The 4 Critical Roles of Social Media in Demand Generation Marketing

Social media still matters as a discovery tool for B2B decision-makers, so it should certainly matter to demand marketers. Research by CMI and SmartBrief found that social is a huge part of both how B2B buyers engage with brands, and how marketing organizations start conversations. In fact, the study showed that social media content is the most widely used B2B content marketing tactic, used by 83% of organizations. Perhaps this is because 8 out of 10 B2B buyers trust recommendations from peers and influencers more than original brand research (74%), eBooks (33%) and blogs (21%) – and social media supports such peer review. B2B buyers want credible, tailored and research-driven content. Demand generation marketers who understand how best to leverage social media to distribute such content will benefit from significant pipeline growth. Demand generation is a full-funnel approach to cultivating a desire for your products or services, using relevant content, leveraging a multi-channel customer engagement strategy and building authentic relationships. When used effectively, social media can greatly help with all three efforts.