Traditionally business-to-business marketers have used methods like white papers and lead nurturing campaigns to get a hold of prospects and to build profitable relationships. But a new article on AdAge points out that these traditional methods may soon be a thing of the past. Continue reading to learn why, in the near future, social media will be as big a deal with business-to-business marketers as it is with everyone else.
The Current State of Social Media
Truth be told, social media doesn’t look very promising for business-to-business marketers at this time. The study AdAge highlights was done by IDG Connect, a division of International Data Group. At the moment, the study found, social media is actually the least important source of information and data for IT buyers. There could be a number of reasons for its current status, though much of it is probably due to the newness of social media and the longstanding methods of business-to-business marketers and buyers.
That said, social media is not a complete non-issue for IT buyers. IDG connect reported that 86% of buyers regularly used social media to help inform their decisions.
Social Media in the Near Future
However, IDG Connect’s study seems to show this is all about to change. In fact, the findings concluded that social media is set to become the most critical content source for buyers to make their decisions. As such, it will soon be the most important place for marketers to spend their time.
Analysts highlighted in the study believed the weight attributed to social media by buyers was set to increase anywhere from 31% to 37%, in terms of its ability to influence investment decisions, in the next two years.
To put those numbers into better perspective, editorial and vendor-created content is currently seen as far more favorable by IT buyers than social media. But in the same two years that social media will climb by at least 31%, these two other sources are predicted to fall by at least as much. It’s believed editorial content will drop 31%, while vendor-created content will fall 32%.
The Importance of Social Media
Social media can mean so many things that it’s important to be as specific as possible when referring to it, especially in terms of business. The important service social media provides when it comes to buyers is the conversations around business decisions and the influence of peers.
When it comes time to actually start buying, vendors put more weight on the conversations they took part in on social media.
Using Social Media in the Future
Though all signs point to an increase in the importance of social media, at the moment it’s important to remember that buyers are using it primarily to gather information, not to make a purchase. For the time being, marketers would do well to bring their lead-generation efforts in line with the feedback they’re receiving on social media.
While social media may not be a silver bullet for business-to-business marketers at the moment, there’s little doubt that the platform is slowly increasing its performance. Business-to-business marketers should take advantage of the current grace period they find themselves in by learning the ropes and using the feedback and information already available.
Source:
http://adage.com/article/btob/social-media-increasingly-important-b-b-marketers/291033/
Drop us a line to discuss how we might be able to help drive your sales through social selling: info@ridge-consulting.com
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