Social Media ROI Benchmark Report PDF

SOCIAL MEDIA
ROI
B2B Social Media: Investment & Returns – Benchmark Study Report – September 2016 3
INTRODUCTION
It’s unheard of for a B2B organization to not have a social media presence. Just three
percent of organizations studied for this report claim to have no social media
presence. For the other 97 percent, some level of commitment to and investment in
social media exists, and the overall effectiveness of this investment is mixed. This
report will share the goals that these organizations have for social media, how they’re
investing in it and what level of return they are getting from it.
As a marketing channel, social media has many applications, and the primary goal for
most B2B firms is either brand awareness or lead generation. While usage is high and
effectiveness is moderate, the perceived Return-on-Investment (ROI) for social media
is quite unspectacular, as this report will detail. Demand Metric in partnership with
Socedo set out to discover the current B2B social media practices, collecting over 475
complete and partial responses to the study survey. The data from this survey paints
the current social media landscape that this report shares, and the analysis of that
data provides best practice insights for improving the results B2B marketers are
getting from social media.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
All of this study’s participants were from B2B organizations, most of which report
revenue growth during the past fiscal year. Over half of the respondents have
marketing job titles, and over one-fourth are specific to digital marketing or social
media. The respondents come from a diverse set of industries, technology hardware
or software being the largest. Over half come from companies with less than $10
million in annual revenue, while eight percent are with firms reporting revenues of
$500 million or
1
more.
The analysis of this study’s data provides these key findings:
!  Three of the primary uses of social media in B2B environments are Brand
awareness, Lead generation, and Thought leadership, accounting for 75
percent of the primary usage.
!  34 percent of study participants rated their social media marketing efforts as

“Effective” or “Very effective,” while just 29 percent reported getting a
Return on Investment (ROI) in line with or above expectations.
!  Over half of study participants report having no integration between their

social media channels/social media management systems and their
marketing and sales systems. The study discovered that such integration is
a significant contributor to increased ROI from social media.
!  Over half of the study’s participants use social media analytics and content
marketing tools, while almost 20 percent indicate no tool usage at all. Study
participants reporting lower overall social media marketing effectiveness also
report much lower tool usage rates.
!  When any social media tools are in use, the effectiveness rating for social
media as a lead generation channel more than doubles, and when the top
three tools are in use – social media analytics, social media monitoring and
content marketing – the reported effectiveness almost triples.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
!  When any social media tools are in use, the ROI assessment of social media
almost triples, and when the top three tools are in use, the reported
effectiveness almost quadruples.
!  Just one in five organizations in the study assess their social media
marketing effectiveness favorably when they have no staff allocated to their
efforts.
!  The use of best practices identified in this report, such as integration with
sales and marketing systems, use of certain tools, and tracking of specific
metrics, results in ROI of social media marketing almost doubling. However,
just 11 percent of study participants currently use these best practices.
This report details the results and insights from the analysis of the study data. For
more detail on the survey participants, please refer to the Appendix.

SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE
While virtually all respondents who participated in the study survey reported their
firms have a social media presence, the magnitude of that presence varies a great
deal. Figure 1 shows the variance in the profile, activity and size of following for the
study’s participants.
Social Media Presence
48%
33%
16%
3%
None Low Medium High
Figure 1: 97 percent of study participants have some sort of social media presence.
Almost all firms that participated in this study are making some level of investment in
social media, but as Figure 1 shows, their profile, activity and following vary greatly,
with just over 15 percent reporting a high level. This report will explore the factors
that contribute to success with B2B social media, showing how various aspects of
usage impact the results and return marketers are getting from it.
Before proceeding to the insights part of this report, we’ll share in Figure 2 the
reasons why some companies have little to no social media presence.

Reasons for Not Having a Social Media Presence
Don't have the resources 56%
Don't understand social media 27%
Don't do content marketing 22%
Unable to realize ROI 21%
Concerned about control of content 17%
Customers not on social media 15%
Only do outbound sales 11%
Other 15%
Figure 2: One reason dominates the list: resources.
Marketers are always challenged to allocate a limited set of resources against the
organization’s priorities. As one survey participant stated, “One marketer, spread too
thin.” Several who responded to the study survey indicated that their social media
efforts were just getting started. Other comments that help illuminate why some
companies don’t have a social media presence include:
!  “Don’t put enough time for presence to grow.”

