sort of effort on social media this year, indicating that most marketers understand the value of social sites.
Here’s a few more social media statistics you need to know, and what they mean to your business.
What it means: Up from 6% from 2 years prior, more and more marketers are seeing social media’s power to generate demand for their product or service. This increase indicates that marketers are seeing social media as a viable demand generation tool, as opposed to a place to share company new releases and awards.
What it means: B2B marketers see the value of social media for lead generation and taking the next steps to stay consistent. Take time to write out a social media plan for your company to help streamline the execution process.
To get started, write out a few relevant messages for your blog posts for LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter then take time to think of responses for anyone who comments or retweets. Once you get a feel for how it works, schedule out posts for the next few weeks.
What it means: Even if you're not seeing the benefits of social media marketing in obvious ways through your metrics, consistent content on social media does lead to people learning more about your products and services. You just may not know it.
As you're growing your following and community on social media, it's important to ensure you also have lead capture forms and lead generation funnels built on your website so you can continue to nurture these quiet observers.
What it means: LinkedIn is still converting the most readers to leads on social media. The study this stat is pulled from explains that a vast majority of LinkedIn leads come from posts in discussion groups, so branch out from your company page!
Find a few LinkedIn groups related to your industry and test out posting a few articles. Write an insightful takeaway and end with a question to start a discussion with the other readers. You can post your company articles too, but don’t spam the group and try to make it all about you.
What it means: Stay visible and consistent on social media, but also offer buyers a way to follow your brand on social media at every touchpoint - especially the first encounter and at the time of purchase.
Be sure to follow up with them in an appropriate manner and answer any questions they may have. Value your social media leads and you may find yourself with a new customer.
Like any other marketing initiative, don’t forget to measure your success.
80% of marketers using social media are using some sort of metric to track their progress. Common metrics other B2B companies are tracking are likes, clickthrough, reach, or conversions - these metrics can help you see what’s working and what isn’t.
Don’t be discouraged if your results aren’t what you would like to see right away. It will take a while to build brand presence on any social site - as long as you’re posting things your customer want to read, you’ll start to see positive results.
Mark Yolton of SAP explained, “Social media marketing is no longer a nice to have—it’s a must have. Our customers expect it. Our competitors are all doing it. And unless we embrace and excel at social media marketing integrated into the full marketing mix, we’ll be at a competitive disadvantage.”