More than half of B2B marketers struggle to measure value of social media
New research from social media agency Immediate Future has revealed that more than half (58%) of B2B marketers don’t rate their ability to measure social at all. What’s more, more than one in ten marketers don’t appear to care, with 13% suggesting that social media measurement is neither important or unimportant.
According to the new report, which surveyed 150 senior B2B marketers on the state of social media measurement, only 33% of marketers are tracking sales on social. However, social is proving lucrative for those who do, driving sales upwards of £50,000 per month.
Katy Howell, chief executive officer at Immediate Future, said: “The report reveals a widening gap between the marketers that have mastered social measurement and are impacting the bottom line, and those B2B brands that are struggling with some of the basic metrics.
“Dig deeper into the report and you’ll see the underlying issue is a lack of investment in skills, resource and technology. For many marketers, time is the biggest challenge, followed by lack of tools and poor technology integration.”
The report also explores the state of measurement in social selling and lead generation. For example, while 61% of B2B companies are actively generating leads in social, almost 90% are not able to set targets.
However, senior marketers are optimistic: 67% are confident their ability to measure social will improve in the next two years and 50% of them plan to increase resource and budget investment in the next 12 months.
Howell said: “The confusion and disconnect in measuring social media makes it a challenge to prove a case for further investment. But it appears marketers are optimistic and committed to social media regardless, as they have plans to invest more and get better at identifying the metrics that prove business value.”
Free to download, the full report - “What has social media ever done for B2B?” - is available to download for free.