Ninety-four per cent of B2B marketers use social media as a primary content distribution channel, despite only 31 per cent describing it as ‘very effective’, a

new study

by B2B Marketing has revealed.

Over the last three years social media has jumped from being the third most used distribution channel to take the top spot. This may be down to the accessible nature of social media networks, allowing brands to broadcast their messages while easily engaging with potential prospects. However, the research shows social media isn’t without its disadvantages. The popularity of social media means more and more brands are fighting to be heard – decreasing its effectiveness.

Additionally, email was selected as a top distribution channel by 90 per cent of the 112 B2B marketers surveyed, followed by brand website (89 per cent) and company blog (68 per cent).

Meanwhile, the most effective channel for distributing content was one-on-one meetings (selected as ‘very effective’ by 72 per cent of respondents), followed by email (51 per cent) and events and seminars (49 per cent).

Alex Aspinall, head of content at B2B Marketing, said: “It’s important your prospects can easily find your content. You really have to be reactive to their requirements in this area. However, it’s also important to interrogate returns. Some channels are bound to work better for certain types of content than others. Anyone eager to see those returns improving is also well advised to increase their brand’s personalisation and content tailoring sophistication. Finely tuned messages always deliver better results than mass-market comms.”