Introduction. Executive Summary. Social Media Presence. B2B Social Media Marketing Goals. Social Media Lead Generation. Staffing for Social Media

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2 2 Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Executive Summary 6 Social Media Presence 10 B2B Social Media Marketing Goals 13 Social Media Lead Generation 17 Social Media Tool Usage 23 Staffing for Social Media 27 Social Media Metrics 30 Social Media ROI 32 Analyst Bottom Line 34 Acknowledgements 35 Appendix: Survey Background

3 3 INTRODUCTION It s unheard of for a B2B organization to not have a social media presence. Just three percent of organizations studied for this report claim to have no social media presence. For the other 97 percent, some level of commitment to and investment in social media exists, and the overall effectiveness of this investment is mixed. This report will share the goals that these organizations have for social media, how they re investing in it and what level of return they are getting from it. As a marketing channel, social media has many applications, and the primary goal for most B2B firms is either brand awareness or lead generation. While usage is high and effectiveness is moderate, the perceived Return-on-Investment (ROI) for social media is quite unspectacular, as this report will detail. Demand Metric in partnership with Socedo set out to discover the current B2B social media practices, collecting over 475 complete and partial responses to the study survey. The data from this survey paints the current social media landscape that this report shares, and the analysis of that data provides best practice insights for improving the results B2B marketers are getting from social media.

4 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY All of this study s participants were from B2B organizations, most of which report revenue growth during the past fiscal year. Over half of the respondents have marketing job titles, and over one-fourth are specific to digital marketing or social media. The respondents come from a diverse set of industries, technology hardware or software being the largest. Over half come from companies with less than $10 million in annual revenue, while eight percent are with firms reporting revenues of 1 $500 million or more. The analysis of this study s data provides these key findings: ü Three of the primary uses of social media in B2B environments are Brand awareness, Lead generation, and Thought leadership, accounting for 75 percent of the primary usage. ü 34 percent of study participants rated their social media marketing efforts as Effective or Very effective, while just 29 percent reported getting a Return on Investment (ROI) in line with or above expectations. ü Over half of study participants report having no integration between their social media channels/social media management systems and their marketing and sales systems. The study discovered that such integration is a significant contributor to increased ROI from social media. ü Over half of the study s participants use social media analytics and content marketing tools, while almost 20 percent indicate no tool usage at all. Study participants reporting lower overall social media marketing effectiveness also report much lower tool usage rates. ü When any social media tools are in use, the effectiveness rating for social media as a lead generation channel more than doubles, and when the top three tools are in use social media analytics, social media monitoring and content marketing the reported effectiveness almost triples.

5 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ü When any social media tools are in use, the ROI assessment of social media almost triples, and when the top three tools are in use, the reported effectiveness almost quadruples. ü Just one in five organizations in the study assess their social media marketing effectiveness favorably when they have no staff allocated to their efforts. ü The use of best practices identified in this report, such as integration with sales and marketing systems, use of certain tools, and tracking of specific metrics, results in ROI of social media marketing almost doubling. However, just 11 percent of study participants currently use these best practices. This report details the results and insights from the analysis of the study data. For more detail on the survey participants, please refer to the Appendix.

6 6 SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE While virtually all respondents who participated in the study survey reported their firms have a social media presence, the magnitude of that presence varies a great deal. Figure 1 shows the variance in the profile, activity and size of following for the study s participants. Social Media Presence 48% 33% 3% 16% None Low Medium High Figure 1: 97 percent of study participants have some sort of social media presence. Almost all firms that participated in this study are making some level of investment in social media, but as Figure 1 shows, their profile, activity and following vary greatly, with just over 15 percent reporting a high level. This report will explore the factors that contribute to success with B2B social media, showing how various aspects of usage impact the results and return marketers are getting from it. Before proceeding to the insights part of this report, we ll share in Figure 2 the reasons why some companies have little to no social media presence.

