Social Media Survey Fills In The Blanks On CFO Gatekeepers
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A company that takes its demand generation seriously knows that making contact with a prospect’s C-level executive is akin to hooking a marlin on a fishing trip. This is the big one. But understanding the behaviors, information needs and social patterns of the big fish has proved to be challenging. A new survey shows that the proliferation of social networking and social marketing can be a profitable approach to the corner office.
“Social marketing is underutilized in BtoB marketing,” DIGO Founder and Creative Director Mark DiMassimo, whose agency surveyed 142 CFOs of Fortune 1000 companies. “If marketers look at the nature of social marketing, which is an inclusive term for all the social networks, they will find that decisions are more social than ever. Consumers are enabled by social networks with almost every purchase they make. C-level executives do the same thing. They put decisions through a social filter first. This happens much more than two or three years ago.”
DiMassimo’s agency has been chronicling the behavior of decision-makers for several years. This most recent project focused on CFOs, whom he says “are analytical like Spock as they influence the visionary guys like Jim Kirk.” As influencers they are often roadblocks to projects that demand capital investment, and at the same time, can be the green light to get a project started.
When asked if current social media projects should be affected by the current economic climate, 36% said they should be accelerated and 42% claimed to have “no idea” about their status. The respondents were light on current social network usage, but DiMassimo believes this is not indicative of all C-level executives. 31% of respondents are on LinkedIn, 28% are on Facebook, and 34% use and/or view YouTube.
For job-related information, 34% of the respondents rely on industry trades. Internet-based media took 29% and professional networks, which indicate more social decision making than the group allowed in earlier questions, took 10%.
Other findings include:
- 60% reported that their marketing budgets will not increase this year. 22% admitted that their companies were not doing as well as they were three years ago, and 27% said they felt their companies were “heading in the right direction.”
- 79% of those surveyed said they were much more cautious with company expenditures; 69% said they were not concerned about their own personal spending habits.
- 31% had “no idea” what they paid marketing and ad agencies, while almost one-third (30%) said they were paying too much.
DiMassimo believes the survey shows an information void that can be filled via social networks. “More than ever you have to be valuable to an executive before the sale,” says DiMassimo. “Social networks allow a marketer to establish themselves as an essential resource early in the process, and therefore you can get on the short list of an executive when they consider who they want to do business with in the future. Social marketing is less about selling and more about helping. Remember when Gordon Gekko said “greed is good” in Wall Street”? Now, generosity is good.”