87% of B2B marketers use social media, 64% blog

New research has revealed the most commonly used social media marketing tactics implemented by B2B marketers.

According to a new report from MarketingSherpa, B2B marketers are responding to a rapidly changing landscape where increased expectations on marketing departments point to a marketing mix more complex than ever before.

The findings from the 2011 B2B Marketing Benchmark Report indicate that 87% of respondents say they use a branded social network (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter). The report suggests that the popularity of this tactic may be due to the ease of setting up a profile on a social network site, but warns that this tactic requires a strategy and consistent execution for good results.

Maintaining a corporate blog and microblogging were the next two most popular social media marketing tactics, with both tactics executed by 64% of B2B marketers.

Although  corporate blog management was regarded as heavy on resources with the pressure of consistently creating and publishing blog posts being an issue, corporate blogging was regarded as a highly effective tactic.

The report suggests that speed of execution may contribute to micro-blogging on Twitter being an equally popular B2B social media marketing tactic. The report again recommended that the tactic should be underpinned by strategy for optimal success.

Sharing content on multimedia sites such as YouTube and Flickr was cited by 62% of B2B marketers, followed by utilising social media for SEO purposes (59%)

Other social media tactics employed included social media news releases, blogger relations, sharing email content with social media sites and advertising on blogs and social media sites.