In a study published by B2B’s 2015 Social Media Benchmarking Report, social media was found to be one of the most underutilized marketing tools for B2B transactions. The initial thought might be that social media itself just isn’t a lucrative outlet. However, the study also suggested that those businesses which put strong initiatives into social media ended up turning out new revenue, and LinkedIn has proven itself to be the most effective in connecting your business with the right consumers.
Although Twitter takes the lead in “Most Used”, professionals cite LinkedIn as the best option for making business-to-business connections, making it one of the best options for marketing. In the B2B report, those same professionals were asked how they planned to use the site in the future, and 90 percent said they would will be increasing marketing initiatives. Facebook and even YouTube were among other popular sites for B2B marketing, but they fell far behind in creating worthwhile relationships or actual transactions.
Another recent survey from eMarketer showed that 78 percent of corporate buyers used LinkedIn in order to search for prospective business partners, and more users are switching from peer connections to business connections.
Having the potential to build long-lasting relationships is what LinkedIn is all about. It makes it easy to communicate your brand clearly and directly without crossing the line into spam. After all, at the end of the day, you want to sell your products and services, and a social media outlet like LinkedIn is the first step in taking your brand beyond the borders of your territory. As businesses continue to join the LinkedIn community, B2B social media marketing will only continue to grow and develop, and that is something all businesses should want to be a part of.
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