B2B vs. B2C Social Media Marketing Plans Converge and Diverge
November 5, 2011
In a study by Webmarketing123, specific social media marketing similarities and differences between B2C and B2B marketers are examined. With similar tools to use, B2B and B2C marketers do some things the same and other things quite differently.
According to the study, both B2B and B2C marketers have similar social media priorities: lead generation and sales. However, B2B and B2C marketers don’t give those priorities the same weight. For example, B2B marketers are more than twice as likely to focus on lead generation over sales in social media marketing than B2C marketers are.
This isn’t necessarily a surprising finding. As eMarketer points out, B2B and B2C sales cycles are inherently different with the vast majority of B2B sales decisions taking weeks or months while most B2C sales decisions occur in seconds or minutes. It’s hard to drive an instant sale when you’re working against a lengthy purchase decision process. Here’s the specific breakdown of B2B and B2C marketers for digital marketing:
- Generate Leads: 44.4% B2C, 39.9% B2B
- Generate Sales: 22.2% B2C, 23.0% B2B
- Build Brand Awareness: 15.3% B2C, 17.4% B2B
- Generate Site Traffic: 11.1% B2C, 16.9% B2B
- Build Online Community: 5.0% B2C, 2.8% B2B
Another area where B2B and B2C marketers diverge is where they invest the most time and energy. Facebook is by far the most popular place for B2C marketers with more than 75% of this study’s respondents stating that they are most active on Facebook vs. Twitter (8.4%) or LinkedIn (6.2%). B2B marketers pursue a more differentiated marketing approach with 34.6% using Facebook the most followed by LinkedIn (25.3%) and Twitter (25.6%).
Only 7.9% of B2C marketers involved in this study spend no time on social media marketing compared to 11.7% of B2B marketers.
Of course, Facebook is incredibly popular and has a broad audience, so it’s not surprising that both B2C and B2B marketers are spending time there. They should be! However, just because Facebook is the biggest doesn’t mean it’s the best place for your brand marketing.
Facebook marketing has certainly proven itself as useful with 73% of the B2C respondents to this survey claiming to have generated leads from their Facebook accounts and 35.1% of B2B respondents claiming the same. But with all marketing strategies, a diverse, targeted, and fully integrated marketing plan is always the best approach for long-term, sustainable growth. Just because Facebook is the it social networking site doesn’t mean it’s the only social media marketing tool. The lesson to learn is not a new one — don’t put all your eggs in one basket. After all, remember MySpace?
Image: stock.xchng
Google Changes Algorithm Making It Even More Important for Brands to Become Publishers
November 4, 2011
The evolution of social media and content marketing (during their to-date short lifespans) has been telling companies and brands something very specific for years:
Brands need to get social and think like publishers, not marketers.
At first, the reason for this shift in strategy came from the need to interact and engage with people by creating and sharing valuable, useful, and meaningful information. Those needs still hold true, but with a new Google algorithm change, there is another piece that has jumped up to the top of the priority list.
In Google’s new algorithm change, websites with fresh content will be ranked higher than sites with dated content. This has long been a part of the Google algorithm, but now, it’s taking on much greater significance and will affect 35% of Google search results.
What does this mean for brands?
Well, anyone who said blogs are dead over the last few years was very, very wrong. From fresh blog posts to Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn updates, brands need to spend time creating amazing, shareworthy content.
It’s not surprising that this day arrived. Paying for links can only get a company so far. Quality content that’s published frequently has long been the best strategy for building long-term, sustainable, organic growth. However, for many companies and brands, it took the mighty Google to make them realize short-term tactics only work in the short-term.
Remember, quality should always be your top priority when it comes to content marketing. By updating your content frequently, Google will reward you, too.
Time to get writing!
Image: Flickr
5 Companies Control 64% of Global Digital Ad Spending
November 2, 2011
Digital marketer Darren Herman published some statistics related to digital ad spending on his blog last week that give an interesting perspective towhat’s happening in the world of online advertising these days.
According to his research, five companies controlled 64% of the $64 billion in revenue generated from digital advertising in 2010 (per ZenithOptimedia).
Here is the 2010 advertising revenue breakdown by company according to Darren’s research:
- Google = $29.3 billion
- Yahoo! = $6.3 billion
- Microsoft = $2.1 billion
- Facebook = $1.9 billion
- AOL = $1.3 billion
Together, these 5 companies generated $41 billion in advertising revenue in 2010. Of course, Facebook is still fairly new to the digital advertising game, so there is no doubt that this breakdown will look very different when 2011 numbers are available.
However, Google is clearly the leader in the world of digital advertising — by a landslide. That’s not a secret, but sometimes seeing the numbers right in front of you, as they are above, is still amazing. Can one company continue to be so dominant in its industry? How long will Google live the good life? These are the questions that can only be answered by time.
It’s important to note that the figures used in Darren’s analysis might not be perfect, but they can certainly be used to demonstrate Google’s online dominance. Furthermore, Google generates most of its digital advertising revenue from its paid search advertising product. As Pareekh Jain mentions on Business Insider and explains on his blog, this part of Google’s business is dominated by the four BFSI keywords (insurance, loan, mortgage, credit), which generate 59% of its revenue.
Therefore, two things are certain: Google is a force to be reckoned with in the world of search and digital advertising, and there is room for a creative competitor to gain a foothold in the digital advertising space. A single dominant player can only remain at the top for so long.
What do you think about these numbers and the state of the digital advertising industry? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
Image: stock.xchng
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