Over two thirds (70%) of business people don’t think B2B brands know how to communicate with them on social media, with Facebook considered the least suitable platform for B2B messages, according to a new survey. The study, from Maxus for Business, has revealed that 70% of business people think that B2B brands don’t currently know […]
Over two thirds (70%) of business people don’t think B2B brands know how to communicate with them on social media, with Facebook considered the least suitable platform for B2B messages, according to a new survey.
The study, from Maxus for Business, has revealed that 70% of business people think that B2B brands don’t currently know how to communicate with them on social media. However, 60% of business people want to hear from B2B brands and consider it important to do so.
Key finding of the report include:
• LinkedIn is the most trusted (73%), preferred (61%) network for B2B communications
• Facebook is considered the least suitable with only 9% of business people considering it an appropriate B2B brand comms channel
• Only 17% business people consider twitter to be the most appropriate medium for B2B comms
• A quarter of business people have no or restricted social media access at work
• Two in three business people want a relationship with companies
• Over a quarter of business people have no or restricted access to social media at work
• The study found that only 5% respondents trusted the B2B content on Facebook and only 12% on twitter as opposed to almost three quarters of respondents trusting LinkedIn’s content.
View the infographic outlining the results below:
What people want to see:
Almost half of business people (44%) want to read news articles and 20% want how to guides but only 6% want webinars and 7% whitepapers. Video was only desired by 8% of respondents.
The topics respondents wanted to be informed about were; news about the company (86%), promotions (79%), insights (70%) and product development (66%). Business people also seem to want to be inspired (59%) more than entertained (44%).
Evenings (23%) or first thing in the working day (22%) are the most effective times for brands to communicate with business people, only 14% of respondents wanted to be communicated with at lunch time and similar numbers in the afternoon (16%) and before work (14%).
The Maxus survey asked 500 UK LinkedIn members, with responsibility for purchasing whilst at work, (business decision makers) about their experiences of business to business (B2B) communications and the launch coincides with the creation of Maxus For Business, a specialist B2B division.
James Bailey, Head of Maxus For Business comments on the research “Luckily for B2B marketers, this survey shows that business people are keen to hear from relevant brands. However, some brands could benefit from improved targeting and perhaps sometimes a better understanding of the day-to-day realities of busy, time-poor executives’ working lives. There’s a gap in the market for a best-in-class specialist media planning offer and Maxus For Business has been created to meet this need.”
Source: www.maxusglobal.com
