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Report: Only 6% Of Buyers Claim Social Media Impacts B2B Buying Process

Amy Gesenhues on March 10, 2014 at 10:35 am

According to a recently published B2B Website Usability Report surveying buyers, social media and blogging have little influence on the B2B buying process.

Only six percent of the respondents claimed social media impacted their B2B purchases “a lot” and a meager 22 percent said they were interested in vendor blog content.

Conducted by Dianna Huff of DH Communications and KoMarketing Associates, the survey focused on what B2B buyers expect from a vendor website. With a very small pool of respondents — only 175 surveys were completed — participants included C-level executives, managers and directors, along with other professional types.

The study found that a lack of social media presence rarely impacted the B2B buying process, with 30 percent of respondents claiming it was important, but not a deal-breaker, and 37 percent saying social media wasn’t a factor.

Of the 175 survey respondents, only 24 percent said they look for social media icons on a vendor website. Even less – 22% of the respondents – look for a blog on a vendor’s website, even though 85 percent of the buyers polled said a blog does help establish a vendor’s credibility.

At 90 percent, an overwhelming majority of respondents said they expected to see product and services content on a vendor’s homepage.

B2B report Homepage Content

Again, it’s worth noting the survey only included 175 responses, with 49 percent of the respondents claiming they did not use a smartphone to look for B2B products or services. When asked about responsive websites, 18 percent of the respondents said they didn’t know what “responsive” meant.

About The Author

Amy Gesenhues

Amy Gesenhues is Third Door Media's General Assignment Reporter, covering the latest news and updates for Marketing Land and Search Engine Land. From 2009 to 2012, she was an award-winning syndicated columnist for a number of daily newspapers from New York to Texas. With more than ten years of marketing management experience, she has contributed to a variety of traditional and online publications, including MarketingProfs.com, SoftwareCEO.com, and Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Read more of Amy's articles.