7 7 SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE Reasons for Not Having a Social Media Presence Don't have the resources 56% Don't understand social media Don't do content marketing Unable to realize ROI Concerned about control of content Customers not on social media Only do outbound sales Other 27% 22% 21% 17% 15% 11% 15% Figure 2: One reason dominates the list: resources. Marketers are always challenged to allocate a limited set of resources against the organization s priorities. As one survey participant stated, One marketer, spread too thin. Several who responded to the study survey indicated that their social media efforts were just getting started. Other comments that help illuminate why some companies don t have a social media presence include: ü Don t put enough time for presence to grow. ü We don t have enough content to distribute on social media. ü Funding issues. As with all marketing investments, the path to success begins with a strong business case. The insights and best practices that this report shares should help marketers justify an investment in social media that delivers a return.

8 8 SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE For those that do maintain a social media presence, study participants were asked to assess the overall effectiveness of that presence. data. Assessment: Overall Social Media Marketing Effectiveness Figure 3 shares this assessment 44% 31% 5% 17% 3% Figure 3: Two-third of study participants report overall effectiveness at neutral or worse. The view that Figure 1 provides shows that almost everyone is doing social media, but Figure 3 tells us that most those assessing their efforts as very ineffective, ineffective, or neutral are not doing it effectively. Those respondents that assessed their efforts as Effective and Very effective combined form the Effective segment, a segment that will serve as a point of comparison in other sections of this report. To bring this picture of B2B social media usage into even sharper focus, Figure 4 shares the ROI assessment of these efforts.

9 9 SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE Social Media ROI Assessment 40% 13% 18% 23% 4% 2% Don't know the ROI Far below expectation Slightly below expectations In line Slightly above expectations Far above expectations Figure 4: Few marketers report social media ROI that is above expectations. This ROI data offers little encouragement to B2B marketers. Almost everyone is marketing with social media, and many are experiencing disappointing ROI from doing so, but not all. This report will explore how the right investment in tools, staffing and best practices can produce results and returns that exceed expectations. As a prelude to sharing the factors critical to success with B2B social media marketing, this report will next provide an up-close look at what organizations are doing with social media.

10 10 B2B SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING GOALS B2B marketers have some specific goals for social media, and Figure 5 shares which goals survey participants identified as their primary goal. Primary Goal for Social Media Marketing Brand awareness 33% Generate leads 29% Thought leadership 12% Improve web traffic/seo 7% Accelerate the sales cycle Promote gated content Encourage loyalty/advocacy Nurture leads Customer feedback Other goal No goal 4% 4% 3% 3% 1% 1% 3% Figure 5: Almost all users have a primary goal for social media usage. The presence of goals relates to the overall effectiveness shown in Figure 3: all study participants who chose a rating of either Effective or Very effective had goals in place for social media usage. The best practice here for social media use is simple: have goals. Those without specific goals have no idea what social media is doing for them, because it s impossible to know what metrics have meaning in the absence of goals. Goals are important because they provide direction and serve as the basis for measuring success.

11 11 B2B SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING GOALS Three of the primary uses shown in Figure 5 Brand awareness, Lead generation, and Thought leadership account for 75 percent of the primary usage goals for social media. In terms of uses, social media has a lot of utility, as the broad list of goals in Figure 5 shows. Results, however, vary. Figure 6 shows the differences for overall effectiveness and the ROI assessment for users in pursuit of the top three goals. Top 3 Primary Uses: Effectiveness & ROI "Effective" segment % ROI inline with or above expectations 50% 36% 30% 29% 24% 41% Brand awareness Lead generation Thought leadership Figure 6: Effectiveness and ROI vary by primary goal. Figure 6 shows the effectiveness assessment for the previously described Effectiveness segment for each goal depicted in the graph. The ROI bars represent the percentage of participants that assessed their ROI (see Figure 4) as In line with expectations, Slightly or Far above expectations. For the primary goals question in the study survey, participants were instructed to choose just one response that most represents their primary social media goal. The reality is that most organizations have several goals, so participants were also asked to identify any secondary goals, and Figure 7 summarizes the responses.

