Forrester Research: B2B Marketing Is Now a Social Affair

A few weeks ago Forrester Research released a new report on B2B buyers and their use of social networks and social media. The report’s findings were based on a fairly rich and representative data set: over 1,200 buyers in American and European markets were surveyed by Forrester analysts Laura Ramos and Oliver Young.

The most striking discovery? 69% of the respondents indicated that they regularly use social technologies for direct business purposes. Over at the Groundswell blog, Josh Bernoff explained the significance of this:

“[This stat] means you can count on the fact that your buyers are reading blogs, watching user-generated video, and participating in other social media…the numbers [in this study] are very high compared to other groups we’ve surveyed, and again the level of participation for business purposes is also very high.”

This breakneck adoption rate is good news for B2B marketers everywhere. In reading about the industry heavyweights that are leading the pack on the B2B social marketing front — Dell and Intel come to mind — you might conclude that these companies are in the business of promoting new habits: they’re nudging their customers to form new buying research habits since ultimately, their bottom lines will benefit (and are already benefiting) from such new behaviors. However, what the Forrester report seems to indicate is that these B2B marketers are simply following a shifting tide. Many B2B buyers already depend on new social tools that are more about participation and conversation rather than mere consumption; in turn many B2B marketers are beginning to realize that they need to start using social technologies earnestly and effectively.