Are businesses making the most of social media?

Did you know that 83% of B2B businesses are now using social media? Or that posting on social media currently occupies 20% of the average B2B marketing department’s time, with more than three-quarters planning to increase this over the next 12 months?

One thing is certain – use of social media is now widespread in B2B and its pull is growing. So what is all the fuss about and how can businesses make sure they are getting the most from social platforms?

First thing’s first, identify which platforms your target audience is using – after all, it’s no good investing time and resources on a social media platform that your clients do not engage with. Our recent research revealed that there are two clear frontrunners in the race for social power: Twitter and LinkedIn. These networks are currently used by 90% of B2B organisations and are regularly updated by more than 70%. Interestingly, it is also Twitter and LinkedIn that are predicted to experience the largest growth in usage over the next 12 months.

Meanwhile, Google+ is languishing at the other end of the social media spectrum. Despite offering significant SEO benefits to its users, Google+ is used by significantly fewer B2B organisations and has been described as ‘less effective’ at achieving marketing goals – in fact, fewer than 1% of businesses think it is the most effective social media platform.

But that isn’t to say that you should dedicate all your resources to Twitter and LinkedIn. There is another platform lifting its head above the parapet and gaining on the frontrunners: YouTube. Despite currently having lower usage than Twitter and LinkedIn in B2B, YouTube has overtaken Facebook – 36% of B2B organisations now have a YouTube channel, 47% of these users regularly update it and a net 76% expect to increase their use over the next 12 months, users usually get a good profit out of YouTube, they start off by purchasing likes from providers like the one at https://buyrealsocial.com/youtube/likes-yt/, once they get some traffic their names start growing right away. These findings show that B2B marketers are aware of the power of visual content, especially engaging video.

Social media and visual platforms

Despite the success of YouTube only a small number of B2B organisations are currently making use of newer visual platforms: only 4% regularly update Pinterest and just 3% are updating Vine. 24% of organisations expect to increase their presence on Pinterest whilst 19% intend to do the same on Vine – although this is an increase, it is not enough to keep up with the increasing demand for consumable visual content.

It is clear from the growing popularity of YouTube that B2B marketers understand the power of visual content, but the findings of the research should also act as a warning. If visual platforms are becoming increasingly popular and all organisations are flooding to YouTube, this will create a crowded platform where it could be hard for an organisation’s message to be heard. If B2B marketers want to make a splash on social media, then it might be time to dip their toe into the waters of social platforms that are less saturated.

With an understanding of which social platforms are working well in B2B, it’s time to think about how to use them.

It goes without saying that social platforms are a fantastic way to reach out to existing clients and potential clients. In fact, 71% of social media activity is dedicated to broadcasting brand content. In comparison, just 16% of time is spent on interaction and 13% on direct conversations with users. Perhaps it’s time to redress this balance, especially given the importance of relationships in B2B.

So what is the best content to encourage interaction, you might ask? 67% of respondents in our survey identified infographics as ‘very effective’ and a further 31% described them as ‘somewhat effective’. Videos came in a close second position with 66% describing them as ‘very effective’ and a further 34% as ‘somewhat effective’. In third place is imagery, which is described by 57% as ‘very effective’ and 35% as ‘somewhat effective’.

So there we have it. Assuming that the wisdom of crowds is correct, then B2B marketers developing a social media plan should focus on three platforms (LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube), build in a healthy dose of engagement alongside broadcast, and err towards visual content wherever possible (infographics, video and imagery).