12 12 B2B SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING GOALS Secondary Goals for Social Media Marketing Brand awareness Generate leads 43% 42% Improve web traffic/seo 34% Thought leadership Encourage loyalty/advocacy Promote gated content Nurture leads 29% 27% 26% 26% Accelerate the sales cycle 22% Customer feedback 15% Other goal 2% Figure 7: The order of secondary goals mirrors primary goals almost exactly. Considering secondary goals that study participants have for social media confirms what the primary goals tell us: in the B2B world, social media is about brand awareness and generating leads. Both of these applications are associated with rather disappointing effectiveness and ROI performance (Figure 6), with lead generation the lowest. The next section of this report will explore using social media for lead generation in more detail.

13 13 SOCIAL MEDIA LEAD GENERATION Lead generation is one of the most critical marketing processes in a B2B organization. The effectiveness of this process impacts revenue attainment, and most organizations cannot get too many leads. B2B marketers want to use social for lead generation, but many don t have the right strategies and tools in place to do it well. Social media can serve as a lead generation channel, perhaps even the primary one, and one that is very cost-effective. Even though this report shows the relatively poor overall performance of social for lead generation, doesn t mean it is poorly suited to that task. Effectiveness and ROI depend on how organizations are using social for lead generation. This study reveals practices that drive better outcomes for social lead generation. When the proper financial and lead generation process metrics are used to track performance of lead generation, better outcomes result. Likewise, when social media content is amplified with paid social media advertising, lead generation results are better. Figure 8 shows the percentage of study participants that rated various aspects of the social lead generation process as Good or Very good, comparing the overall sample to those using metrics and ads to amplify their content. The mechanics of lead generation through social media are not difficult to grasp: share content through social media channels that compels prospects to engage with that content and willingly become a lead. The challenge is to get that engagement. Engagement is a function of quality content that resonates, and exposure. Amplifying lead generation content posted to social media through ads broadens the exposure, sometimes exponentially. This extends the reach of that content much farther while staying within the target audience profile.

14 14 SOCIAL MEDIA LEAD GENERATION Rating Aspects of Social Lead Gen for "Effective" Segment Overall When amplified w/ads % Effective or Very Effective! When using lead gen metrics When using financial metrics 59% 57% 52% 49% 51% 52% 53% 53% 44% 47% 44% 44% 46% 47% 43% 45% 44% 39% 33% 35% Number of leads Quality of leads Cost-per social generated generated lead ROI from social investment Effectiveness of social lead gen Figure 8: The effect of using certain metrics and ads to amplify content. There s another way that marketers need to think about using social media for lead generation. The prevailing view is that you broadcast content on social media, hoping to snare some who view it and then decide to engage with you. A more effective approach is to use social media as a direct marketing, one-to-one channel. This is a very targeted approach that begins by thinking through how you d find your target audience on social media, then searching for prospects based on conversational and biographical keywords in their social media profiles and social posts. As people update their social profiles and post content on social networks like Twitter and LinkedIn, they re publicly sharing information that lets marketers know that they re about to enter a buying cycle. As a marketer, you can search for prospects based on the hastags of events they attend, the handles of influencers they follow, and produce a more targeted and qualified audience than is typically reached organically.

15 15 SOCIAL MEDIA LEAD GENERATION By choosing to follow these prospects, and sending those who reciprocate your interest relevant content through social media channels, better engagement results than does through the broadcast approach. Figure 8 also confirms a truth that sometimes polarizes marketers: having the right metrics in place are necessary to achieve best-in-class results. The study s data points to the need to select and use appropriate metrics to manage marketing s work. In the case of B2B social media and lead generation, it should not surprise marketers that the use of lead generation and financial metrics boost performance. Examples of these metrics for social media include: ü Lead generation: new contacts, registrations, MQLs, opportunities & others. ü Financial: Cost per Lead, revenue, ROI and others Amplification with ads contributes to better social lead generation performance, and the use of metrics provides data to improve the process. The study identified another characteristic of better social media lead generation performance: Integration of social media or social media management systems with marketing automation, CRM or both. When such integration is in place, the percentage of study participants reporting that the number of leads generated through social was Good or Very good was higher, as Figure 9 shows. Overall, just over half of the full survey sample report having no integration between their social media channels or social media management systems and their marketing and sales systems. The analysis of the study data found a relationship between integration and the number of leads generated, as shown in Figure 9. When the segment of respondents who report the number of social leads generated is good or very good, the data shows a much higher level of integration. Far fewer report having no integration at all, and over half indicate integration with CRM.

