If one marketing aspect stands out from all others, it’s the audience you intend to target. If you fail to connect with your chosen demographic, you’ll be scooping up prospects like water with a sieve.
B2B marketing entails catering to a unique audience that expects specific things from you. It demands a deep understanding to make sure your efforts don’t fall on deaf ears.
This article lists the most impressive B2B marketing statistics that will help you tackle B2B marketing like a pro.
Statistics About B2B Marketing (Editor’s Choice)
- 64% of B2B customers read two to five pieces of content before making a purchase.
- 93% of B2B buying processes begin with an online search.
- 47% of B2B marketers prioritize personalization.
- 69% of successful B2B marketers have a documented content strategy.
- 73% of B2B marketers claim video improved their ROI.
- 38% of B2B marketers state that LinkedIn generates revenue for them.
B2B Marketing Statistics About Social Media and Proven B2B Marketing Tactics
1. 50% of all B2B queries were made on mobile in 2019.
(Smart Insights)
The popularity of using mobile phones to browse the internet has grown way past what any marketer can ignore. More and more people turn to their smartphones for quick and convenient access to the online world.
This applies to B2B customers as well. In 2019, around half of all search queries came from mobile devices. This statistic is vital information for B2B search marketing experts since it allows them to study how people approach content.
2. 97% of marketers use social media to reach their audience.
(Lyfe Marketing)
Social media networks are precious tools in the hands of marketers who want to make their voices heard. Similarly, social media amplifies customer voices as well. There’s no debating how pivotal social platforms have become to the marketing world, including B2B web marketing.
Social media is so prevalent in marketing strategies that 97% of marketers use their presence there for advertising purposes. Therefore, it would be tough to find a company off the grid.
3. 47% of B2B marketers prioritize personalization.
(Smart Insights)
Of all the emerging trends in marketing, personalization may be among the most exciting ones in recent times. It has the potential to tremendously boost customer nurturing and, ultimately, conversion, by making each potential buyer feel well taken care of and valuable.
According to B2B digital marketing trends, personalization is already in line to become an integrated part of marketing strategies for 47% of B2B marketers. Account-based marketing comes in a close second at 42%.
4. LinkedIn accounted for 80% of B2B social media leads in 2017.
(Iron Paper)
For B2B marketers, LinkedIn is probably the most important social media platform. Geared towards professionals and network-building, LinkedIn makes for an excellent place for B2B companies to sell their services and products.
B2B statistics show how popular LinkedIn is in this niche, with as many as 80% of B2B media leads coming from LinkedIn in 2017.
5. 69% of successful B2B marketers have a documented content strategy.
(Content Marketing Institute)
Content is king, as the saying goes. Yet only content that is thought out is worthy of the crown. Sadly, this is something that many B2B marketers that put out content fail to take into account.
Luckily, though, the majority of marketers do publish content in a planned manner. Just a hair shy of 70% of them does so, according to the B2B content marketing statistics available at the moment.
6. 53% of B2B companies consider vendor reputation the most crucial selling point.
(Finances Online)
When it comes to selling, your reputation as a vendor will precede you. If you’re known as trustworthy, efficient, and straightforward, your target audience will be much more receptive to what you have to offer.
Then, it makes sense that over half of all B2B service companies believe a given vendor’s reputation is the most critical factor to consider when assessing said vendor. The next most relevant factor is pricing, which 47% of B2B companies prioritize.
B2B Digital Marketing Trends
7. According to B2B marketing stats, 64% of B2B companies use email automation techniques.
(Marketing Charts)
Automation can go a long way to boosting any marketing effort’s effectiveness, making every stage less time-consuming. Of all automation processes B2B marketers use, email automation is by far the most widely implemented.
As B2B email marketing statistics state, 64% of these businesses leverage email automation for their email marketing ends.
8. 71% of B2B businesses reviewed a blog in their buying process.
(Demand Gen)
A blog is an immensely important part of the marketing model for all companies, B2B businesses included. B2B blogging stats confirm this, seeing that over 70% of B2B businesses read a blog during the buying process.
9. 73% of B2B marketers claim video improved their ROI.
(Tubular Insights)
Video as a prominent selling tool has been long since in the sights of marketers. Looking at the B2B video marketing stats, it’s easy to see why they are eager to put videos wherever they can prove useful.
As these B2B marketing statistics point out, using video has boosted the ROI for as many as 73% of B2B marketers. Given that video can clearly and concisely convey concepts with neat visuals, it does a great job convincing customers to purchase.
