1、2024 B2B Social Media Marketing Research ReportWe surveyed 50 people from global B2B multinational corporations(MNCs)in China.Instrumentation16%Machinery14%Pharmaceutical/medical devices12%Chemical12%Auto Parts10%Material8%Automation6%Tool 2%Other20%Marketing94%PR/Brand6%Industry composition94%of th

2、e respondents come from Marketing department and 6%from PR/Brand department.Where do the survey respondents come from?2Pulse Check on Social Media Strategy&Execution86%66%56%48%46%34%12%10%4%2%Major Marketing Channels in ChinaSocial mediaOffline eventsPaid searchSEOWebinarsDisplay adsEmail marketing

3、Influencer marketingCommunityOther Podcast Social media stands out as the top marketing channel due to itslow cost to launch and relatively stable operation model.Thisshows that the B2B companies not only attach great importanceto social medias influence on communication and user impact,but also hop

4、e to obtain leads through their cost-effectiveinvestment in social media.Offline events is the next major marketing channel.After threeyears of pandemic,there was a significant recovery of offlineexhibitions and activities.As a relatively new marketing channel for B2B companies,thewebinar has gained

5、 more and more popularity.Its importance isalmost equal to that of SEO.Althoughnotasmanyrespondentsselectedinfluencermarketing and community as their major marketing channels,itdoes not mean that there are no opportunities in these fields.Somecompanieshavebeguntotrytocollaboratewithprofessional cont

6、ent creators and have produced cost-effectivemarketing campaigns.*N=50494%18%38%20%24%6%18%34%42%Purposes of social media marketing,primary&secondarySecondaryPrimaryImprove brandawarenessGenerate leads/acquireclientsPromoteproductsor servicesRetain clients andincrease loyalty The majority of B2B com

7、panies work on social media fortwo purposes:increase brand awareness and obtain salesleads.For many small and medium-sized enterprises,thebrand power is relatively weak,so they focus more oncontent about products and services for their presence onsocial media.Via the in-depth interviews,we also lear

8、ned that althoughalmost each company hopes to obtain leads through socialmedia and convert them into sales from the revenue pointof view,the current revenue contribution model of socialmedia is not clear,so many companies are forced toposition social media just as a channel for branding andpromoting

9、 products and services.*N=50588%80%70%56%26%18%Key metrics of social media marketingImpressions/Views/ReadsGenerate leadsFollower numberLikes/CommentsTraffic to WeChat mini-programSales/Revenue Consistent with the conclusion on the previouspage,although many companies choose to usesales leads as one

10、 of the social media KPIs,display/view times is still the most popular choiceas the key metric for social media marketing.We also learned from our qualitative research thatmoreandmorethird-partyagencieshavegraduallybeguntoprovideservicesinthedirection of lead conversion.B2B companies areno longer sa

11、tisfied with just follower increase andreads.*N=506On what social networks do your companies have accounts?100%76%40%26%26%18%10%4%4%0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%WeChat OA WeChatDouyinChannelsWeiboZhihuBilibiliREDKuaishouOther WeChat Official Accounts and WeChat Channelsare generally considered

12、by B2B companies to bethe most important social media platforms.Therespondents believe that their current functionshave covered basically all of their companiesneeds for branding and promoting products andservicesaswellasleadacquisition,onlineconsultation,event reservations,etc.WeChat,themost freque

13、ntly used social media in China,is themostsuitableplatformforprivatetrafficmanagement and nurturing leads.Douyin,once considered unfit for B2B,has beengetting much attention from B2B companies forfuture growth.Even though there is still a good number of Weibousage,most companies believe that it is n

14、ow justan extra channel for the brand to be presentand is no longer a strategic network for them.7*N=50How many accounts do you have on each network?1-5 accounts131-5 accounts186-10 accounts2N=13N=20N=381-5 accounts38N=51-5 accounts26-10 accounts31-5 accounts66-10 accounts211-20 accounts5N=13WeiboRE