!  “We don’t have enough content to distribute on social media.”
!  “Funding issues.”
As with all marketing investments, the path to success begins with a strong business
case. The insights and best practices that this report shares should help marketers
justify an investment in social media that delivers a return.

For those that do maintain a social media presence, study participants were asked to
assess the overall effectiveness of that presence. Figure 3 shares this assessment
data.
Assessment: Overall Social Media

Marketing Effectiveness
44%
31%
5% 17%
3%
Figure 3: Two-third of study participants report overall effectiveness at neutral or worse.
The view that Figure 1 provides shows that almost everyone is doing social media, but
Figure 3 tells us that most – those assessing their efforts as “very ineffective,”
“ineffective,” or “neutral” – are not doing it effectively. Those respondents that
assessed their efforts as “Effective” and “Very effective” combined form the “Effective”
segment, a segment that will serve as a point of comparison in other sections of this
report.
To bring this picture of B2B social media usage into even sharper focus, Figure 4
shares the ROI assessment of these efforts.

Social Media ROI Assessment

40%
23%
18%
13% 4%
2%
Don't know Far below Slightly below In line Slightly above Far above
the ROI expectation expectations expectations expectations
Figure 4: Few marketers report social media ROI that is above expectations.
This ROI data offers little encouragement to B2B marketers. Almost everyone is
marketing with social media, and many are experiencing disappointing ROI
from doing so, but not all. This report will explore how the right investment in
tools, staffing and best practices can produce results and returns that exceed
expectations. As a prelude to sharing the factors critical to success with B2B social
media marketing, this report will next provide an up-close look at what organizations
are doing with social media.

B2B SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING GOALS
B2B marketers have some specific goals for social media, and Figure 5 shares which
goals survey participants identified as their primary goal.
Primary Goal for Social Media Marketing
Brand awareness 33%
Generate leads 29%
Thought leadership 12%
Improve web traffic/SEO 7%
Accelerate the sales cycle 4%
Promote gated content 4%
Encourage loyalty/advocacy 3%
Nurture leads 3%
Customer feedback 1%
Other goal 1%
No goal 3%
Figure 5: Almost all users have a primary goal for social media usage.
The presence of goals relates to the overall effectiveness shown in Figure 3: all study
participants who chose a rating of either “Effective” or “Very effective” had goals in
place for social media usage. The best practice here for social media use is simple:
have goals. Those without specific goals have no idea what social media is
doing for them, because it’s impossible to know what metrics have meaning
in the absence of goals. Goals are important because they provide direction and
serve as the basis for measuring success.

Three of the primary uses shown in Figure 5 – Brand awareness, Lead generation,
and Thought leadership – account for 75 percent of the primary usage goals for social
media. In terms of uses, social media has a lot of utility, as the broad list of goals in
Figure 5 shows. Results, however, vary. Figure 6 shows the differences for overall
effectiveness and the ROI assessment for users in pursuit of the top three goals.
Top 3 Primary Uses: Effectiveness & ROI

"Effective" segment % ROI inline with or above expectations
50%
41%
36%
30% 29%
24%
Brand awareness Lead generation Thought leadership
Figure 6: Effectiveness and ROI vary by primary goal.
Figure 6 shows the effectiveness assessment for the previously described

“Effectiveness” segment for each goal depicted in the graph. The “ROI” bars represent
the percentage of participants that assessed their ROI (see Figure 4) as “In line with
expectations,” “Slightly” or “Far above expectations.”
For the primary goals question in the study survey, participants were instructed to
choose just one response that most represents their primary social media goal. The
reality is that most organizations have several goals, so participants were also asked
to identify any secondary goals, and Figure 7 summarizes the responses.

Secondary Goals for Social Media Marketing
Brand awareness 43%
Generate leads 42%
Improve web traffic/SEO 34%
Thought leadership 29%
Encourage loyalty/advocacy 27%
Promote gated content 26%
Nurture leads 26%
Accelerate the sales cycle 22%
Customer feedback 15%
Other goal 2%
Figure 7: The order of secondary goals mirrors primary goals almost exactly.
Considering secondary goals that study participants have for social media confirms
what the primary goals tell us: in the B2B world, social media is about brand
awareness and generating leads. Both of these applications are associated with
rather disappointing effectiveness and ROI performance (Figure 6), with lead
generation the lowest. The next section of this report will explore using social media
for lead generation in more detail.