10. 65% of B2B businesses have used LinkedIn paid ads.
(Sprout Social)
Linkedin statistics for businesses indicate that paid ads are an excellent way to enhance your online visibility. While they’re more expensive than ads on Facebook or Twitter, they have proven very useful.
According to social media B2B stats, B2B advertisers have caught wind of this fact as over 60% of these businesses make use of the paid ad feature on LinkedIn.
11. 91% of B2B marketers now use Facebook to connect with customers.
(B2B Marketing Zone)
Though contested by recently burgeoning networks, Facebook still stands as the king of social media. Any marketer that denies its influence is doomed to be left in the dust of other more savvy competitors.
B2B Facebook marketing statistics testify how irreplaceable Facebook is as an advertising channel. An excess of 91% of them is on Facebook, as these stats reveal. LinkedIn, despite its niche, doesn’t quite measure up to Facebook, with 81% of B2B marketers using it.
12. When gauging a brand’s overall online experience, 52% of B2B buyers consider self-service features the most significant factor.
(TradeGecko)
Self-service features are critical in reducing costs while keeping similar levels of conversions and customer satisfaction alike. On average, every interaction through self-service costs about ten cents, compared to $12 for live support.
Not only are self-service features a more affordable alternative, but B2B eCommerce stats reveal that a lot of buyers prefer them. A little over half of them consider self-service features a vital factor.
13. 75% of B2B businesses use Twitter to market their products or services.
(Oberlo)
Twitter provides a unique opportunity to interact with your customer base directly. Despite its seemingly limited format, it does wonders to create a positive brand image in your audience’s eyes.
For this reason, among others, three-quarters of B2B marketers take to Twitter to show off their products or services, as Twitter B2B marketing statistics indicate. As long as marketers engage on the network, they have great odds of profiting off Twitter.
Online B2B Marketing - Customers and Revenue
14. 80% of B2B buying decisions hinge on their direct or indirect customer experience.
(Forrester)
Customer experience has become the primary draw that marketers rely on to ensure conversions. B2B marketing stats reveal that a whopping 90% of B2B buyers are interested in customer experience over any other factor.
15. The average conversion rate for B2B companies in the financial industry is 10%.
(Marketing Sherpa)
Looking at the standard conversion rates for various B2B-related sectors, we see that some fare better than others. For example, the average B2B lead conversion rate for the finance industry is around 10%, ever so slightly ahead of media and publishing. Nonprofits and retail fall on the lower end of conversion rates, with 2% and 3% values, respectively, according to lead generation statistics.
16. Segmented email campaigns have a 14.32% more successful open rate than non-segmented campaigns.
(WordStream)
Email segmentation has long been recognized as an effective means to improve open rates. Your emails have a much better chance of getting opened if you know the kind of person who receives them, as long as you mold the email to suit them.
B2B email marketing segmentation statistics highlight the benefits of this approach. In other words, the segmented email campaign open rate trumps the unsegmented one by 14.32%, which is nothing to scoff at.
17. 38% of B2B marketers state that LinkedIn generates revenue for them.
(Foundation)
LinkedIn B2B marketing statistics confirm that the platform’s business-friendly character has made it a perfect fit for B2B organizations. LinkedIn users are much more receptive to a company’s marketing efforts, so the opportunities to boost revenues by establishing a presence on the platform are increased.
Almost 40% of B2B marketers see some revenue from doing business on LinkedIn. In this respect, the platform outperforms the likes of Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram by multitudes.
18. 56% of B2B marketers don’t predict any changes in their marketing budget in 2020.
(HubSpot)
In 2020, forecasts for B2B marketing budgets aren’t the most optimistic ever. We learn from statistics about B2B marketing that over half of these companies don’t plan to up their marketing budget for the year.
While a decent 46% intend to increase their spendings, that’s still fewer companies than in 2018. Though the exact reasons for this trepidation in B2B marketing trends are difficult to pin down, 2020’s unstable economic conditions are likely the primary motivator.
More Statistics About B2B Marketing
19. 47% of B2B companies consider case studies to be the most valuable form of influencer content.
(TopRank Marketing)
Influencer marketing has skyrocketed in legitimacy and popularity. But some forms of influencer content matter more than others in the B2B realm, as B2B influencer marketing statistics highlight.
As we can see from the data, almost half of B2B companies agree that case studies are the most valuable type of content influencers can create. Webinars are the second-most appreciated form, which 38% of companies cite as the best.
