The State of Social Media Marketing for B2B

In its recently-released 2018 report on social media marketing, Social Media Examiner explored the way businesses are using social media marketing. The report culls insights from over 5,700 marketers on social media marketing topics such as the business benefits of social, the most-used platforms, and paid social activity. This post summarizes some of the key takeaways for B2B marketers.

Benefits of Social Media Marketing

With marketers reporting increased exposure, traffic and leads, it’s clear that social media can have big benefits for business.

Chart of social media marketing benefits

Benefits of Social Media Marketing, 2018 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, Social Media Examiner

B2B marketers are more likely than their B2C counterparts (57% compared to 45%) to use social media for the purposes of growing partnerships. And 60% (compared to 45% for B2C) of B2B marketers conduct competitive intelligence via social media.

B2B’s Most-Used Social Media Platforms

The top 3 social media platforms used by B2B marketers are Facebook (91%), LinkedIn (79%) and Twitter (70%).

Chart of social media platforms used by b2b

Social Media Platforms Used by B2B, 2018 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, Social Media Examiner

Social Media Platforms by Importance

Facebook is the king of social media platforms among both B2B and B2C, but LinkedIn remains more popular among B2B marketers (left) than among B2C (right). Additionally, 65% of B2B marketers indicate they plan to increase the frequency of their posts on LinkedIn, and 70% expressed interest in learning more about the platform.

Chart of social media by importance to b2b

Social Media Channels by Importance in B2B,
2018 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, Social Media Examiner

Chart of social media by importance to b2c

Social Media Channels by Importance in B2B,
2018 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, Social Media Examiner

Paid Social Media

Overall, Facebook is the most widely-used platform for paid advertising, with 66% of B2B marketers and 76% of B2C using Facebook ads. While Instagram takes second place overall, LinkedIn is second most popular among B2B, with 21% of B2B marketers using the platform for advertising and 67% wanting to learn more about LinkedIn ads.

Chart of paid social media prevalence

Prevalence of Paid Social Media by Platform, 2018 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, Social Media Examiner

Social Media Content

Social media posts that include visual imagery are proven to be twice as engaging than text-only posts, so it’s no surprise that 80% of marketers use images in their social media (check out our post about free resources for social media images). Sharing blog posts is more popular among B2B marketers than among B2C (67% vs. 56%).

Chart of social media content types

Types of Social Media Content Used, 2018 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, Social Media Examiner

Want More Social Media Marketing Stats?

You can download the 2018 Social Media Marketing Industry Report for free from the Social Media Examiner website.

Jason Janoski

Jason Janoski

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