The goal of every B2B marketer and salesperson should be to optimize their sales pipeline, and increase productivity and efficiency.
If you’re looking for interesting B2B facts and statistics, you’ve come to the right place! We have complied a collection of facts and stats from many different types of reputable sources to help you understand or think about different business-to-business techniques for successful marketing and sales. Some of these statistics are taken from studies as recent as 2017.
As you will see, the growing trend is that the majority of B2B marketing budgets and prospecting approaches are shifting more towards social and digital avenues.
Interesting B2B facts & statistics to think about…
The following statistics are categorized as either marketing, social media, and sales. Consider these facts strategizing for your next marketing campaign, or B2B sales approach.
Marketing
-
52% of B2B buyers say they expect half of their purchases to be made online by 2018. (Source: The Future of Commerce)
80% of business decision makers prefer to get company information in a series of articles versus an advertisement. (Source: B2B PR Sense Blog) - The average cost of a B2B sales lead varies widely by industry. Healthcare leads are most expensive ($60) followed by business/finance ($43). At the low end are leads for marketing products/services ($32) and technology ($31). (Source: B2B Marketing Insider)
- Good old-fashioned trade shows remain the top source for B2B lead generation, with 77% of marketers saying they generate a significant quantity of leads, and 82% saying they generate high-quality leads. (Source: MediaPost)
- 85% of B2B marketers say lead generation is their most important content marketing goal for 2016. (Source: Content Marketing Institute & MarketingProfs, B2B Content Marketing 2016)
- 54% of B2B companies are increasing their SEO spend in 2016. (Source: Regalix, State of B2B Marketing 2016)
- 74% of B2B companies plan to increase their events budget in 2016.(Source: Regalix, State of B2B Marketing 2016)
- Mobile email is still more of a consumer thing. 43% of consumer emails are opened on mobile devices, versus 27% of B2B emails. (Source: Email Monday)
- B2B customers now expect the same range of omnichannel buying options they enjoy as consumers – which is why almost half of B2B buyers (49%) prefer to use consumer websites to make work-related purchases. (Source: The Future of Commerce)
- 80% of business decision makers prefer to get company information in a series of articles versus an advertisement. (Source: B2B PR Sense Blog)
- 55% of B2B companies use marketing automation.(Source: Emailmonday, The Ultimate Marketing Automation Stats)
Social Media
- 74% of B2B marketing companies use Twitter to distribute content (Source: Content Marketing Institute)
- Asked to identify their “top social media platforms for product launch,” 81% of B2B technology marketers cited LinkedIn. 71% said Twitter, while 54% each mentioned Facebook and YouTube. One out of six identified Google+ or SlideShare. (Source: MarketingProfs)
- 55% of B2B buyers search for information on social media (Source: MediaBistro)
- B2B marketers who use Twitter generate 2X as many leads as those that do not (Source: Inside View)
- Although 95% of B2B marketers have created corporate social media accounts, half still are not active on social media on a regular basis–and just 10% feel they are able to articulate the business value of social media efforts. (Source: MediaPost)
- 52% of small business marketers view social media as a critical enabler of their products and services. (Source: Salesforce, Benchmarks for Small Business Growth)
Sales
- 82% of B2B decision makers think sales reps are unprepared (Source: SiriusDecisions)
- Just 34% of B2B organizations say they touch leads with lead nurturing on a monthly basis. (Source: B2B Marketing Insider)
- It takes B2B sales reps nine months, on average, to get fully up to speed when joining a new company. (Source: e-Strategy Trends)
- 78% of B2B customers (and 83% of consumers) say fulfillment options – such as next-day delivery – are important or very important. (Source: The Future of Commerce)
- 91% of customer say they’d give referrals; only 11% of salespeople ask for referrals. And 82% of B2B decision makers think sales reps are unprepared. (Source: Biznology)
- First-discussion conversion rates (the percentage of qualified leads that accepted calls from salespeople) have been eroding over the past five years. Only a fifth of companies now have first-conversation rates of 75%, and a quarter report a rate between 50% and 75%. (Source: Direct Marketing)
What do these B2B facts mean?
In summary, the world B2B marketing and sales is constantly reinventing it’s-self and changing as new disruptive technologies emerge. What does it all mean? Marketers want to engage with potential customers more than ever. The data suggests it’s good practice to keep active on social media, being diverse in your marketing channels, and placing more emphasis on B2B lead nurturing. Although traditional means of B2B selling and marketing still work in some cases, the shift towards heavy social, automation, and digital advertising seems to continue. Buyers are relying more on advice from influencers, bloggers, user reviews, and not a sales copy or traditional advertisement.
Liked these B2B facts? Also read: B2B Marketing Tips
For a demonstration of Salesflower call 855.575.0101 or start your 30 day risk-free trial!