16 16 SOCIAL MEDIA LEAD GENERATION Integration Status Comparison Overall Lead quantity is Good or Very Good 51% 55% 43% 28% 27% 17% 12% 15% No integration With marketing automation With CRM With both Figure 9: Integration of social with marketing and sales systems is related to more favorable assessments of number of leads generated. Ideally, integration exists with both marketing automation and CRM, allowing marketing to nurture leads, qualify them and pass them to sales as MQLs, and track how opportunities move through the sales pipeline. Having this integration is important because it enables marketers to track how their social media efforts are impacting the number of leads they generate, and the quality of the leads generated. For marketers who wish to improve the ROI of social media and lead generation in general, this integration is the starting point. The next section of this report examines how the usage of social media tools impacts the effectiveness of social media.

17 17 SOCIAL MEDIA TOOL USAGE Tools, by definition, simplify tasks by making them easier to perform. For social media, however, tool usage isn t just about convenience; it s about effectiveness. The right tools allow marketers to scale their efforts and better reach the right audience for their content. An impressive set of tools for social media now exist, and Figure 10 catalogs the frequency of their use by study participants. Social Media Tool Usage Social media analytics Content marketing 52% 56% Social media monitoring 39% Brand & employee advocacy 21% Social customer service Social selling 15% 15% Social influencer software 6% Other tools 2% None 19% Figure 10: Categories of social media tools by usage frequency. Over half of the study s participants use social media analytics and content marketing tools, while almost 20 percent indicate no tool usage at all. Taking a closer look at this segment that doesn t use tools shows how important tools are as an effectiveness lever. This relationship between effectiveness and tool usage is depicted in Figure 11.

18 18 SOCIAL MEDIA TOOL USAGE Impact of Tool Usage on Effectiveness Overall No tools 44% 28% 38% 31% 5% 21% 17% 13% 3% 0% Very ineffective Ineffective Neutral Effective Very effective Figure 11: When no tools are in use, social media marketing effectiveness suffers. In Figure 11, over one-third of the full survey sample, represented by the Overall set of bars, assess their social media marketing efforts as Effective or Very effective. Compare this to just 13 percent who assess their efforts the same way when no social media tools are in use. Where effectiveness is concerned, the contrast between those who use tools and those who don t is dramatic. In general, tool usage is a catalyst for more effective social media marketing. Since the study survey collected data about specific categories of tools, it makes possible to see how the individual tool categories impact effectiveness. Figure 12 shows the set of tools categories from Figure 10, and presents a comparison between the Effective segment and the Ineffective one: those survey respondents who rated their social media marketing efforts as Very ineffective, Ineffective or Neutral.

19 19 SOCIAL MEDIA TOOL USAGE Social media analytics Content marketing Social media monitoring Brand & employee advocacy Social customer service Social influencer software Figure 12: Study participants that report lower overall social media marketing effectiveness also report much lower tool usage rates. The delta between segments averages 19 percent. A double-digit delta exists for almost every tool category in Figure 12, and four of these gaps exceed 20 percent. Social Media Tool Usage: Comparing Effectiveness Segments Social selling Other tools "Ineffective" segment None 2% 5% 2% 1% 7% 16% 14% 19% 15% 25% Percent Tool Usage 31% 31% 34% 43% indicator of tool category importance, the priority order is: "Effective" segment 48% 56% 67% 73% If the size of the gap between segments is a good 1. Social customer service (29 percent delta) 2. Social media analytics (25 percent delta) 3. Social media monitoring (25 percent delta) 4. Content marketing (24 percent delta) The top three primary uses shown in Figure 6 Brand awareness, Lead generation and Thought leadership each show slightly different patterns of tool usage. Table 1 shows these differences.

