Social media most effective upper-funnel marketing tactic for B2B marketers

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Key stat: Half of US B2B marketers say that social media contributes most to achieving top-of-funnel goals, per Ascend2. Email (43%) and in-person/live events (34%) were the second- and third-most effective top-of-funnel tactics.

Beyond the chart:

• Millennials and Gen Zers are becoming more dominant in the B2B buying process, expecting digital-first experiences that mirror their B2C journeys, according to our “B2B Marketing Trends to Watch for 2023” report.
• Digital formats will account for nearly half (47.0%) of US B2B ad spend, which will reach $35.02 billion this year, per our forecast.

Use this chart:

• Illustrate why B2B brands should be on social media.
• Allocate digital marketing spend.
• Justify investment in in-person events.

More like this:

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• TikTok, AI, and beyond: 6 social strategy takeaways from marketing pros
• 3 tips for a successful marketing mix modeling strategy
• Why marketers are leaning into attention vs. viewability metrics

More Chart of the Day:

• 6/12 - YouTube’s retail rush
• 6/9 - Make it discount
• 6/8 - Google’s biggest rivals
• 6/7 - Social’s slow show
• 6/6 - App-y shopping

Methodology: Data is from a May 2023 Ascend2 report titled "2023 State of B2B Digital Marketing" commissioned by Wpromote. 348 US B2B marketers were surveyed during April 2023. Respondents were from companies with 50 or more employees in a job role of VP/director/manager (49%), owner/partner/C-level (31%) or non-management professional (20%) with annual revenues of less than $10 million (22%), $10-100 million (43%) $100 million-$1 billion (25%), or over $1 billion (10%).