B2B Marketers Staying Committed to Investments in Social Media

The CMOs of B2B product and services companies continue to invest in social media marketing. However, they vary in how much they currently spend and intend to spend on this channel in the coming months.

In “The CMO Survey Highlights and Insights Report” published in February 2017, CMOs from B2B product companies said they spend 9.4 percent of their marketing budget on social media. Within the next 12 months, they expect to increase this percentage to 11.4 percent. Further, they foresee it rising to 17 percent within the next five years.

Currently, CMOs from B2B services companies claimed they dedicate 10.7 percent of their marketing budget to social media. In the next 12 months, they predict that they will allocate 13.2 percent of their budget to this channel, and they see the percentage increasing to 17.9 percent within the next five years.

Although organizations in the B2B services sector are expecting to invest slightly more in social media in the near future, B2B product companies have reportedly seen a higher ROI. About 16.2 percent of B2B product CMOs say they have been able to quantitatively prove the impact of social media on their business. This is compared to 12.3 percent of B2B services CMOs who said the same.

Social Media Marketing Investment in 2016

The same survey conducted in 2016 highlighted the disconnect between the size of marketers’ investment in social media and the amount of measurable ROI.

At the time, CMOs said they expected to increase their spending on social media marketing within the next five years, with 20.9 percent of their budgets going toward this channel. However, only 11.5 percent had been able to prove the impact of it quantitatively.

“Companies are spending a lot on social media right now, but demonstrating its contribution depends on more than investment in analytics, though that will help,” said Christine Moorman, a Fuqua professor and director of The CMO Survey, in February 2016.