20 20 SOCIAL MEDIA TOOL USAGE Brand Awareness Lead Generation Thought Leadership Social media analytics 56% 56% 65% Content marketing 45% 56% 50% Social media monitoring 39% 33% 48% Brand & employee advocacy 23% 20% 25% Social customer service 13% 12% 20% Social selling 12% 21% 20% Social influencer software 5% 9% 5% Table 1: Highlighted cells represent the highest usage. The use of tools has much to do with how well social media works for lead generation, particularly with respect to the impact of tools on the quantity of leads generated. Figure 13 compares two segments from the study: participants who indicated that their lead quantity from social media is very poor to neutral with those who indicated it is good or very good. Tools play a major role in helping social work well for lead generation. The study survey asked specific lead generation questions, one of which asked participants to rate the effectiveness of social as a lead generation channel. This rating data correlates to tool usage, and Figure 14 shows a comparison of lead generation effectiveness when no tools are in use, when any tools are in use, and when the top three tools (Figure 10) are in use. When any tools at all are in use, the effectiveness rating for social media as a lead generation channel more than doubles, and when the top three tools are in use social media analytics, social media monitoring and content marketing the reported effectiveness almost triples. Using the right tools dramatically improves how well social media works for lead generation.

21 21 SOCIAL MEDIA TOOL USAGE Social Media Tool Usage: Comparing Lead Quantity Segments Lead quantity = very poor to neutral Lead quantity = good or very good Social media analytics Content marketing Social media monitoring Social customer service Brand & employee advocacy Social selling Social influencer software Other tools None 7% 14% 13% 6% 13% 1% 3% 9% 37% 36% 32% 28% 24% 48% 53% 51% 68% 64% % Tool Usage Figure 13: The average of the delta between tool types (except Other ) is 16 percent. Social Media Tool Usage Comparison: Lead Gen Effectiveness = Good or Very Good 38% 53% 18% * Social media analytics, Social media monitoring, Content marketing Figure 14: When tools are not in use, social media rates poorly as a lead generation channel.

22 22 SOCIAL MEDIA TOOL USAGE The study survey also asked participants to rate the return on investment in social media lead generation, and the pattern seen in Figure 14 repeats itself in this evaluation. That investment takes the form of time, tools and staff. Figure 15 shows the comparison of ROI when no tools are in use, when any tools are in use, and when the top three tools (Figure 10) are in use. Social Media Tool Usage Comparison: ROI for Lead Gen = Good or Very Good 58% 42% 15% No tools usage Any tools usage Top 3 tools usage* * Social media analytics, Social media monitoring, Content marketing Figure 15: Tools usage boosts the ROI of social for lead generation substantially. Using tools impacts the ROI of social media for lead generation in a big way. When any tools at all are in use, the ROI assessment almost triples, and when the top three tools are in use, the reported effectiveness almost quadruples. As Figures 14 and 15 show, tools are indispensible for using social media as a lead generation channel. The transform social media from a lackluster to a blockbuster lead generation channel. Tools have a big impact on social media lead generation, and the next section of this report examines another attribute that does as well: staffing.

23 23 STAFFING OF SOCIAL MEDIA In any survey of marketers, the issue of staffing almost always comes up as a challenge to getting things done. This study sought to understand how B2B marketers staff their social media initiatives. Figure 16 shows overall staffing levels for study participants. Social Media Staffing Comparison 24% 28% 19% 18% 11% No staff 1 part-time Multiple parttime 1 full-time Multiple full-time Figure 16: Social media staffing levels for survey participants. It s predictable that larger companies dedicate more staff to social media, and the study data confirms this assumption. Using the revenue bands defined below to segment by company size, Table 2 shows how staffing levels vary. ü Small companies: annual sales less than $25 million ü Medium companies: annual sales between $25 and $499 million ü Large companies: annual sales above $500 million

