Few UK B2B firms use social for lead or demand generation

In its survey of 296 UK B2B marketers, marketing automation firm Eloqua found that over two-thirds (64%) use social media to promote their company. Of those, the vast majority (83%) use social media for brand awareness.

However, lead and demand generation activities are rarely on the social media agenda. In fact, in terms of social media ownership, demand generation departments are ranked last, way behind product marketing, PR/communications and the website departments.

According to Eloqua's findings, just 35% of respondents use social media to create a demand for their product or services. Even less (22%) use social media to collect data for lead generation purposes.

And yet, both lead and demand activities, while separate, can work well together in social media. Demand generation campaigns create curiosity in a product or service after which lead generation campaigns can run to capture that interest.

"A lack of clear strategy around social and demand generation is holding companies back. Marketers still feel the pressure to 'go social' and improve awareness across social channels but for those involved in lead generation, integrating social throughout the process remains somewhat of a mystery," said Heidi Melin, CMO, Eloqua.

"While UK marketers may be missing an opportunity today, the good news is that there are now tools and technologies available to help them socially engage with prospects at each step of the buyer's journey," added Melin, referring to her company's product, Social Suite, a collection of apps aimed at improving B2B social marketing capabilities.

Tags: B2B tools, B2B trends, brand awareness, demand generation campaigns, lead gen tools, social media, UK