The importance of social media is growing at a rapid rate. With more digitization, more and more people are starting to use social media websites more often and very efficiently. It is the next big industry and is bound to become bigger in the coming years.

The common perception that most businesses carry about social media is that it solves the sole preserve of the business-to-consumer (B2C) marketer. But according to the research by Omobono*, not only B2B marketers can benefit from social media, but it can be their most effective marketing channel.

“In a survey of 115 marketing specialists in B2B roles, Omobono found that 79% rated social media as the most effective marketing channel, with 38% noting that if they had an extra budget for next year, they would spend it on social media.”

With such tremendous growth, all the businesses need to optimize the use of their social media channels not only because that is the ‘in-thing’ and it sounds simple, but their target audience is hanging around the social media channels. According to research by Ambassador, 71% of consumers are more likely to recommend a brand to others if they have a positive experience with it on social media.

Let’s dive deep into some more statistics which proves the importance of social media in business:
According to 2019 social media statistics, there are now 3.2 billion users around the globe. That is about 42% of our total present population.

1. 68% of adults in the United States have a Facebook account.
2. 90.4% are Millennials in the active social media users
3. User spends an average of 2 hours & 22 minutes in his social media account everyday.
4. 73% of online marketers agree that their efforts in implementing a social media marketing strategy for their business have been effective.

The above statistics prove how social media has emerged as the most powerfully effective channel to the meeting the organization’s objectives from building thought leadership and deepening customer relationships.

Now, Let’s understand that Why Social Media is beneficial for B2B marketers?

In B2B markets, customers don’t buy from companies without checking them out online first. Nowadays everybody is a social human being. They use their social experiences as a key part of their decision-making process i.e. if they can trust them or work with them.
Social Media is just the online equivalent of the conversations and relationships that people personally encounter daily. It is no different. Therefore, in terms of social media, B2B organizations are best placed to use this opportunity because it is so intrinsic to what is done every day.

Advantages of Social Media

1.Social Media Advertising: It may be the new kid on the block, but it is growing at a very rapid rate. Facebook Ads were launched in 2005 and it managed to reach 9.16B in ad revenue in Q1 of 2017.

And if we go by logic, this makes sense also. Here’s why:

• Lower Ad costs: Social media ads are way cheaper than compared to any traditional methods of advertising
• Targeted Reach: Social Media Advertising helps to reach out to your target audience and increase your conversions. Whereas, traditional marketing is like taking the blind, shotgun approach.
• Real-Time performance analysis: It allows you to constantly see how your ad is performing. You can customize your ad on the fly and see instantaneous results.

2. Increases Brand Awareness: Social Media proves to be a powerful tool to grow your brand awareness and the various reputable organizations agree that social media has a definite impact on brand awareness.

3. Improves SEO by increasing third-party links, mentions, and interest in a brand’s content.
“Last year Facebook reported seeing “2 billion searches per day.” Compare that to Google’s claim of “3.5 billion searches per day”

4. Increases Inbound traffic: It is the most effective way of generating targeted traffic to your website. This is super relevant because it is the kind of traffic that really converts. For example, an active blog increases your reach by 10x and helps you to connect with your audience with the help of fresh content.

5. It can also be used as a customer feedback medium in order to better understand the needs of prospects, leads, customer and advocates.

6. Social Media helps in educating buyers and helps them better understand the factors that play playing a role in decision making. This education process builds trust and brand trust.

“86% of B2B IT buyers are currently using social media networks in their purchase decision process. (IDG Connect)”

If done well, social media is more than capable of adding real value to a business and can really prove to be cost-effective. Being on social media bandwagon is no longer a matter of choice if you want to be successful. Every business needs it. The importance of social media is now more prominent than ever because the social goal of most B2Bs isn’t just generating traffic. It’s to generate the right kind of traffic. More specifically, it’s the leads from that traffic. That’s why out of five major platforms, LinkedIn has been the most effective.

“B2B marketers love LinkedIn; 97% of B2B companies are using it.”