Social media leads generate reports

Many marketers see social media as an effective channel in the early stages of funnel engagement. In addition, while two-thirds of marketers (64 percent) have specific plans to use social media to create leads, the effectiveness of this channel has yet to be discussed, according to a recent study by Social Media Today and Sharp Spring.

The survey of more than 320 marketers found that 45 percent of respondents were satisfied (38 percent) or very satisfied (7 percent) with using social media to create results for potential customers. This is almost equal to the proportion of respondents who were dissatisfied (30%) or extremely dissatisfied (8%).

While more respondents were satisfied with the number of potential customers they received from social media, there was disagreement about quality. Some 37 per cent of respondents said they were somewhat dissatisfied with the quality of potential customers generated by social media, compared with 35 per cent who were satisfied. The findings contrast with previous research by Ascend2, which found that 60 per cent of B2B and B2C marketers believe social media is one of the most effective strategies to improve the quality of potential customers.

Overall, marketers seem satisfied with their use of social media to generate leads. Despite the mixed results, respondents were far more satisfied with the overall number and quality of potential customers generated through social media (43 percent) than dissatisfied (30 percent).

When it comes to using social media to create potential customers, only one-third (32%) of respondents think current campaigns are optimized for lead creation. Many respondents see automation as the solution to this problem, with 7 in 10 (69 percent) considering automating more elements in the lead generation process, and nearly three in four (73 percent) saying automation tools will have a significant impact on their business at some point.