SOCIAL MEDIA LEAD GENERATION
Lead generation is one of the most critical marketing processes in a B2B organization.
The effectiveness of this process impacts revenue attainment, and most organizations
cannot get too many leads. B2B marketers want to use social for lead generation, but
many don’t have the right strategies and tools in place to do it well. Social media can
serve as a lead generation channel, perhaps even the primary one, and one that is
very cost-effective. Even though this report shows the relatively poor overall
performance of social for lead generation, doesn’t mean it is poorly suited to that
task. Effectiveness and ROI depend on how organizations are using social for lead
generation. This study reveals practices that drive better outcomes for social lead
generation.
When the proper financial and lead generation process metrics are used to track
performance of lead generation, better outcomes result. Likewise, when social media
content is amplified with paid social media advertising, lead generation results are
better. Figure 8 shows the percentage of study participants that rated various aspects
of the social lead generation process as “Good” or “Very good,” comparing the overall
sample to those using metrics and ads to amplify their content.
The mechanics of lead generation through social media are not difficult to grasp:
share content through social media channels that compels prospects to engage with
that content and willingly become a lead. The challenge is to get that engagement.
Engagement is a function of quality content that resonates, and exposure. Amplifying
lead generation content posted to social media through ads broadens the exposure,
sometimes exponentially. This extends the reach of that content much farther while
staying within the target audience profile.

Rating Aspects of Social Lead Gen for

"Effective" Segment
Overall When amplified w/ads
When using lead gen metrics When using financial metrics
% Effective or Very Effective!
59% 57%
52% 53% 53%
49% 51% 52%
44% 47% 46% 47%
44% 44% 43% 45%
44%
39%
33% 35%
Number of leads Quality of leads Cost-per social ROI from social Effectiveness of
generated generated lead investment social lead gen
Figure 8: The effect of using certain metrics and ads to amplify content.
There’s another way that marketers need to think about using social media for lead
generation. The prevailing view is that you broadcast content on social media, hoping
to snare some who view it and then decide to engage with you. A more effective
approach is to use social media as a direct marketing, one-to-one channel.
This is a very targeted approach that begins by thinking through how you’d find your
target audience on social media, then searching for prospects based on conversational
and biographical keywords in their social media profiles and social posts. As people
update their social profiles and post content on social networks like Twitter and
LinkedIn, they’re publicly sharing information that lets marketers know that they’re
about to enter a buying cycle. As a marketer, you can search for prospects based on
the hastags of events they attend, the handles of influencers they follow, and produce
a more targeted and qualified audience than is typically reached organically.

By choosing to follow these prospects, and sending those who reciprocate your
interest relevant content through social media channels, better engagement results
than does through the broadcast approach.
Figure 8 also confirms a truth that sometimes polarizes marketers: having the right
metrics in place are necessary to achieve best-in-class results. The study’s data
points to the need to select and use appropriate metrics to manage marketing’s work.
In the case of B2B social media and lead generation, it should not surprise marketers
that the use of lead generation and financial metrics boost performance.
Examples of these metrics for social media include:
!  Lead generation: new contacts, registrations, MQLs, opportunities & others.

!  Financial: Cost per Lead, revenue, ROI and others
Amplification with ads contributes to better social lead generation performance, and
the use of metrics provides data to improve the process. The study identified another
characteristic of better social media lead generation performance: Integration of
social media or social media management systems with marketing automation, CRM
or both. When such integration is in place, the percentage of study
participants reporting that the number of leads generated through social was
“Good” or “Very good” was higher, as Figure 9 shows.
Overall, just over half of the full survey sample report having no integration
between their social media channels or social media management systems
and their marketing and sales systems. The analysis of the study data found a
relationship between integration and the number of leads generated, as shown in
Figure 9. When the segment of respondents who report the number of social leads
generated is good or very good, the data shows a much higher level of integration.
Far fewer report having no integration at all, and over half indicate integration with
CRM.

Integration Status Comparison

Overall Lead quantity is Good or Very Good
55%
51%
43%
28% 27%
17% 15%
12%
No integration With marketing With CRM With both

automation
Figure 9: Integration of social with marketing and sales systems is related to

more favorable assessments of number of leads generated.
Ideally, integration exists with both marketing automation and CRM, allowing
marketing to nurture leads, qualify them and pass them to sales as MQLs, and track
how opportunities move through the sales pipeline. Having this integration is
important because it enables marketers to track how their social media efforts are
impacting the number of leads they generate, and the quality of the leads generated.
For marketers who wish to improve the ROI of social media and lead
generation in general, this integration is the starting point.
The next section of this report examines how the usage of social media tools impacts
the effectiveness of social media.

