10 Reasons You Need A More Strategic B2B Social Media Program

It’s officially been 18 years since the creation of Myspace and the term “social media” started to take the world by storm. Since then, social media lives right at our fingertips on our cell phones and many don’t go a day without scrolling through it. I think we can all agree (no matter how much we love or hate TikTok right now) that social media is not going anywhere. 

So while the permanence of social media may not be in dispute, what about the value of it?

Social media enables you to achieve a variety of business goals. You can reach new prospects in your specific target audience. Creative content can tell your brand’s unique story in more compelling ways. You can connect more directly and personally with your audience. Don’t believe me? What if I show you some stats to prove it?

Sprout Social recently shared a State of Social Media Investment report to educate businesses on how people are using and perceiving social media in 2021. Here are 10 eye-opening stats that show why you need a more strategic B2B social media program:

1. 95% of executives agree companies will more heavily rely on social data to identify business opportunities outside of marketing.
   1. With 4.48 billion global social media users, executives realize the most accurate data to inform the future of industries and consumers will come from where the majority of the population is.
      
      
2. Social media is predicted to be the #1 most important source for data and insights to inform companies’ business decisions over the next three years.
   1. Today, with social listening tools, you can find out what’s being talked about in your industry, where that audience is online, what they care about and so much more right from social media data. Even without listening, though, social media data can show you what content people care about, how someone found your brand’s website and the most effective ways to engage your audience.
      
      
3. 62% of consumers agree companies without a strong social presence will not be able to succeed in the long run.
   
   1. What’s a strong social media presence? It’s not necessarily having 100K or getting a thousand likes on a post. A strong social media presence means posting content your audience cares about. It means engaging with your audience. It means having a voice and tone that resonates well with your followers. 
      
      
4. 89% of businesses agree companies which do not invest in social media marketing will be left behind. 
   1. In 2021, if your business is not active and strategic on social media, your competitors will overshadow you and connect with your target audience in ways you are not.
      
      
5. 58% of consumers find it more engaging to connect with a brand on social media than to visit a physical store.
   1. When a corporate account takes time to engage with an individual, the brand becomes personal and that individual feels like more than just a follower but as a consumer who is valued enough to respond to.
      
      
6. 78% of consumers are likely to buy from a brand or company after a positive experience with that brand on social.
   
   1. If a brand personally interacts with an individual on social it often leads to actual dollars for the business.
      
      
7. 55% of consumers learn about brands or companies via social media.
   
   1. In 2005, we likely would have said we learned about most brands from TV. In 2021, TV is out and social media is in, and that’s great for smaller brands. The sheer cost in time and actual dollars to get your brand mentioned on TV and on other broadcast media often made those channels unavailable to mid-market and smaller brands. But since there aren’t those same gates around launching an organic social program, the playing field has evened.
      
      
8. 84% of executives expect social media to be their company’s primary communication channel in the next three years.
   1. Social media is becoming more powerful than TV, radio, media, news outlets, physical mail, and word of mouth for building brand awareness because you can reach your target audience much more easily.
      
      
9. 55% of executives expect their company’s social media marketing budgets will increase by more than 50% over the next three years.
   
   1. The number of social media users has almost doubled since 2015, and with new platforms and features coming out every day, that number isn’t slowing down any time soon.
      
      
10. 1 in 3 consumers use social media to learn about new products, services or brands.
    1. Consumers are discovering information about brands organically on social media but they are also going straight to social sites to find the information they’re looking for. Social platforms are easily accessible and users already know where to look for info. Why go digging through a brand’s website to find something when you can find it faster on a social profile?

If your business is not investing in social media, you’ve already fallen behind your competitors. You’re missing out on data that can help you make vital business decisions. More than anything, your target audience will not know who you are. It’s 2021. Start making social media a priority in your business.