24 24 STAFFING OF SOCIAL MEDIA Small companies Medium companies Large companies No staff 19% 18% 4% 1 part-time staff 28% 21% 9% Multiple part-time staff 33% 23% 13% 1 full-time staff 15% 26% 30% Multiple full-time staff 5% 12% 44% Table 2: How staffing for social media varies based on company size. For all sizes of company, social media marketing effectiveness is, among other things, a function of staffing. Staffing levels correlate to overall effectiveness of social media marketing, and Figure 17 shows this relationship. Overall Effectiveness by Staffing Level % Effective or Very Effective 20% 23% 43% 33% 63% Figure 17: How the overall effectiveness of social media marketing efforts varies by staffing level.

25 25 STAFFING OF SOCIAL MEDIA Just one in five organizations in the study assess their effectiveness favorably when they have no staff allocated to their social media marketing efforts. However, the single part-time staffing level does little to improve effectiveness, and just one-third of study participants with a full-time staff position assess their effectiveness favorably. What s clear from Figure 17 is that collaboration among multiple people is critical to increasing the effectiveness of social media marketing efforts. Staffing that consists of multiple, part-time staff outperforms a single full-time staffer, and the best performance comes from multiple full-time staffers. Effectiveness with social media marketing, therefore, isn t just about having staff, but about having enough staff to collaborate, even if that staff is just part-time. As Figure 17 shows how overall effectiveness is impacted by staffing, so too is lead generation. The level of staffing is one factor that determines if quantity and quality of social media generated leads is good. Figure 18 provides the detail on how staffing levels impact these aspects of social media lead generation. Staffing Levels for Lead Generation % Good or Very Good Lead quantity Lead quality 50% 36% 37% 38% 35% 32% 29% 21% 64% 60% No staff 1 part-time Multiple parttime 1 full-time Multiple fulltime Figure 18: Future plans call for the increased use of personalization.

26 26 STAFFING OF SOCIAL MEDIA When using social media as a lead generation channel, Figure 18 makes it clear that expecting results when no staff is committed to the endeavor is unrealistic. With appropriate staffing, however, social media delivers good or very good results for both the quantity and quality of leads. Since most B2B organizations have metrics about cost per lead and conversion rates associated with lead generation, the inputs for a business case to invest at a greater level in social media or staffing for social media are present. Metrics are important to any marketing endeavor, and marketers are increasingly embracing metrics and their use to prove the contribution marketing makes by improving the effectiveness and ROI of its work. The next section of this report explores the use of metrics with B2B social media marketing.

27 27 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS The study survey measured the usage of several categories of metrics for social media: ü Volume metrics: number of followers, reach, etc. ü Engagement metrics: clicks, number of shares, retweets, reposts, etc. ü Influence metrics: number of mentions, etc. ü Lead generation metrics: new contacts, registrations, lead score activity, MQLs, etc. ü Financial metrics: revenue, ROI, etc. Figure 19 shows the overall metrics usage for study participants. Social Media Metrics Usage Engagement metrics 76% Volume metrics 69% Influence metrics 44% Lead generation metrics 43% Financial metrics 20% None 9% Figure 19: Most organizations surveyed are tracking social media metrics.

28 28 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS Lead generation is a very metrics-driven business process, and the type of metrics an organization chooses to track affects how well the social media lead generation process performs. Table 3 compares the metric type to its impact the dimensions of social media lead generation listed in the table columns. The number in each cell of the table represents the percentage of participants rating performance as good or very good. Lead Quantity Lead Quality Cost per Lead ROI Effectiveness No metrics 6% 14% 18% 7% 13% Financial 49% 59% 47% 45% 53% Lead gen 44% 52% 57% 53% 47% Influence 32% 45% 52% 45% 44% Volume 34% 44% 50% 41% 36% Engagement 35% 43% 48% 45% 35% Overall 33% 44% 43% 39% 35% Table 3: Financial and Lead generation metrics are most impactful. Any who doubt that metrics correlate to better social media lead generation performance need only to glance at the No metrics row in Table 3. What s more surprising is that some metrics don t seem to do much to boost the ratings relative to the aspects of lead generation listed in the columns of Table 3. Using the Overall row as the baseline for comparison, those who use Influence, Volume, or Engagement metrics are not seeing a noticeable lift from the use of these classes of metrics.