15、D1-5 accounts2DouyinZhihuWeChat ChannelsN=9Bilibili1-5 accounts9N=2Jinri ToutiaoN=2Kuaishou1-5 accounts21-5 accounts396-10 accounts811-20 accounts3N=38WeChat OA8On average,how often do you publish content on social media?*N=50 Most B2B companies publish content once a week.B2Bcompanies usually dont

16、have as many new topics as B2Ccompanies.We learned from interviews that it is already adaunting job for marketers to produce one value-addarticle or video each week.Daily updates and multiple updates per week usually occurin B2B2C businesses as they have more case studies toshare and their products

17、are close to end-user scenarios.For example,food additives can be linked to snacks,andflavors and fragrances can be linked to aromatherapy.Once a day10%Multiple timesa week18%Once a week60%Once every two weeks6%Less than once every two weeks6%9*N=5010Company product or service updates88%Trendy topic

18、s in society or industry70%Client pain points and needs70%Top three sources of social media topics In addition to the companys own product and servicecontent,B2B marketers believe that it is very importantto cover social/industry hot topics as well as customerpain points and needs.The interviewees o

19、f our survey reported that these arethe favorite types of content by their followers.Itsdifficult to be able to take advantage of trendy topicseverytime,butmarketerscanworksmarterondiscovering client pain points and needs.Since manymarketers who work on social media content dontusually meet customer

20、s directly or understand themdeeply,some B2B companies have begun to createopportunities for marketers to be closer to customersso that they can learn first-hand about what and howthe customers think.11Educational content56%Content thatembodies company values56%Relatablecontent46%The most popular co

21、ntent result and the conclusionof the social media topics on the previous pagesupporteachother.Theeducationalcontentreflects the content solution to solve customerspain points and meet their needs.Per our desktopresearch,we found that the most liked videos arealmost all popular science,education and

22、 clips ofthe best webinars.*N=50Top three types of social content that pays off the mostDoes your company develop different content for different networks?Not really.We use similar content across networks.80%No,we use the exact same content across networks.14%Yes,we develop tailored content for each

23、 network.6%Since B2B companies mainly operate in the WeChatecosystem and are testing the other social networks,they do not have enough resources including budgetand talent to develop tailored content for differentnetworks.However,accordingtofeedbackfrominterviewees in in-depth interviews,more and mo

24、recompanies hope to produce differentiated content fordifferent networks,because the WeChat ecosystem isvery saturated.At the same time,as B2B companies get more familiarwith different social networks,they will have a betterunderstanding of these networks and their users as wellas the type of conten

25、t that is most welcomed by eachnetworks users.*N=5012Which other teams participate in your social media work?Product26%Technical staff/Engineers19%Corporate Marketing/Communications/Brand/PR17%Sales14%Senior executives7%Operations4%Customer success/support4%Legal/Compliance3%HR3%Partners/Channels2%N

26、one1%How do you work with other teams for social media marketing?Manage and instruct14%Support or collaborate54%Mostly work independently20%N/A12%13*N=50How does social media analytics impact business?80%72%58%50%36%24%18%Forecast emerging trendsGenerate leads/acquire clientsModify social media mark

27、eting strategyFoster a loyal and reputable brandIncrease competitive advantageAdvance business with lower spendingHelp better understand the target marketSocial media data,from reads,likes,to follower growth and follower loss,are honest feedback of customersand potential customers.They helpcompanies

28、fosteraloyalandreputable brand as well as betterunderstand the target market so thatmarketers can produce even bettercontent and further generate leadson social media.14*N=50How do you monitor your competitors social efforts?We use an agency tomonitor and reporton findings16%We use a softwareto moni

29、tor18%Our internal teammonitors manually66%*N=5015Insufficient time to work on social media analytics27%Lack of understanding of how to use social media analytics to impact business26%Not enough social media data21%Lack of skilledemployees with this knowledge13%Limited access to social media analyti

30、cs tools 12%Nothing.We are doing well1%What keeps you from performing proper social media analytics to impact business more effectively?Does your headquarters need to know whats going with your China social efforts?How much time do you or your team spend every week to sync or report China social dat