SOCIAL MEDIA TOOL USAGE
Tools, by definition, simplify tasks by making them easier to perform. For social
media, however, tool usage isn’t just about convenience; it’s about effectiveness. The
right tools allow marketers to scale their efforts and better reach the right audience
for their content. An impressive set of tools for social media now exist, and Figure 10
catalogs the frequency of their use by study participants.
Social Media Tool Usage
Social media analytics 56%

Content marketing 52%
Social media monitoring 39%
Brand & employee advocacy 21%
Social customer service 15%
Social selling 15%
Social influencer software 6%
Other tools 2%
None 19%
Figure 10: Categories of social media tools by usage frequency.
Over half of the study’s participants use social media analytics and content
marketing tools, while almost 20 percent indicate no tool usage at all. Taking
a closer look at this segment that doesn’t use tools shows how important tools are as
an effectiveness lever. This relationship between effectiveness and tool usage is
depicted in Figure 11.

Impact of Tool Usage on Effectiveness

Overall No tools
44%
38%
31%
28%
21%
17%
5% 13%
3%
0%
Very ineffective Ineffective Neutral Effective Very effective
Figure 11: When no tools are in use, social media marketing effectiveness suffers.
In Figure 11, over one-third of the full survey sample, represented by the “Overall”
set of bars, assess their social media marketing efforts as “Effective” or “Very
effective.” Compare this to just 13 percent who assess their efforts the same way
when no social media tools are in use. Where effectiveness is concerned, the
contrast between those who use tools and those who don’t is dramatic. In
general, tool usage is a catalyst for more effective social media marketing.
Since the study survey collected data about specific categories of tools, it makes
possible to see how the individual tool categories impact effectiveness. Figure 12
shows the set of tools categories from Figure 10, and presents a comparison between
the “Effective” segment and the “Ineffective” one: those survey respondents who
rated their social media marketing efforts as “Very ineffective”, “Ineffective” or
“Neutral.”

Social Media Tool Usage: Comparing

Effectiveness Segments
"Ineffective" segment "Effective" segment
48%
67%
56%
Brand & employee advocacy
16%
31%
Social customer service
5%
34%
Social selling
14%
19%
Social influencer software
2%
15%
Other tools
2%
1%
None 25%
7%
Percent Tool Usage
Figure 12: Study participants that report lower overall social media marketing
effectiveness also report much lower tool usage rates. The delta between segments
averages 19 percent.
A double-digit delta exists for almost every tool category in Figure 12, and four of
these gaps exceed 20 percent. If the size of the gap between segments is a good
indicator of tool category importance, the priority order is:
1.  Social customer service (29 percent delta)

2.  Social media analytics (25 percent delta)
3.  Social media monitoring (25 percent delta)
4.  Content marketing (24 percent delta)
The top three primary uses shown in Figure 6 – Brand awareness, Lead generation
and Thought leadership – each show slightly different patterns of tool usage. Table 1
shows these differences.

Brand Lead Thought

Awareness Generation Leadership
Social media analytics 56% 56% 65%

Content marketing 45% 56% 50%
Social media monitoring 39% 33% 48%
Brand & employee advocacy 23% 20% 25%
Social customer service 13% 12% 20%
Social selling 12% 21% 20%
Social influencer software 5% 9% 5%
Table 1: Highlighted cells represent the highest usage.
The use of tools has much to do with how well social media works for lead generation,
particularly with respect to the impact of tools on the quantity of leads generated.
Figure 13 compares two segments from the study: participants who indicated that
their lead quantity from social media is very poor to neutral with those who indicated
it is good or very good.
Tools play a major role in helping social work well for lead generation. The study
survey asked specific lead generation questions, one of which asked participants to
rate the effectiveness of social as a lead generation channel. This rating data
correlates to tool usage, and Figure 14 shows a comparison of lead generation
effectiveness when no tools are in use, when any tools are in use, and when the top
three tools (Figure 10) are in use.
When any tools at all are in use, the effectiveness rating for social media as
a lead generation channel more than doubles, and when the top three tools
are in use – social media analytics, social media monitoring and content
marketing – the reported effectiveness almost triples. Using the right tools
dramatically improves how well social media works for lead generation.

