B2B marketers hold trade shows and events in high regard when it comes to their return on investment (ROI), according to [pdf] a report from Sagefrog Marketing Group. The study asked respondents to identify from a short list of areas those they felt gave their company the most ROI. Trade shows and events emerged with the largest share of respondents (36%), ahead of the other options, which included online marketing (33%), email marketing (21%) and PR (20%). While those are broad areas, this isn’t the first time B2B marketers have rated trade shows and events as being highly effective.
A recent survey from ABM found that when asked to rate a range of platforms in terms of their success in creating awareness of new products or services among existing customers, B2B marketers put face-to-face event attendance at the top, with 89% rating it successful. Face-to-face event attendance was also the top response for marketers when asked to rate the platforms based on their ability to generate targeted leads of prospective new buyers.
An earlier study released last year by the Content Marketing Institute discovered that B2B content marketers rated in-person events as their most effective channel, although social media was their most commonly used.
Facebook, Pinterest Adoption Rates Climb
On the topic of social media, the Sagefrog survey finds that more B2B marketers are turning to Facebook and Pinterest this year. Almost three-quarters of the respondents indicated that they’re using Facebook, up from 65% last year and second only to LinkedIn (78%). Usage of Twitter (53%), YouTube (43%) and Google+ (31%) appears stable, while 19% are now using Pinterest, up from 9% last year.
Among the various social media channels in use by B2B marketers, social networks prove the most popular, used by 84% this year, up from 79% last year and 66% the year before. By contrast, fewer claim to be using blogs (39%, down from 48%), and while video-sharing has slightly increased, there has been a drop-off in the proportion saying they use photo-sharing and document sharing media.
About the Data: The survey was conducted during the summer of 2013 and included responses from more than 100 marketing and management professionals representing a variety of industries including healthcare and life sciences, business and professional services, and information technology.
