Marketers Working Toward Social, Search Integration

Author:

Kate Maddox

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While the majority of b2b marketers are now using social media as part of their marketing efforts, they are still exploring how to integrate social with search and measure the results, according to an exclusive study by BtoB and Business.com.
 
The study, “The Impact of Social Media on Search,” was based on an online survey of 464 b2b marketers conducted July 1-16. The survey was designed to explore how marketers are integrating social media with search marketing and discover what types of measurable impact each channel is having on the other. Among the key findings: More than half of those surveyed list “improving search results” as a top goal for social media marketing.
 
SOCIAL MARKETING BUDGETS UP
The survey found that 29% of marketers plan to boost their budgets for social media this year, and 56% plan to provide additional resources for social media. When asked how much of their online marketing budget will go toward social media this year, 35% said 1% to 5%; 21% said 6% to 10%; 8% said 11% to 15%; 4% said 16% to 20%; and 7% said more than 20%. Thirteen percent said they didn't know how much of their budget would be spent on social media, and 12% said they would not spend anything on social media this year.
 
Paul Dunay, global managing director-services and social marketing at Avaya Inc., said 15% of this company's online marketing budget will be devoted to social media this year.
 
“We have moved from an experimenting mode to a maintaining mode,” Dunay said. “I believe that many companies use social media incorrectly. They are constantly asking about ROI, which is an indication to me that they are taking a one-way, let's-communicate-it-out-and-build-a-fan-base type of approach. Our approach is to use social media to support existing customers.”
 
Dunay said his marketing group uses Facebook, Twitter, blogs, online forums and other social media channels to ...
 
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