globalwebindex - b2b social media strategy - research report - 2011
DESCRIPTION
This report utilises the five completed waves of GlobalWebIndex research covering 27 markets and 100,000 surveys to provide the most detailed overview to date of how the business to business (B2B) decision maker engages in social media and which social communications really influence sales. Through interviews with over 17,000 B2B Decision Makers there is a clear picture of the importance of social media to effective B2B business, marketing and sales strategyTRANSCRIPT
S O C I A L S T R A T E G Y F O R B 2 B M A R K E T I N G
A g l o b a l r e s e a r c h r e p o r t e x p l o r i n g S o c i a l M e d i a a d o p t i o n o f B 2 B d e c i s i o n m a k e r s a n d t h e p o w e r o f s o c i a l m a r k e t i n g c h a n n e l s
Welcome to Social Strategy for B2B Marketing This report utilises the five completed waves of GlobalWebIndex research covering 27 markets and 100,000 surveys to provide the most detailed overview to date of how the business to business (B2B) decision maker engages in social media and which social communications really influence sales. Through interviews with over 17,000 B2B Decision Makers there is a clear picture of the importance of social media to effective B2B business, marketing and sales strategy:
B2B DECISION MAKERS ARE THE MOST ENGAGED SOCIAL
MEDIA USERS ON THE PLANET
ACROSS ALL MARKETS
• ONLINE CONVERSATIONS ARE SEEN AS MORE INFLUENTIAL THAN FACE TO FACE MEETINGS
• CO-ORDINATED SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY IS ESSENTIAL
• FOR TWITTER AND BLOGS TO DRIVE SALES, THEY NEED TO CREATE CONVERSATION AND PROMOTE PEOPLE
• FACEBOOK WILL WORK FOR B2B
B2B COMMUNICATIONS SOCIAL MEDIA BEAHVIOUR
“B2B buyers are the most socially engaged online users
across the world”
The are far more motivated by social activities
• Research for work is the second highest motivation to get online for business decision makers; research and find products to buy is third.
• Networking for work is far more important as an online activity for business decision makers than it is for non-decision makers.
• The internet serves a critical role in keeping business decision makers up to date on current events and news.
• Senior business decision makers are particularly keen to use the internet to promote their products, ideas, opinions, etc.
• What is more crucial is the dominance of social motivations, such as sharing content, promoting something etc
How important are each of the following reasons for you to use the internet? (% of each segment stating that activity as very important for them when getting online; Wave 5 June 2011)
Motivations to get online > Global > Wave 5 (June 2011)
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Change other people’s opinions Change other peoples' opinions
Take on a different personalityPlay games
Meet new peoplePromote something
Organise my lifeShare content
Share my opinionFill up spare time
Update my friends with my lifeExpress myself
Find films/TV showsFind music
EntertainmentTo get inspired/get ideas
EducationNetworking for work
Stay in touch with friendsResearch how to do things
Research/find products to buyResearch for work
Stay up to date on news/events
Other
Senior decision maker
Decision maker
BDMs are significantly more active in social media
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%Watched a video clip
Used Webmail
Used internetbanking
Purchased a productonline
Reviewed a productor brand online
Managed socialnetwork profile
Uploaded photosonline
Used InstantMessenger
Posted on aforum/BBS
Used online officeapplications
Commented on astory
Bought an offer on agroup
Asked or answereda question on a Q/A
service
Written your ownblog
Uploaded a videoonline
Edited/managedown website
Used amicroblogging
service
Used VOIP/onlinephone
Used a socialbookmark service
Written a newsstory/article
Subscribed to anRSS feed
Used an aggregator
Decision Maker
Senior Decision Maker
Average Internet User • Firstly, they are much more active online and are more likely to undertake all of the various internet activities.
• Both senior and non-senior decision makers are far more likely to be uploading photos online, comment on stories, use Q&A services, managed their own websites, upload a video, use microblogs, etc.
• In short, business decision makers at the global level are much more likely to be content creators and therefore, influencers online.
• These activities, however, can vary largely by market, and these differences in behaviour need to be taken into account.