29 29 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS The metrics that do correlate to better social media lead generation performance are Financial and Lead generation. In all but one aspect (Cost per Lead), these two classes of metrics lead all other classes. To manage social media lead generation to the highest level of performance, not just any metrics will do. The metrics portfolio must include Financial and Lead generation metrics, two of the more difficult classes to track. The use of tools and systems that enable tracking these metrics are imperative. This report has identified several best practices that lead to better performance for B2B social media marketing in general, and social media lead generation in particular. The next section of the report will examine whether these best practices truly impact ROI.

30 30 SOCIAL MEDIA ROI This report has touched on ROI in Figures 4, 6 and 15, as well as Table 3. Understanding how B2B social media marketing is delivering a return on the investment study participants are making in it begins with an overview. Figure 20 takes the ROI data first shared in Figure 4, restating it in three ROI segments: 1. ROI is unknown 2. ROI is below expectations 3. ROI is inline with or above expectations Figure 20 shows these ROI segments for the full survey sample. Social Media ROI Assessment by Segment 40% 31% 29% Unknown Below expectations Inline with or above expectations Figure 20: For most study participants, ROI is elusive. This analysis of this study s data yields a series of best practices for B2B social media marketing and lead generation. These include: 1. Integrating social media with CRM, marketing automation or both 2. Staffing social media function with multiple people, either part or full-time 3. Using social media analytics, social monitoring and content marketing tools 4. Tracking financial and lead generation metrics

31 31 SOCIAL MEDIA ROI In this study, just 11 percent of participants are following these best practices. They do, however, assess their ROI much higher as Figure 21 shows. Social Media ROI Assessment Comparison Overall Using Best Practices 50% 40% 31% 30% 29% 20% Unknown Below expectations Inline with or above expectations Figure 21: Predictably, best practices usage results in substantially better ROI. The use of best practices identified in this report results in ROI of social media marketing efforts almost doubling.

32 32 ANALYST BOTTOM LINE Many B2B companies that use social media for marketing perceive that it s free. It costs nothing to set up a social media profile and begin sharing content through it. Because some B2B marketers perceive social media as a "free" marketing channel, they aren t intentional about using it; they don't invest in the planning and resources that unlock its full potential. This is a mistake, particularly in light of the fact that 69 percent of study participants expressed an intention to increase their current investment in social media over the next 12 months. Given these intentions, the wise course of action is to implement the best practices this report identifies, and doing so is within every B2B marketer s grasp. The relationship between adopting these best practices and overall effectiveness of social media marketing is clear and direct. When these best practices are not adopted and the success of social media is left to chance, its effectiveness and ROI is unimpressive. This checklist of best practices is easy to understand: 1. Have goals. It s easy to claim a company s social media channels and publish content through them. The use of social media, however, is ideally directed by specific goals. In B2B environments, the most common goals are: brand awareness, lead generation and thought leadership establishment. Don t allow your use of social media to get untethered from the larger marketing and corporate goals. Instead, use social media to compliment them. 2. Integrate. Don t allow social media to sit in a technology silo. Instead, integrate it with existing CRM, marketing automation systems or ideally, both. This integration is particularly important if your goal for social media includes lead generation, as it enables matching and tracking social media engagement to leads. It s also necessary for those that want to know the true ROI of social media or how social media impacts lead generation and financial metrics. Integration provides the data to establish a baseline of how social media efforts drive leads and opportunities.

