It is official: social media has taken the world by
storm.
Across the globe, hundreds of millions of people spend
their days tapping on their keyboards and thumbing the screens of their smart
phones. News breaks on Twitter feeds. Advertisements sprout from Facebook pages.
Entertainment streams on YouTube channels. And commentators debate on the pages
of their blogs.
Businesses, too, have jumped into the digital fray, engaging
with consumers, marketing their products and services, and touting their brands
on the web. Indeed, one recent survey showed that close to 80 percent of
Fortune 100 companies are using social media tools to connect with potential
customers and longstanding clients. And the trend s are pointing upward: more
than two-thirds of respondents to a new Harvard
Business Review poll believe the use of social media tools will grow
significantly over the next few years.
Innovative digital tools have truly revolutionized the
world, bringing life and work, commerce, media, entertainment and marketing
online in exciting and previously unimaginable ways. As the first-ever Worldcom
Social Media B2B Study shows, the business-to-business (B2B) industry has
staked its claim on the Net, and is uniquely positioned to flourish in the new
media environment.
An Eye Towards the
Future
In April 2011, the Worldcom Public Relations Group—the
world’s leading partnership of independently owned public relations
firms—polled 123 B2B company leaders , primarily in North America and Western
Europe, about their use of social media.
Nearly all of those firms surveyed—an impressive 83
percent—use social media to communicate with their target audiences, and close
to nine-in-ten agency executives believe social media will increase in value
for their firms over the next year. With those projections in mind, it comes as
no surprise that more than half of firms surveyed intend to boost spending on
social media for the coming year.
Tweet First, Find Friends Later
The bulk of social media resources, it appears, are being
directed towards Twitter, with 85 percent of respondents active on the
micro-blogging site. Facebook comes in second, with 74 percent of firms taking
advantage of its rich content capabilities and massive social network, followed
by LinkedIn (72 percent), YouTube (69 percent) and corporate blogs (60 percent).
Continental Divide
Geographic location turns out to be a major indicator of
social media goals: Among B2B agencies in North America, promoting “thought
leadership” is the key reason to use social media (30 percent); an ocean away, Western
European B2B firms use the social web to
engage new and existing clients (31 and 25 percent, respectively).
Interestingly, thought leadership fails to even register in Europe.
Not surprisingly, to achieve their respective goals,
firms in different regions favor different social platforms: 31 percent of
agencies in the United States, Canada and Mexico favor Twitter (followed by
Facebook—25 percent—and LinkedIn—19 percent); in Western Europe, the same
percentage favor Facebook (with Twitter and corporate blogs listed next,
garnering 25 percent each). Furthermore, in the United States, more than
nine-in ten firms use Twitter, while just six-in-ten Western European agencies
do.
Building Business
Despite differences in priorities and platforms, there
are some goals that most firms worldwide share: 80 percent of B2B companies are
using social media tools to interact with potential clients, and 76 percent
work online to engage existing clients, suggesting the digital space is ripe
for finding and sustaining business.
Companies also log on to social networks to build extensions
of their own company web sites (60 percent), to communicate with journalists
(58 percent) and for employee recruitment and alumni communications (50
percent), though none of these uses were cited as “most important.” That
distinction was cited for agencies looking to communicate their thought
leadership (26 percent), communicate with clients (23 percent) and communicate
with potential clients (20 percent).
Muddle in the
Middle?
Company size turns out to be quite a strong indicator of
social media adoption. When broken down by revenue, small companies—those under
$50 million—and large companies—those over $1 billion—prove to be leaders in
the digital media sphere. Some 80 percent of small companies and 88 percent of
large companies have been using social media for more than one year, compared
to just 57 percent of mid-sized firms—and just over a third of mid-sized
companies have been using social media for more than six months. Furthermore,
less than half of medium-sized companies will boost their social media budgets
for the coming year, as opposed to nearly three-quarters of small companies.
Business to business companies have a robust opportunity
to include social media tools into their marketing communication strategies –
whether it be to access client communities, focus on new business sales or
dialogue with journalists. The evolution is ongoing and we expect it only be
enhanced in the coming year.
Now a Days Social media is smartest thing of B2B marketers area unit learning a full new language as they intercommunicate social media. client engagement is replacement the advertising because the key to roaring B2B selling.
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