While most marketers use social media to create brand awareness, they are failing to use the channel to capture information on leads, according to new research.
The study, from Eloqua commissioned YouGov to examine UK marketers’ social media practices.
The YouGov study set out to uncover how marketers currently use social media and specifically how social media is used for demand generation.
Not surprisingly, more than half of respondents (64 percent) use some form of social media to promote their companies.
As social networks continue to grow and expand, marketers recognise social is a fundamental part of the marketing mix.
When marketers were asked how their companies currently use social media, 83 percent responded to create company and brand awareness. However, only 22 percent of respondents use some form of social media to capture information on leads.
The study also found that of those who use social media, less than half (35 percent) admitted to incorporating any kind of social into their demand generation activities.
When UK marketers were asked why social was not included, a whopping 43 percent admitted to having no strategy in place for integrating social and 33 percent are unsure of when they will incorporate social into their demand generation campaigns.
“A lack of clear strategy around social and demand generation is holding companies back,” said Heidi Melin, CMO, Eloqua. “Marketers still feel the pressure to ‘go social’ and improve awareness across social channels but for those involved in lead generation, integrating social throughout the process remains somewhat of a mystery. While UK marketers may be missing an opportunity today, the good news is that there are now tools and technologies available to help them socially engage with prospects at each step of the buyer’s journey.”
Marketers focused on lead generation are finding an increase in available solutions designed to integrate social media into demand generation campaigns.
For more details on integrating social with demand generation, download Eloqua’s free eBook, the Grande Guide to Social Demand Generation.
Methodology: This survey has been conducted using an online interview administered members of the YouGov Plc GB panel of 350,000+ individuals who have agreed to take part in surveys. An email was sent to panelists selected at random from the base sample according to the sample definition, inviting them to take part in the survey and providing a link to the survey. (The sample definition could be “GB adult population” or a subset such as “GB adult females”). YouGov Plc normally achieves a response rate of between 35% and 50% to surveys however this does vary dependent upon the subject matter, complexity and length of the questionnaire. The responding sample is weighted to the profile of the sample definition to provide a representative reporting sample. The profile is normally derived from census data or, if not available from the census, from industry accepted data. 296 UK B2B marketers were surveyed.
Source: Eloqua
