Importance of Social Media Marketing for B2Bs
Social media marketing is fast becoming one of the most effective tools businesses use to accomplish their goals. In fact, according to the Content Marketing Institute, an overwhelming 87% of B2Bs now use social media to disseminate content to their prospective and existing customers as compared to the 74% in 2012. In addition, about 54% of marketers are planning to increase their content marketing budget by 2014.
The Importance of Social Media Marketing for B2Bs
Contrary to what some B2B marketers believe, social media marketing can produce amazing results for your business. So if you are merely participating in social media because everybody else seems to be doing it, you need to know what you can actually get out of it. With social media marketing, you can:?
- Increase your exposure. An overwhelming 89% of marketers use social media to generate exposure for their business. By establishing a strong social media presence, standing above your competition in an extremely noisy online world can be relatively easy to accomplish.
- Increase traffic to your site. According to the 2012 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 79% of marketers experienced increased traffic from using social media. This may be due to the fact that sharing relevant content from your site helps improve your website’s search engine rankings and exposes your content to a wider audience.
- Gain marketplace intelligence. Participating in social media can help you understand your customers a lot better and keep up with their changing needs. By having this vital piece of information in your hands, you can create more relevant content, drive even more traffic to your site, gain an edge over your competition and generate more profits for your business.
- Generate new leads. According to Hubspot’s 2013 State of Inbound Marketing Annual Report, social media can be twice as effective as pay-per-click (or PPC) marketing, trade shows, telemarketing or direct mail. You can participate in Twitter chats, LinkedIn groups and Google+ Hangouts to establish thought leadership and credibility, and run Facebook ads to generate leads from the right audience.
- Improve sales performance. People who cultivate a deeper engagement with your brand are more likely to buy from you and recommend your products and services to their friends.?
- Enhance your relationship-building efforts. Social media provides an excellent venue to communicate and interact with your prospects and customers. Recent studies show that 75% of B2B buyers use social media to engage with their vendors. In addition, investing at least six to 10 hours per week in social media has been shown to help generate new business partnerships.
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