Social Media Tool Usage: Comparing Lead

Quantity Segments
Lead quantity = very poor to neutral Lead quantity = good or very good
53%
64%
51%
% Tool Usage
Social customer service 7%
36%
Brand & employee advocacy 14%
32%
Social selling 13%
28%
Social influencer software 6%
13%
Other tools 1%
3%
None 24%
9%
Figure 13: The average of the delta between tool types (except “Other”) is 16 percent.
Social Media Tool Usage Comparison: Lead Gen

Effectiveness = Good or Very Good
53%
38%
18%
* Social media analytics, Social media monitoring, Content marketing
Figure 14: When tools are not in use, social media rates poorly as a lead generation
channel.

The study survey also asked participants to rate the return on investment in social
media lead generation, and the pattern seen in Figure 14 repeats itself in this
evaluation. That investment takes the form of time, tools and staff. Figure 15 shows
the comparison of ROI when no tools are in use, when any tools are in use, and when
the top three tools (Figure 10) are in use.
Social Media Tool Usage Comparison: ROI for Lead

Gen = Good or Very Good
58%
42%
15%
No tools usage Any tools usage Top 3 tools usage*

* Social media analytics, Social media monitoring, Content marketing
Figure 15: Tools usage boosts the ROI of social for lead generation substantially.
Using tools impacts the ROI of social media for lead generation in a big way. When
any tools at all are in use, the ROI assessment almost triples, and when the
top three tools are in use, the reported effectiveness almost quadruples. As
Figures 14 and 15 show, tools are indispensible for using social media as a lead
generation channel. The transform social media from a lackluster to a blockbuster
lead generation channel.
Tools have a big impact on social media lead generation, and the next section of this
report examines another attribute that does as well: staffing.

STAFFING OF SOCIAL MEDIA
In any survey of marketers, the issue of staffing almost always comes up as a

challenge to getting things done. This study sought to understand how B2B
marketers staff their social media initiatives. Figure 16 shows overall staffing levels
for study participants.
Social Media Staffing Comparison
28%
24%
19% 18%
11%
No staff 1 part-time Multiple part- 1 full-time Multiple full-time

time
Figure 16: Social media staffing levels for survey participants.
It’s predictable that larger companies dedicate more staff to social media, and the
study data confirms this assumption. Using the revenue bands defined below to
segment by company size, Table 2 shows how staffing levels vary.
!  Small companies: annual sales less than $25 million
!  Medium companies: annual sales between $25 and $499 million
!  Large companies: annual sales above $500 million

Medium Large
Small companies
companies companies
No staff 19% 18% 4%

1 part-time staff 28% 21% 9%
Multiple part-time staff 33% 23% 13%
1 full-time staff 15% 26% 30%
Multiple full-time staff 5% 12% 44%
Table 2: How staffing for social media varies based on company size.
For all sizes of company, social media marketing effectiveness is, among other things,
a function of staffing. Staffing levels correlate to overall effectiveness of social media
marketing, and Figure 17 shows this relationship.
Overall Effectiveness by Staffing Level
63%
% Effective or Very Effective
43%
33%
23%
20%
Figure 17: How the overall effectiveness of social media

marketing efforts varies by staffing level.

Just one in five organizations in the study assess their effectiveness

favorably when they have no staff allocated to their social media marketing
efforts. However, the single part-time staffing level does little to improve
effectiveness, and just one-third of study participants with a full-time staff position
assess their effectiveness favorably. What’s clear from Figure 17 is that collaboration
among multiple people is critical to increasing the effectiveness of social media
marketing efforts. Staffing that consists of multiple, part-time staff
outperforms a single full-time staffer, and the best performance comes from
multiple full-time staffers. Effectiveness with social media marketing, therefore,
isn’t just about having staff, but about having enough staff to collaborate, even if that
staff is just part-time.
As Figure 17 shows how overall effectiveness is impacted by staffing, so too is lead

generation. The level of staffing is one factor that determines if quantity and quality
of social media generated leads is good. Figure 18 provides the detail on how staffing
levels impact these aspects of social media lead generation.
Staffing Levels for Lead Generation

Lead quantity Lead quality
64%
% Good or Very Good
60%
50%
36% 37% 38%

35%
32%
29%
21%
No staff 1 part-time Multiple part- 1 full-time Multiple full-

time time
Figure 18: Future plans call for the increased use of personalization.

