New Research Finds Marketers Missing The Boat On Social Lead Gen Tools
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With social media continuing to explode, marketers have the opportunity to tap into new tools and tactics to optimize their messaging. However, new research indicates that some marketers are not taking advantage of the budding technologies.
The first annual B2B Marketer Skills Survey, a study conducted by Genius.com to examine the challenges facing marketers and how the position is evolving in the enterprise. Among the missed opportunities identified in the survey 50% of respondents don’t blog and 49% don’t use Twitter, according to the survey.
“I was more surprised that 25% of the companies weren’t using LinkedIn versus 49% of the companies that weren’t using Twitter,” said Parker Trewin, Director of Marketing Communications, Genius. Trewin said. “LinkedIn has proven to be a lead generator for marketing and a business generator for sales.”
The survey is the latest initiative of Genius.com’s “Connected Marketer” program, a community and series of resources designed to help marketers take advantage of new tools, make better use of existing budgets and improve collaboration with internal teams.
Keeping pace with the ever-present challenge to get sales & marketing teams on the same page, the study found that the relationship between sales and marketing is at odds with their ROI metrics and processes. While the majority of respondents believe ROI is the single most important campaign metric and 58% believe the role of a marketer doesn’t end with the sale, the same amount reported meeting with sales once a month or less.
“The research shows that marketers are challenged to do more with less,” Trewin said. “The question is how? Social media and marketing automation solutions have changed the speed and nature of how we reach and engage with prospects. The BtoB marketer is adapting to these changes to better connect with their prospects but in many cases is still looking for answers about what’s the best route to take and the biggest bang for their precious marketing buck.”
Marketers’ compensation is suffering as a result of changing success metrics. The study also found that 44% of marketers report compensation tied to sales, which means they are likely leaving money on the table and missing out on a significant chunk of revenue.
The survey revealed several discrepancies between how marketers self-assess their performance and how senior executives measure the success of marketing programs. Co-sponsored by Genius.com and BtoB Magazine, the survey had 516 respondents from a wide variety of industries, experience levels and focus areas.
“As a marketer who works with marketers on a daily basis, and knew these challenges existed, I was still surprised at how broad they were and how deeply they permeate into marketers’ daily lives,” said Scott Mersy, VP of marketing and products of Genius.com. “Being successful in today’s marketing culture requires a mixture of skills, both on the professional and personal level. Corporate training programs only go so far; to remain competitive marketers have to take the initiative to expand their skill sets.”
Fore more insights on the “Connected Marketer,” download the executive summary and overview.