SiriusDecisions Finds Social Media, Web Site Optimization Central to Success
- Written by Demand Gen Report Team
- Published in DemandGen Reports
More than 75% of initial BtoB inquiries will be generated on the web, according to SiriusDecisions. While the web is increasingly being leveraged by prospects through each stage of the buying process, SiriusDecisions found that web site conversion optimization (WCO) is most effective in driving inbound marketing success when coupled with a sound social media strategy.
In a statement presenting these findings, SiriusDecisions uses a bowl of food on a residential, open deck as a metaphor for inbound marketing. Although its contents “feed a need,” location halts hungry or curious animals from approaching.
Now transfer that experience to a web site where the visitors are potential buyers and the content is valuable enough to have them self-identify. With the addition of social media – the “secret ingredient” to this marketing mix – the company says you’ve got the two cornerstones of an effective inbound strategy.
“A sound social media strategy is key to driving this inbound interest, and coupled with WCO, will attract, engage and qualify targeted visitors,” said Jonathan Block, VP and head of SiriusDecisions’ Reputation Management Strategies service, in a press release. “Our 2010 research shows that 58% of initial BtoB inquiries are web driven, so our projected increase to 71% in 2015 simply can’t be ignored.”
Block said that with BtoB marketers recognizing the benefits of better understanding and meeting the information needs of their audiences at key buying cycle stages, organizational approaches to using social media and web site optimization have evolved.
SiriusDecisions Research Director Jay Gaines added that organizations tethered to traditional methods are bound to fall behind companies backing up their social media efforts with a coordinated, enterprise-wide strategy, and then complementing those efforts by leveraging WCO including search engine optimization, dynamic delivery of content and offers, and progressive visitor profiling.
Gaines says that savvy marketers will understand key topics including the impact of inbound marketing on demand, effective utilization of social media and web site optimization through the business process, and how social media and WCO play vital roles in customer retention and loyalty.
SiriusDecisions analysts will discuss these and other topics at the company’s quarterly forum events on Nov. 30 in the Greater Boston area and Dec. 2 in San Francisco.