33 33 ANALYST BOTTOM LINE 3. Staff properly. The worst scenario is to have a social media presence with no one assigned to manage it. What s ideal is to have a group of individuals that all pitch in to help manage the social media marketing effort. This study shows that multiple staff, even if only part-time outperform a single, full-time staffer assigned to manage the social initiative. When more than one person has this responsibility, it opens the door to collaboration and greater creativity. 4. Use tools. No tools are necessary to have a social media presence, but tools are absolutely essential to achieving higher levels of effectiveness using social media, as well as a better ROI. Social media tools help you reach your audience at scale and provide the data you need to improve your effort. B2B marketers that use social media should have tools in place for analytics, monitoring and content marketing, as these are key to improving social lead generation. Other tools will make sense depending on the goals in place for social media. 5. Track metrics. The use of almost any type of metric is better than not using metrics at all. But as the study shows, not all categories of metric are equally valuable. Track any metrics you wish, but make sure that your metrics inventory includes some financial metrics, and if you re doing lead generation, some specific to that goal. By tracking financial and lead generation metrics, it becomes possible to show real ROI on social marketing efforts, which is key to getting the necessary budget to invest in appropriate staffing and resources. Understanding these best practices is simple, but implementing them isn t always easy. Even when the will is present, corporate culture gets in the way. Use the findings from this report to develop a business case for greater investment in social media. It s fine to make progress in increments, as long as progress is made. A great place to start is with integration, because with that comes the ability to better track key metrics. Clarify your goals and put a metrics dashboard to both track and communicate your progress. As the social media performance picture becomes clearer, you can make informed decisions about which social media tools to add along with staff to make the whole process really hum.

34 34 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Demand Metric is grateful to Socedo for sponsoring this research, and for those who took the time to complete the study survey. About Socedo Socedo s mission is to bring social leads to every business in the world. Socedo empowers B2B marketers to discover, engage and qualify prospects through social media to generate revenue at scale. Socedo integrates with leading marketing automation and CRM systems including Marketo, Hubspot, and Salesforce to help marketers measure ROI from social media. Socedo was founded in 2012 by Aseem Badshah and Kevin Yu and is based in Seattle, WA. Learn more about Socedo at About Demand Metric Demand Metric is a marketing research and advisory firm serving a membership community of over 70,000 marketing professionals and consultants in 75 countries. Offering consulting methodologies, advisory services, and 500+ premium marketing tools and templates, Demand Metric resources and expertise help the marketing community plan more efficiently and effectively, answer the difficult questions about their work with authority and conviction and complete marketing projects more quickly and with greater confidence, boosting the respect of the marketing team and making it easier to justify resources the team needs to succeed. To learn more about Demand Metric, please visit:

35 35 APPENDIX: SURVEY BACKGROUND This 2016 Social Media Investment and Returns Study survey was administered online during the period of July 29 through August 31, During this period, 482 responses were collected, 401 of which were qualified and complete enough for inclusion in the analysis. Only valid or correlated findings are shared in this report. The representativeness of this study s results depends on the similarity of the sample to environments in which this survey data is used for comparison or guidance. Summarized below is the basic categorization data collected about respondents to enable filtering and analysis of the data: ü Type of organization: Ø Primarily B2B 66 percent Ø Mixed B2B/B2C 34 percent ü Primary role of respondent Ø President, CEO or owner 24 percent Ø CMO 10 percent Ø Digital marketing 19 percent Ø Social media marketing 7 percent Ø Marketing operations 15 percent Ø Other marketing role 9 percent Ø Sales 5 percent Ø Other 11 percent ü Annual sales: Ø Less than $10 million 57 percent Ø $10 to $24 million 13 percent Ø $25 to $99 million 13 percent Ø $100 to $499 million 9 percent Ø $500 to $999 million 1 percent Ø $1 billion or more 7 percent

36 36 APPENDIX: SURVEY BACKGROUND ü Revenue growth environment in most recent fiscal year: Ø Significant increase 19 percent Ø Slight increase 44 percent Ø Flat 23 percent Ø Slight decline 10 percent Ø Significant decline 4 percent