Which of the following have you done online in the past month? (% segment penetration of each activity; Wave 5 June 2011)
Online Activities > Global > Wave 5 (June 2011)
And continue to grow more quickly than the average user
Social Media Activity Done in Last Month Decision Makers
Senior Decision Makers
Average Internet User
Watched a video clip 0.0 1.3 2.1
Uploaded photos online -0.9 -1.7 1.5
Managed social network profile 18.7 8.5 14.6
Written your own blog 1.0 5.4 0.3
Edited/managed own website 5.2 4.2 2.9
Uploaded a video online 3.0 2.3 5.2
Used a micro blogging service 17.5 3.9 9.6
Which of the following have you done online in the past month? (percentage point change in % penetration of each activity by segment; Wave 1 July 2009 to Wave 5 June 2011)
Change in penetration of social network activity from Wave 1 (July 2009) to Wave 5 (June 2011)
-10.0 -5.0 0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0
Used Instant Messenger
Written your own blog
Subscribed to an RSS feed
Written a news story/article
Used an aggregator
Uploaded photos online
Used internet banking
Used Webmail
Watched a video clip
Edited/managed own website
Commented on a story
Used VOIP/online phone
Used online office applications
Uploaded a video online
Used a microblogging service
Managed social network profile
Market Average
Senior Decision Makers
Decision Maker
And yes Facebook, works for B2B
Decision maker Senior decision maker Non-decision makers
81% 80% 75%
54% 57% 46%
45% 53% 39%
43% 41% 32%
34% 46% 31%
18% 23% 11%
16% 20% 8%
14% 17% 8%
10% 14% 6%
9% 16% 5%
9% 12% 4%
2% 3% 1%
On average, how often do you visit the following websites/services? – On a daily or weekly basis (percentage point change in % penetration of each activity by segment; Wave 1 July 2009 to Wave 5 June 2011)
B2B decision makers are the most active social media consumers on the planet. This is the case in all
markets, where they lead average internet users. Social media should be an integral part of all B2B
marketing and sales activities
Decision makers are growing their usage more quickly than senior decision makers. The need to integrate will
only increase
Monitoring current trends is critical to develop an understanding of where your buyers will be tomorrow
The diversity of online activity by market is a limitation to implementing a global strategy and opportunities will
need to be tailored locally
Opportunities
“Conversations online, are more influential to drive sales than
face to face meetings”
Conversations in Social Networks drive more influencer than traditional communications
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16% 18%
The microblogging profile of a company/organisation (e.g Twitter)
A blog created by the company/organisation
Branded community/group inside a social network service you use
Corporate events/entertainment
Branded communities created by the company/organisation
Conferences
Webinars
Adverts in relevant trade press
Direct Mailings with product/company infomation
Advertisements in traditional media (e.g. TV, Newspaper)
Sales presentations
Conversations with people from the company/organisation on asocial network
Decision Maker
Senior DecisionMaker
When purchasing products/services for your business or department, which of the following sources most influences your decision?
Wave 5 – All Decision Makers: 2,945
• The leading influence for decision making is “conversations with people from the company / organisation on a social network. This underlines how important Social Media in B2B marketing
• The low score for blogs, corporate entertainment and micro-blogging profile, underline how important it is for B2B marketing to create and engage in conversations, regardless of channel
• Conversations online outrank all “traditional” marketing channels including sales presentations, advertisements, direct mailings and adverts in traditional press
• Senior Decision Makers, place more emphasis on face to face meetings, while the broader decision maker segment favours conferences and communities
Most markets prefer online conservation to face to face
Turkey
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Sweden
Mexico
Indonesia
India
Poland
Netherlands
Malaysia
Russia
South Africa
Canada
South Korea
Germany
France
USA
China
Italy
Hong Kong
Philippines
Brazil
Japan
UK
Argentina
Spain
Australia
-40% -30% -20% -10% 0% 10% 20%
When purchasing products/services for your business or department, which of the following sources most influences your decision?
Wave 5 – All Decision Makers: 2,945
• In order to summarise the impact of conversations online, we created the “virtual selling index”. This is calculated simply using the following:
• % of Decision Makers who score “Conversations online” as influential MINUS % of Decision Makers who score “Sales Presentations” as influential
• This provides a simple metric to understand the impact of virtual conversations on the B2B buying process
• The interesting insight here, is that markets that have very levels of social media engagement such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Singapore have a far stronger preference for face to face meetings. This demonstrates that local culture and business practice will always need to be considered in context with social media engagement
• The second key insight, is that markets such as Australia, Japan, Italy, USA and France, that have lower levels of overall engagement in social media in the market, have a stronger preference for online conversation.
Most emphasis on face to face meetings
Most emphasis on virtual conversations
“In the majority of markets, online conversations are more valued than face to face sales meetings. This is a massive indication on the power of social media and its importance in B2B marketing and sales”
“The fact that branded blogs, and micro-blogging (Twitter) profiles are not valued as a silo, demonstrates that its not about platforms, but people. Twitter, Facebook etc should showcase people and just brand to be effective in B2B sales. It also shows the need for fully realised social strategy”
“Traditional activities are still valued, social media should not replace or supplant them, but integrate them, to drive more conversation online”
“It is vital to consider local market context. If your market is still very focused on face to face selling, then it will make sense to integrate social media as a supporting strand, but not the main element of your activity”
Key Insights
Get the full report Over 70 slides of detailed insight from surveys of 17,425 B2B Decision Makers benchmarked against the full data set of almost 100,000 surveys. Data covers detailed usage of internet platforms, social media, mobile and the power of B2B communications
Access to all the data in an excel package delivered to the specified buyer on request, including detailed cuts by all 27 markets that we cover, category of work, seniority and company size
One data / insight request from the GlobalWebIndex consulting team as part of this report package
Full support for queries on the data and trends
The opportunity to leverage the world’s most detailed research ever conducted into online behaviour and social media against industry leading strategy expertise to deliver critical insights into planning and executing a B2B social media business, sales and marketing strategy
The quantifiable evidence on consumer internet adoption and proof that social media investment is critical to B2B business, marketing and sales
A proven framework for planning, developing, and executing a B2B social media strategy based on hard evidence and not opinion Buy Now: http://globalwebindex.net/report-page/b2bsocialmediareport2011/ To pay by bank transfer / credit card over the phone, please call: 0044 2077 363 169 Or mail: [email protected] (quoting reference: SMBIZ)
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