Commentary

Social Climbing: Email Knocked From Top Slot With B2B Marketers

Email marketing remains a leading tactic for B2B brands. But social has knocked it from the top slot, according to 2022 B2B Marketing Mix, a study by Sagefrog Marketing Group. 

Last year, email was utilized by 83%, versus 75% for social. This year’s list is as follows: 

  • Social Media & Social Media Advertising — 83%
  • Email Marketing — 75% 
  • Search Engine Optimization (SE0) — 61%
  • Blogging and Content Marketing — 57%
  • Virtual Events & Webinars — 44%
  • Public Relations — 44%
  • Search Engine Marketing (SEM) — 40% 
  • Tradeshows & Events — 38% 
  • Print Advertising — 27%
  • Video Marketing — 26%
  • Telemarketing — 14% 
  • Other — 2%

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The stakes are growing because 58% of B2B marketers plan to increase their marketing budgets this year, while 38% will hold steady. Only 4% foresee a decrease. This continues the steady rise seen over the past two years.  

Here are the areas in which they are increasing their spend: 

  • Website Development — 41%
  • Digital Marketing — 37%
  • Social Media — 34% 
  • Branding — 27%
  • Content Marketing — 26%
  • Advertising (e.g., Google) — 22% 
  • Trade show & Events — 21% 
  • Email Marketing — 18%
  • Marketing Automation & CRM Software — 17% 
  • Public Relations — 14% 
  • Marketing & Sales Collateral — 12%
  • Direct Marketing & Print Advertising — 11%
  • Marketing Planning & Strategy — 9%
  • Video Marketing — 8%

Yes, email ranks near the button, but it still went up by 3% over last year. In contrast, digital marketing fell from 44% in 2021 to 37% this time around. Social media went from 22% to 34%. And brand marketing remained flat at 27%. 

But email remains high as a source of sales and marketing leads:

  • Referrals — 54% 
  • Social Media — 43% 
  • Email Marketing — 35% 
  • Inbound & Content Marketing — 31% 
  • Tradeshows & Events — 28% 
  • Search Engine Marketing (SEM) — 26% 
  • Public Relations — 13%
  • Telemarketing — 11%
  • Direct Mail — 10%
  • Other — 7%
  • Print Advertising — 6% 
  • Email has dropped 3% from 2021. 

(Note: Other includes network events, clutch reviews and outbound sales). 

What tools are they using? Of those polled, 61% are deploying some type of marketing automation software, and these are the most popular platforms among this group:

  • HubSpot — 47% 
  • Other — 25% 
  • Marketo — 17% 
  • Pardot by Salesforce — 15% 
  • ActiveCampaign — 11%
  • Salesforce Marketing Cloud — 10%
  • Adobe — 7%
  • Oracle — 4% 

HubSpot remains at the top, and has grown by 7% over last year. Marketo is up by 1%, Pardot by Salesforce by 2% and the other category by 9%.  

These are the most-used social media channels:

  • LinkedIn—85%
  • Facebook—71%
  • Twitter—61% 
  • Instagram—49%
  • YouTube—45%
  • Pinterest—8% 
  • TikTok—7%
  • Vimeo—7%
  • Snapchat—2%
  • Other—2%
  • Do not use Social Media—2%

What’s next for B2B marketers? The respondents are adding these marketing & sales strategies in 2022:

  • Social media marketing — 41%
  • Personalization — 41%
  • Video marketing — 39%
  • Digital Marketing — 35%
  • Account-Based Marketing — 33%
  • Brand Storytelling —33% 
  • Influencer Marketing — 26%
  • Podcasting & Livestreaming—25% 
  • Retargeting — 24%
  • Inbound Marketing — 23%
  • Artificial Intelligence — (AI) & Automation — 23% 
  • Virtual Events — 21%
  • Conversational Marketing (Chatbots)— 19% 
  • CRM Software — 19%
  • Mobile-First Strategy —11% 
  • Other — 4% 

B2B brands are well-organized—70% have a formal marketing plan. And, of those polled, 51% use both in-house and outsourced resources, while 41% do everything in-house and 8% rely totally on outsourcing. 

The top objectives for 2022 are: 

  1. Increasing Brand Awareness 
  2. Increasing Sales Leads
  3. Increasing Website Traffic
  4. Converting Leads to Customers
  5. Producing Thought Leadership

For this, the 15th annual report in this series, Sagefrog surveyed managers or directors (46%), coordinators or specialists (21%), C-Level executives (17%), vice presidents (9%) and assistants (7%).  

Of those, 33% were in marketing & advertising, 24% in professional & Business Services, 23% in Software & Technology, 18% in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 12% in Industrial & Manufacturing, 12% in Other and 7% in Financial & Insurance. 

3 comments about "Social Climbing: Email Knocked From Top Slot With B2B Marketers".
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  1. Miranda Mink from Sagefrog Marketing Group, February 1, 2022 at 9:08 a.m.

    Download the full report for free here: https://www.sagefrog.com/resources/2022-b2b-marketing-mix-report/ 

  2. DALE FILHABER from DATAMAN GROUP, February 1, 2022 at 11:23 a.m.

    Question - the study indicates that social media marketing is a top strategic channel for sales and marketing in B2B, using LI, FB and Twitter.  I work in the B2B environment and while we have a presence in those channels I have yet to see an influx of leads coming from social media. Which types of businesses who work with other businesses are having the best success with social media?

  3. Miranda Mink from Sagefrog Marketing Group replied, February 8, 2022 at 2:53 p.m.

    That's a great question, Dale! Our survey respondents consisted of B2B marketers working in professional & business services, software & technology, healthcare, and industrial & manufacturing industries. 

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