By bbr

by Kelly Lucas, client marketing director

When asked what is the most effective social media platform for their organization, B2B marketers choose LinkedIn, according to Social Media Examiner’s 2014 Social Media Marketing Industry Report. This report is based on data gathered from a survey of 2,887 marketers in first quarter 2014. There’s quite a bit of interesting info in the full report, which you can request via the link above, but we’ve highlighted some of the key take-aways below:

Most used platforms Facebook is the platform used by the most B2B companies, followed by Twitter and LinkedIn.

Source: Social Media Examiner Social Media Marketing Industry Report

B2B platform preference B2B companies name LinkedIn as their social media platform of choice, with Facebook and Twitter taking second and third place respectively, and blogging in fourth.

Source: Social Media Examiner Social Media Marketing Industry Report

Social media grows business partnerships Many B2B marketers who’ve invested at least one full year to social media marketing report they’ve gained new partnerships (61 percent).

Multiple benefits The two biggest benefits reported were increased brand exposure and increased website traffic. Other key benefits include marketplace insight, improved search rankings and reduced marketing expenses.

Source: Social Media Examiner Social Media Marketing Industry Report

Time commitment is important 64 percent of marketers report devoting six or more hours a week to social media, with 37 percent spending 11 or more hours. There’s also a direct correlation between how long they have used social media and how much time they spend on it weekly. The more experience they have with the platform, the more time they devote to using it to its fullest capabilities.

Content is still King Those who have the most social media marketing experience place more importance on content creation than those with less experience. This includes blogging, videos and podcasting. They understand that original content creates thought leaders, drives traffic and increases search engine optimization. Most B2B marketers (74 percent) plan to increase their use of blogging.

Google+ still boggles the mind No matter how seasoned or green a marketer, Google+ is the platform that most have yet to really conquer. 65 percent of respondents state they would like to learn more about this platform and how to best use it for their business.

Source: Social Media Examiner Social Media Marketing Industry Report

It’s important to note that while some of the data differentiates between B2B and B2C (those points are indicated), not all of it does. This survey was a mix of the two, with B2C respondents making up 59 percent and B2B respondents making up 41 percent.

So what does all this information mean for you? It probably validates your current efforts and helps you to see you’re most likely aligned with many others in the field. While social media marketing has great benefits, it’s not always easy to directly measure its effectiveness. If you’ve found this to be the case, you’re not alone. This is true for all marketers, even those who’ve been engaging in social media for a while. So don’t throw your hands up in disgust if you don’t get a client within a month of creating your Facebook page – like any good investment, it takes time.

Now that you’ve seen what others in marketing are doing and where they are focusing their efforts, do you find your social media efforts align closely with theirs? Or do they differ drastically and if so, how? We’d love to get your take on these results.