When using social media as a lead generation channel, Figure 18 makes it clear that
expecting results when no staff is committed to the endeavor is unrealistic. With
appropriate staffing, however, social media delivers good or very good results for both
the quantity and quality of leads. Since most B2B organizations have metrics about
cost per lead and conversion rates associated with lead generation, the inputs for a
business case to invest at a greater level in social media – or staffing for social media
– are present.
Metrics are important to any marketing endeavor, and marketers are increasingly
embracing metrics and their use to prove the contribution marketing makes by
improving the effectiveness and ROI of its work. The next section of this report
explores the use of metrics with B2B social media marketing.

SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS
The study survey measured the usage of several categories of metrics for social
media:
!  Volume metrics: number of followers, reach, etc.

!  Engagement metrics: clicks, number of shares, retweets, reposts, etc.
!  Influence metrics: number of mentions, etc.
!  Lead generation metrics: new contacts, registrations, lead score activity,
MQLs, etc.
!  Financial metrics: revenue, ROI, etc.
Figure 19 shows the overall metrics usage for study participants.
Social Media Metrics Usage
Engagement metrics 76%
Volume metrics 69%
Influence metrics 44%
Lead generation metrics 43%
Financial metrics 20%
None 9%
Figure 19: Most organizations surveyed are tracking social media metrics.

Lead generation is a very metrics-driven business process, and the type of metrics an
organization chooses to track affects how well the social media lead generation
process performs. Table 3 compares the metric type to its impact the dimensions of
social media lead generation listed in the table columns. The number in each cell
of the table represents the percentage of participants rating performance as
“good” or “very good.”
Lead Quantity Lead Quality Cost per Lead ROI Effectiveness
No metrics 6% 14% 18% 7% 13%

Financial 49% 59% 47% 45% 53%
Lead gen 44% 52% 57% 53% 47%
Influence 32% 45% 52% 45% 44%
Volume 34% 44% 50% 41% 36%
Engagement 35% 43% 48% 45% 35%
Overall 33% 44% 43% 39% 35%
Table 3: Financial and Lead generation metrics are most impactful.
Any who doubt that metrics correlate to better social media lead generation
performance need only to glance at the “No metrics” row in Table 3. What’s more
surprising is that some metrics don’t seem to do much to boost the ratings relative to
the aspects of lead generation listed in the columns of Table 3. Using the “Overall”
row as the baseline for comparison, those who use “Influence,” “Volume,” or
“Engagement” metrics are not seeing a noticeable lift from the use of these classes of
metrics.

The metrics that do correlate to better social media lead generation

performance are “Financial” and “Lead generation.” In all but one aspect (Cost
per Lead), these two classes of metrics lead all other classes. To manage social
media lead generation to the highest level of performance, not just any metrics will
do. The metrics portfolio must include “Financial” and “Lead generation” metrics, two
of the more difficult classes to track. The use of tools and systems that enable
tracking these metrics are imperative.
This report has identified several best practices that lead to better performance for
B2B social media marketing in general, and social media lead generation in particular.
The next section of the report will examine whether these best practices truly impact
ROI.

SOCIAL MEDIA ROI
This report has touched on ROI in Figures 4, 6 and 15, as well as Table 3.
Understanding how B2B social media marketing is delivering a return on the
investment study participants are making in it begins with an overview. Figure 20
takes the ROI data first shared in Figure 4, restating it in three ROI segments:
1.  ROI is unknown

2.  ROI is below expectations
3.  ROI is inline with or above expectations
Figure 20 shows these ROI segments for the full survey sample.
Social Media ROI Assessment by Segment
40%
31% 29%
Unknown Below expectations Inline with or above

expectations
Figure 20: For most study participants, ROI is elusive.
This analysis of this study’s data yields a series of best practices for B2B social media
marketing and lead generation. These include:
1.  Integrating social media with CRM, marketing automation or both

2.  Staffing social media function with multiple people, either part or full-time
3.  Using social media analytics, social monitoring and content marketing tools
4.  Tracking financial and lead generation metrics

SOCIAL MEDIA ROI
In this study, just 11 percent of participants are following these best

practices. They do, however, assess their ROI much higher as Figure 21 shows.
Social Media ROI Assessment Comparison

Overall Using Best Practices
50%
40%
31% 30% 29%
20%
Unknown Below expectations Inline with or above

expectations
Figure 21: Predictably, best practices usage results in substantially better ROI.
The use of best practices identified in this report results in ROI of social
media marketing efforts almost doubling.

