eMarketer had a
nice recap today on two new studies of spending outlook for B2B marketers in 2010. First was BtoB Magazine's
updated look at marketing spend in 2010 and the second was
a survey by Visible Technologies and SiriusDecisions. Both had some interesting points that stuck out to me immediately:
- According to the BtoB Magazine results, 60% of the respondents said they will increase spending on "social media".
- In the same BtoB Magazine survey 60% of respondents say they will use social networks to generate thought leadership, while 50% will use social networks to generate leads.
- The Visible Technologies/SiriusDecisions survey reported that 25% hope to use social media to generate awareness.
- Additionally in that survey 31% used web traffic/response rates to determine ROI on social media, while 12% used revenue to determine ROI.
Interesting and concerning from my point of view. Let's start from the top.
60% of the respondents said they will increase spending on "social media"
In 2009 how much money did you spend on "social media"? In 2010 how much money do you plan to spend on "social media". Excluding salaries, if you answered anywhere above $1 you are spending too much on social media. The reason is simple; social media is not an item to be bought or sold, rather it is a strategy of communication and engagement within marketing, as well as throughout your enterprise. Certainly there are tools that you can buy that help you with social media, but those are tools to use across the board in communicating in a more social manner. These tools help proliferate marketing campaigns that are focused on lead gen, email, web and even direct marketing. Therefore the spend number should fall into those categories and not one that determines social media spend. Don't spend money on social media, spend money on marketing and communications tools, then proliferate social media into your communications DNA.
60% of respondents say they will use social networks to generate thought leadership, 50% to use them to generate leads
What? Hold on now. This is a study of
B2B marketing leaders correct? I'm not arguing with the first number, that is a smart way to look at social networks. Your role, however, as a B2B marketer is to generate business and business comes from leads. 100% of all B2B marketers should be using, or at least figuring out how to use, social networks to generate leads. It might not happen, but if someone ever asks you what your primary goal is for any B2B marketing campaign, lead generation better enter the equation.
25% hope to use social media to generate awareness
This stat stumped me more than any other, and unfortunately I do not have access to the full report so I'm working a bit blind. However, if you look at the list of reasons why B2B companies use social media the "generate awareness" garners the most at 25%, followed by customer engagement, analyst/influencer engagement, market products, monitor and respond, competitive tracking and other. What is missing in this list? Lead generation and/or revenue building! I'm not disagreeing with all the other reasons, they are certainly needed, but how do you not at least have lead generation as one of the main reasons you would use a social media marketing strategy?
31% use web traffic/response rates to determine ROI on social media, while 12% use revenue to determine ROI
Again, revenue should be used much more than 12% of the time to determine ROI of social media. Let us reiterate that social media is a communications strategy within your marketing campaigs, and the vast majority of marketing campaigns you run should have a revenue goal attached. Therefore it is one of the only sure fire ways to measure ROI, and truly the only way that your CEO wants to see it represented. As for web traffic/response rates, I'm also surprised to not see this a bit higher. Perhaps it was the wording of the question and the fact that most good marketers now realize that web traffic means little to nothing, whereas web activity and analysis is what is truly important.
Surveys and poll numbers can be shaped however you want them to be shaped, obviously, but some of the numbers that came out of these studies certainly see the recognition of social media as a certifiable strategy. The challenge in 2010 is going to be educating people that it is a strategy, that it can bring in certifiable revenue and that you can truly measure the ROI of your social media strategy.