20. Ebooks are the preferred educational format for over 90% of B2B audiences.
(Convince and Convert)
In the world of B2B, an ebook is a dominant way to educate buyers. B2B customer education stats demonstrate that as many as 90% of B2B audiences prefer ebooks over any other form of content when it comes to learning about a topic.
This, by far, exceeds any other educational content type. For example, the runner up to ebooks are white papers, but only around 30% of B2Bs say that they prefer white papers over anything else.
21. 93% of B2B buying processes begin with an online search.
(Venture Harbor)
According to B2B funnel stage conversion stats, the first step on the buying journey is a simple online search. This statistic alone does justice to the fact that smart content marketing is a fantastic tool in a marketer’s arsenal.
22. 64% of B2B customers will read two to five pieces of content before making a purchasing decision.
(eCommerce Germany)
It’s a well-known fact in the B2B selling universe that companies like to do their research before committing to any buying decision. B2B multi channel marketing statistics tell us that the average company will read between two and five pieces of content before deciding to buy.
This statistic demonstrates the value of content marketing. Businesses want to research any prospective seller’s offerings, so providing quality content is crucial.
23. Testimonials and recommendations are the most reliable forms of content for 97% of B2B customers.
(Demand Gen)
Peer reviews come off as trustworthy and genuine evidence pointing to the quality of a given provider. That explains the extremely favorable stats about B2B testimonials, stating that a whopping 97% of B2B customers consider testimonials to be the most reliable source.
Conclusion
Though similar to B2C in many ways, B2B marketing plays by different rules and breaking these rules will, more often than not, get you nowhere as a B2B marketer.
However, we hope these B2B marketing statistics help you better understand what it takes to sell to a company effectively and keep it as your loyal customer sale after sale.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
B2B (Business to Business) marketing targets other businesses, which prefer doing more research without rushing a decision to purchase or relying heavily on emotions. B2C (Business to Customer) marketing, on the other hand, takes a more impulse-driven, personal approach to drive conversions.
One factor that sets B2B apart is the targeting of the decision-maker in the company. Many businesses depend on but a few people to decide on a purchase. As such, targeting becomes more challenging for the marketer, and that’s where B2B statistics step in to help.
Some online B2B marketing strategies that have proven effective are email marketing, digital media marketing, social media marketing, paid search advertising, and pay-per-click advertising. These are great options to consider when marketing to a company.
That said, how you show off your product, service, or brand matters even more. The most important aspect of B2B marketing is how you present your company. Businesses are typically interested in no-nonsense, data-driven content that tells them exactly how they can benefit from your services or products.
There are many ways for a B2B company to promote itself, but some channels stand out among others. Although online presence is king, there is still room for live events (such as conferences) to make a real difference in spreading awareness of your brand. Of course, webinars are an option too if in-person meetings aren’t possible.
Other online ways to promote B2B businesses include live streaming (like LinkedIn Live), good SEO practices, email, and a solid social media strategy, which can be achieved through a thorough analysis of the latest social media B2B stats.
According to the current B2B marketing trends, there are plenty of vital factors that determine the outcome of a B2B buying process.
The credibility of a product’s details is crucial as businesses always want accurate, verifiable information on what they intend to buy. Ease of product use and delivery speed matter a great deal, too, for convenience purposes.
Of course, price is a pivotal factor to consider. Moreover, the seller’s website (how it looks, how navigable it is, whether it’s up to date, and so on) can significantly impact the impression B2B visitors have of you. Finally, the number of available products and the quality of service make a significant difference.
According to B2B marketing stats, B2B buyers’ needs align quite a bit with B2C consumers: they all want a product that gives them a specific value that they expected before even buying said product. They also want a personalized experience that demonstrates clear advantages of your product or services, addressing their main points in the process.
That said, B2B purchasers are more likely to demand data-driven pitches, and they usually take more time researching a product and seller. The final decision for purchase rests on just a few individuals (typically higher-ups), so your marketing efforts need to target them specifically.
One of the more significant characteristics of B2B marketing is that it accounts for a larger DMU (Decision Making Unit), meaning that each business has more people involved in the buying decision. This makes targeting more complicated since these units may have conflicting desires and expectations.
Moreover, B2B marketing sells to an audience that makes an effort to research the seller they’re interested in extensively. Last but not least, B2B marketers aim to cater to these efforts with high-quality content to boost their B2B marketing statistics.