ANALYST BOTTOM LINE
Many B2B companies that use social media for marketing perceive that it’s free. It
costs nothing to set up a social media profile and begin sharing content through it.
Because some B2B marketers perceive social media as a "free" marketing channel,
they aren’t intentional about using it; they don't invest in the planning and resources
that unlock its full potential. This is a mistake, particularly in light of the fact that
69 percent of study participants expressed an intention to increase their
current investment in social media over the next 12 months.
Given these intentions, the wise course of action is to implement the best practices
this report identifies, and doing so is within every B2B marketer’s grasp. The
relationship between adopting these best practices and overall effectiveness of social
media marketing is clear and direct. When these best practices are not adopted and
the success of social media is left to chance, its effectiveness and ROI is unimpressive.
This checklist of best practices is easy to understand:
1.  Have goals. It’s easy to claim a company’s social media channels and publish
content through them. The use of social media, however, is ideally directed by
specific goals. In B2B environments, the most common goals are: brand
awareness, lead generation and thought leadership establishment. Don’t allow
your use of social media to get untethered from the larger marketing and
corporate goals. Instead, use social media to compliment them.
2.  Integrate. Don’t allow social media to sit in a technology silo. Instead, integrate
it with existing CRM, marketing automation systems or ideally, both. This
integration is particularly important if your goal for social media includes lead
generation, as it enables matching and tracking social media engagement to leads.
It’s also necessary for those that want to know the true ROI of social media or how
social media impacts lead generation and financial metrics. Integration provides
the data to establish a baseline of how social media efforts drive leads and
opportunities.

ANALYST BOTTOM LINE
3.  Staff properly. The worst scenario is to have a social media presence with no one
assigned to manage it. What’s ideal is to have a group of individuals that all pitch
in to help manage the social media marketing effort. This study shows that
multiple staff, even if only part-time – outperform a single, full-time staffer
assigned to manage the social initiative. When more than one person has this
responsibility, it opens the door to collaboration and greater creativity.
4.  Use tools. No tools are necessary to have a social media presence, but tools are
absolutely essential to achieving higher levels of effectiveness using social media,
as well as a better ROI. Social media tools help you reach your audience at scale
and provide the data you need to improve your effort. B2B marketers that use
social media should have tools in place for analytics, monitoring and content
marketing, as these are key to improving social lead generation. Other tools will
make sense depending on the goals in place for social media.
5.  Track metrics. The use of almost any type of metric is better than not using
metrics at all. But as the study shows, not all categories of metric are equally
valuable. Track any metrics you wish, but make sure that your metrics inventory
includes some financial metrics, and if you’re doing lead generation, some specific
to that goal. By tracking financial and lead generation metrics, it becomes possible
to show real ROI on social marketing efforts, which is key to getting the necessary
budget to invest in appropriate staffing and resources.
Understanding these best practices is simple, but implementing them isn’t always
easy. Even when the will is present, corporate culture gets in the way. Use the
findings from this report to develop a business case for greater investment in social
media. It’s fine to make progress in increments, as long as progress is made. A great
place to start is with integration, because with that comes the ability to better track
key metrics. Clarify your goals and put a metrics dashboard to both track and
communicate your progress. As the social media performance picture becomes
clearer, you can make informed decisions about which social media tools to add along
with staff to make the whole process really hum.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Demand Metric is grateful to Socedo for sponsoring this research, and for those who
took the time to complete the study survey.
About Socedo
Socedo’s mission is to bring social leads to every business in the world. Socedo
empowers B2B marketers to discover, engage and qualify prospects through social
media to generate revenue at scale. Socedo integrates with leading marketing
automation and CRM systems including Marketo, Hubspot, and Salesforce to help
marketers measure ROI from social media. Socedo was founded in 2012 by Aseem
Badshah and Kevin Yu and is based in Seattle, WA.
Learn more about Socedo at www.socedo.com
About Demand Metric
Demand Metric is a marketing research and advisory firm serving a membership

community of over 70,000 marketing professionals and consultants in 75 countries.
Offering consulting methodologies, advisory services, and 500+ premium marketing

tools and templates, Demand Metric resources and expertise help the marketing
community plan more efficiently and effectively, answer the difficult questions about
their work with authority and conviction and complete marketing projects more
quickly and with greater confidence, boosting the respect of the marketing team and
making it easier to justify resources the team needs to succeed.
To learn more about Demand Metric, please visit: www.demandmetric.com.

