5 Fresh B2B Marketing Stats & What They Mean to You
One thing I love about the KoMarketing team is they keep me up to date on everything that’s happening in the online marketing and B2B space. From article sharing to tweets to bi-weekly training discussions, the team does a great job staying on top of what’s happening.
Perhaps most valuable for me though is our news section (if you haven’t seen it, I recommend you head over there). Each week, multiple news stories are posted featuring the latest trends, reports, and statistics in the B2B world. For someone who doesn’t have a lot of extra time to go out and find those, it’s a fantastic resource.
There are so many good reports and surveys being conducted (*cough) and truthfully, some of the stats surprise me. Today, I’m going to look at some of these more surprising stats and discuss what they really mean to marketers.
1. 20% of Marketers Do Not Measure the ROI of Their Inbound Marketing Efforts (link)
To me, what’s surprising isn’t that 20% of marketers don’t measure the ROI of their inbound marketing efforts, it’s that ONLY 20% of marketers don’t measure the ROI of their inbound marketing efforts.
“How do I measure ROI?” is one of the most common questions we hear in this industry and something we at KoMarketing work really hard with our clients on to ensure they are not just measuring but seeing value in what we do.
The beautiful thing about the web is there are so many ways to track efforts. With analytics, call tracking solutions, and marketing automation systems, it’s not a “How do I measure?” but more of a “How do I track this properly?”
Need some help? Here are a few articles to get you started:
2. 94% of B2B Buyers Conduct Research Before Spending (link)
I think what makes this stat important is the other finding that goes along with it – 68% of B2B buyers purchase goods online. This shows the importance of having the right information on your website for your buyers.
Last year, our B2B Website Usability Survey showed that buyers want to see case studies, whitepapers, pricing information, testimonials, and more when they visit a site.
This, coupled with knowing that 94% of people are doing their research before spending and the majority of those people are making their purchases online, shows why companies must invest in better content.
Businesses need to realize that content doesn’t have to be blogs or articles. If your customers are interested in case studies or need whitepapers to show them the value of your product/service, you must take the time to invest in those assets.
3. 79% of B2B Marketers Believe Social Media is an Effective Marketing Channel (link)
I have a little bit of a hard time believing this stat based on what I typically hear but I definitely agree with the sentiment.
Social media is one of the most difficult channels to truly measure ROI on if you are looking simply at last-click attribution. The thing is, social media is so much more than that. Social media drives brand awareness, helps spread content, drives links, and most importantly, helps you connect to customers and potential customers.
The key to making social media an effective channel is taking the time to understand who your audience is, how they are using each channel, and then creating the right expectations and goals for your social media program.
Interested in learning a bit more about social media ROI? Here are a few articles worth reading:
4. 50% of B2B Marketers Cite Referrals as Most Efficient Lead Gen Tactic (link)
As a huge fan of word-of-mouth marketing, I love this statistic on the surface. However, when you actually read the study this came from, the main gist of it is marketers are struggling with their lead gen tactics. In fact, according to this study, 21% of respondents said that they thought their lead gen strategy was “not successful.” Ugh!
Putting that aside, if referrals are one of the most efficient lead generation tactics, businesses should think about how they can take advantage of this.
How do you get people to refer you to others?
The answer to this isn’t simple but there are a few key things you can do:
Ask
There’s this whole thing around “The Power of Ask” and how we can be much more successful in life just by asking for what we want. The same thing applies to business. Ask your customers to refer to you. Ask them to connect you with a person they know. Ask them to think of you in the future.
Make it Easy
One of the keys to getting more referrals is to make it easy for others to refer you. Whether it’s adding a share button to your site, using a referral tool, or another method, it shouldn’t be hard for others to share your product/service/site.
Incentivize
While this one can be a bit tricky, think about companies like Uber who give every person their own personalized URL to share with their friends. If someone signs up with that URL, the person gets a $10 credit. It’s brilliant and gives people a reason to refer others beyond the fact they like the service.
Incentives aren’t for everyone but they are certainly something to consider. It could be something as small as a giveaway or a free hour of service. Know what your users need and figure out what interests them.
Start thinking about how your business can generate more referral business.
5. 92% of B2B Marketers are Using Video Content (link)
Even though this number seems extremely high to me, I am happy to see it. Especially combined with the increase in people browsing and searching on mobile. In fact, with 21% of the world watching up to three hours of video on their phone per week, video is becoming a great way to get in front of customers.
What does this mean for businesses? Maybe nothing at the moment but it’s certainly worth exploring. With the advances in technology, video can be a low cost means of content marketing. Video presents an opportunity to use visuals, showcase the faces behind a company, and connect with customers.
Interested in video marketing? Check out “The Distilled Guide to Video Marketing.”
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The world of B2B marketing is evolving and it’s exciting to see. Just a few years ago it seemed B2B businesses didn’t want to be involved in social and now we have the statistic noted above. As we work to stay on top of (and more importantly, get in front of) the trends, we’ll be sure to share with you even more stats and info. Stay tuned!