Social Mediation

We recently published our 2013 Social Media Benchmarking Report. Alex Aspinall digs a little deeper…

A chasm currently exists between the number of B2B brands investing in social media and the number claiming to be able to calculate the ROI of their activities. This is perhaps the most noteworthy revelation from the B2B Marketing Social Media Benchmarking Report 2013. It’s striking, not least, because it throws into question the relevance of lots of marketing activity but also because it suggests a skills gap within the industry.

 It’s alarming to think in a world increasingly obsessed with measurement, sales alignment and concrete deliverables, marketers are not able to quantify the contribution of their social media efforts. Only one per cent of our respondents claimed they could always calculate the ROI of their social media marketing. And, while 16 per cent claimed to be able to do so ‘most of the time’ or ‘half of the time,’ a huge 44 per cent were able to do so either ‘rarely or not at all.’ The people sitting around board tables up and down the country will be hoping to see an improvement in that statistic in the
coming year.

Measurement

It’s not all doom and gloom though. Indeed, the situation may not be quite as dire as the easily pluckable headlines suggest. Yes, marketers are struggling to quantify social’s ROI at present. But with a subtle adjustment in how they envisage approaching the task, we could see a vast improvement. There are probably few examples that better exemplify a lack of business acumen than focusing on vanity metrics when reporting on social media. Followers don’t necessarily equal profit, especially in B2B markets, yet it is the second most-commonly quoted metric marketers reported turning towards in our report. Admittedly they also spoke about monitoring web traffic and keeping track of content downloads, but there is more to be gained here, and many of the most socially astute marketers are now advocating adopting cost-per-lead and cost-per-customer models, as well as assessing impressions, reach and conversation stats. With greater adoption of these ideas, improvements will be quickly attained.

Platforms

This lack of firmly established evaluation techniques in the space is systematic of its relative youth as a marketing option. Another area of the report serving to remind us social is still a relatively new space is the continued shifting in platform allegiances. It will come as no surprise to hear that Twitter and LinkedIn were the two most popular platforms among B2B brands. Both offer clear advantages for marketers looking to reach business professionals.

 However, it may come as a surprise to some to hear of the expected increase in the relevance of Google+ as a B2B marketing option. At present, uptake of Google’s social offering is well behind its major rivals, with only 36 per cent of our respondents claiming a profile on the site. This lack of belief in the platform is also mirrored in the fact that only nine per cent of our respondents regarded it as being the most useful social media platform. However, when asked to predict which would be the most useful platform in 12 months’ time, an impressive 29 per cent of respondents selected Google+.

According to B2B marketers Google+ will be over three times more useful in 12 months’ time than it is at present.

There are fairly few industries that have to deal with such change on such a regular basis. But, in many ways, this is part of the joy of working in the digital/social space at present. It’s a constantly changing landscape where the ability to look to the future and have an understanding of what’s coming next can be the difference between success and failure.

The aim of the B2B Marketing Social Media Benchmarking Report 2013 is to provide practitioners with the means to evaluate how they are doing in comparison to their peers, as well as offering some insight into what’s around the corner for social media.

For an overview of the full report download the B2B Marketing Social Media Benchmarking Report 2013 key findings document

Download an infographic providing further detail on the report.

 

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