82% of B2B Marketers Cite Social Media as Top Growing Channel

As B2B marketers analyze their fastest-growing channels, new research indicates that social media is blowing away the competition, offering them more ways to connect with customers than ever before.

Oktopost recently published “The 2021 State of B2B Social Media Marketing” report, and statistics showed that social media (82%) has been the top growing marketing channel of the year. This is followed by website (67%), search/PPC (39%) and email (37%).

“This year, CMOs were challenged with budget cuts and the inability to forecast a changing situation from one day to the next,” wrote the authors of the report. “As one of the most cost-effective and flexible ways to engage customers and prospects, social media flew to the top of the list of B2B marketing initiatives as a result.”

Social media marketing (78%) was also deemed the most effective marketing initiative amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by email marketing (55%).

“Email marketing has always been the bright center of the universe for B2B,” the authors continued. “But with old-school channels shrinking due to pandemic closures, connecting with customers and prospects on social media has become more of a priority than ever.”

Marketers to Continue Investment in Social Media

Looking ahead, previous research suggests that marketers are not going to hesitate when it comes to investing in social media.

Ascend2 conducted “The Outlook on Performance Marketing” report, and data showed that most marketers (33%) intend on allocating the majority of their budget toward social media over the next 12 months. This was followed by SEO (16%) and search (16%).

In addition, the majority of marketers (73%) also claimed that they will be creating most of their content for social media in the coming year.