31、a to headquarters?*N=50161-3 hourseach weeksaid 90%of the respondentsNo16%Yes,and they hope they can get the data by themselves18%Yes,but they wait for China to report66%Will a bilingual social media tool help you better collaborate with your overseas colleagues?*N=50No help12%Great help36%Some help

32、52%Do you consider using a software that can help you from planning,scheduling,execution,approval,publishing,to data integration and analysis?Yes90%No10%17Trends for 2024In 2024,in which marketing channel will you add budget?70%38%34%24%18%8%6%6%2%2%Social mediaPaid searchOffline eventsCommunityInfl

33、uencer marketingDisplay adsWebinarOtherEmail marketingPodcast*N=50Social media has gradually become the mostimportantmarketingchannelforB2Bcompanies and it will remain so in 2024.Mostintervieweesbelievethatsocialmediamarketing is most manageable and has thegreatest potential in the future.Therefore,

34、when the economic environmentis still not optimistic,social media,whichrequireslowinvestmentbutcancreatefrequent interactions with customers,will bethe growth engine for B2B marketing.19In 2024,in which marketing channel will you reduce budget?44%28%26%26%18%10%6%6%2%2%Social mediaPaid searchOffline

35、 eventsCommunityInfluencer marketingDisplay adsWebinarOtherEmail marketingPodcast*N=50 Display advertisements have beenchosen by most respondents forbudget cut as its business impact ishard to track and prove.Manyintervieweeswhochoseofflineeventbudgetreductionreported that with the same cost,the web

36、inar ROI is much higher.However,there is also a significantnumber of companies that decidedto cut their budgets for webinarsdue to their mediocre performance.20In the next three years,which network will work best to improve the business?80%10%4%4%2%*N=50 Most marketers believe that WeChat OA will re

37、main tobe the core of their social strategy due to its suitabilityfor B2B businesses and low operating costs.Since we asked which network would work best,allthe other selected networks deserve special attention.21Are you planning to start using more networks?YesNo22%78%Samples=11*N=50.Some responden

38、ts said they would start using more than one new network.Hence,the total number doesnt equal the sample number.43321Note that compared to the previousresult,Zhihu is mentioned by threemarketers out of the 11 who saidthey planned to start using moresocial networks.22Top three challenges B2B social me

39、dia marketers anticipate in 2024*N=50 Its generally recognized that content creationis the most important skill for social mediamarketers based on both our quantitative andqualitative surveys.The quality of content isthe foundation for social media marketingwhich can bring about good results frominc

40、reasing engagement to generating leads.As social media is used as search engine inChina,marketershopethattheirsocialcontent can help their target audience findthem via various methods such as WeChatSearch and paid social ads.23Produce engaging content66%Develop lead-generation content66%Connect with

41、 target market60%In what area of social media marketing and management would you like AI to assist?Search for content ideasCreate and design pictures/texts/videosEdit pictures/texts/videosProduce data reports,automatically analyze data,and provide insights70%64%56%58%*N=5024Will you use AI in your s

42、ocial media work in 2024?YesNo78%22%54%56%46%18%We have started using AI inSearch for content ideasCreate and design pictures/texts/videosEdit pictures/texts/videosProduce data reports,automatically analyze data,and provide insights*N=5025About KAWOKAWO is devoted to helping marketing teams to effic

43、iently and seamlessly manage China social media channels.It is an easy-to-use bilingual platform which connects to WeChat,Weibo,Douyin,Kuaishou and Bilibili.Internal teams and agencies can jointly collaborate within KAWO for data insights,competitor analysis as well as content planning,editing,revie

44、w,approval and scheduling.Social media have become an integral part of any marketing strategy.Producing high-quality content through data-driven decisions is crucial.However,social media teams are spending too much time on crunching data,making reports and communication both internally and externall

45、y.KAWO helps to streamline workflows,improve efficiency for gaining data insights,empower marketing teams to spend more time and effort creating content that produces the best ROI.China socialchannels connectedIndustries includedBrands servedSocial userscovered612+500+33M+27THE SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT PLATFORM FOR CHINA28Learn more at KAWO.com or email .