APPENDIX: SURVEY BACKGROUND
This 2016 Social Media Investment and Returns Study survey was administered online
during the period of July 29 through August 31, 2016. During this period, 482
responses were collected, 401 of which were qualified and complete enough for
inclusion in the analysis. Only valid or correlated findings are shared in this report.
The representativeness of this study’s results depends on the similarity of the sample
to environments in which this survey data is used for comparison or guidance.
Summarized below is the basic categorization data collected about respondents to

enable filtering and analysis of the data:
!  Type of organization:
"  Primarily B2B 66 percent
"  Mixed B2B/B2C 34 percent
!  Primary role of respondent

"  President, CEO or owner 24 percent
"  CMO 10 percent
"  Digital marketing 19 percent
"  Social media marketing 7 percent
"  Marketing operations 15 percent
"  Other marketing role 9 percent
"  Sales 5 percent
"  Other 11 percent
!  Annual sales:
"  Less than $10 million 57 percent
"  $10 to $24 million 13 percent
"  $1 billion or more 7 percent

APPENDIX: SURVEY BACKGROUND
!  Revenue growth environment in most recent fiscal year:

"  Significant increase 19 percent
"  Slight increase 44 percent
"  Flat 23 percent
"  Slight decline 10 percent
"  Significant decline 4 percent


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SOCIAL MEDIA

© 2016 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

The analysis of this study’s data provides these key findings:

! 34 percent of study participants rated their social media marketing efforts as

! Over half of study participants report having no integration between their

© 2016 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

© 2016 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE

Social Media Presence

None Low Medium High

© 2016 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE

Reasons for Not Having a Social Media Presence

Don't have the resources 56%

Don't understand social media 27%

Don't do content marketing 22%

Unable to realize ROI 21%

Concerned about control of content 17%

Customers not on social media 15%

Only do outbound sales 11%

Figure 2: One reason dominates the list: resources.

! “Don’t put enough time for presence to grow.”

© 2016 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE

Assessment: Overall Social Media

Figure 3: Two-third of study participants report overall effectiveness at neutral or worse.

© 2016 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE

Social Media ROI Assessment

© 2016 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

B2B SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING GOALS

Primary Goal for Social Media Marketing

Brand awareness 33%

Generate leads 29%

Thought leadership 12%

Improve web traffic/SEO 7%

Accelerate the sales cycle 4%

Promote gated content 4%

© 2016 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

B2B SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING GOALS

Top 3 Primary Uses: Effectiveness & ROI

Brand awareness Lead generation Thought leadership

Figure 6: Effectiveness and ROI vary by primary goal.

Figure 6 shows the effectiveness assessment for the previously described

© 2016 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

B2B SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING GOALS

Secondary Goals for Social Media Marketing

Brand awareness 43%

Generate leads 42%

Improve web traffic/SEO 34%

Thought leadership 29%

Encourage loyalty/advocacy 27%

Promote gated content 26%

Nurture leads 26%

Accelerate the sales cycle 22%

Customer feedback 15%

© 2016 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

SOCIAL MEDIA LEAD GENERATION

© 2016 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

SOCIAL MEDIA LEAD GENERATION

Rating Aspects of Social Lead Gen for

© 2016 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

SOCIAL MEDIA LEAD GENERATION

! Lead generation: new contacts, registrations, MQLs, opportunities & others.

© 2016 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

SOCIAL MEDIA LEAD GENERATION

!  34 percent of study participants rated their social media marketing efforts as

!  Over half of study participants report having no integration between their

!  “Don’t put enough time for presence to grow.”

!  Lead generation: new contacts, registrations, MQLs, opportunities & others.

1.  Social customer service (29 percent delta)

!  Small companies: annual sales less than $25 million

!  Medium companies: annual sales between $25 and $499 million

!  Large companies: annual sales above $500 million

!  Volume metrics: number of followers, reach, etc.