Survey: 86% of Social Media Marketers Leverage Paid and Organic Strategies

According to a survey from Clutch, it’s rare for social media marketers not to use both paid and organic strategies in tandem.

In fact, data shows that 86 percent are using some combination of the two tactics. Many marketers are focusing on organic strategies, with some paid efforts (39 percent), or dividing their resources equally over paid and organic tactics (35 percent).

The survey included 304 social media marketers from both B2B and B2C businesses with more than 100 employees.

The survey found two-thirds of marketers turn to Facebook first for paid social media, and about one-third are leveraging YouTube and Twitter to advertise. LinkedIn is used by 30 percent of survey respondents.

Scott Rogerson of Community Elf, one of the survey respondents, underlined the importance of combining paid and organic efforts. “If a company runs a paid social media campaign, the first thing that may happen is someone will click on the company’s profile. If the company doesn’t have organic content on its Facebook page, then the customer can’t learn anything about the company’s character. They most likely won’t click through to the company’s website or download its content.”

However, 59 percent of respondents agreed paid social is more effective than organic social.

The survey also revealed there is not much difference between B2B and B2C enterprises when it comes to how they approach paid social. In both types of enterprises, 43 percent say they use organic and paid social media equally. The data shows B2B companies are more likely to use these efforts for lead generation.

Social Media ‘Indispensable’ to B2B Marketers

A May 2016 survey revealed 27 percent of B2B marketers identify social media as an “indispensable” channel for content distribution. This puts social efforts on the same level as tried and true digital tactics such as websites (26 percent) and email (28 percent).

The survey focused on content distribution and found the top three objectives for content marketing initiatives are: lead generation (87 percent), creating awareness (76 percent) and nurturing prospects and influencing purchases (69 percent).