According to recent research, marketers will be spending more on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other networks.
The results of a new study has shown that B2B marketers have every intention of giving their social media marketing budgets a boost this year, when compared to the amounts that they spent in 2013.
The reason is that there have been a number of important developments in social media networking for business.
In fact, a study that was conducted by IDG Connect showed that IT buyers believe that social media marketing will provide some of the most important online content – for both personal computers and mobile devices – particularly when it comes to influencing buying decisions. This means that businesses seeking to develop the most awareness and appeal will need to develop their online and mobile marketing strategy using the right networks to reach these buyers.
The importance of social media marketing is finally coming to the point that it is measurable with some accuracy.
Vendor created materials and white papers are both given greater weight than networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, and others. However, research has been consistently showing that starting this year, this trend will begin to reverse itself, to the point that it will actually flip within a span of two years when it comes to the buying process. Companies that are hoping to stay on top of their effective marketing efforts will need to make sure that they have established themselves on the right networks.
Furthermore, recent surveys are suggesting that this trend will apply in a broader sense to other B2B industries. Therefore, marketing budgets in business to business will begin to dedicate a greater share of their funds to creating and maintaining valuable content over social media.
A survey from AdAge showed that they anticipate that B2B marketing firms will boost their overall budgets this year, and 80 percent of them intend to raise the amount that they are spending over digital channels. It can be accurately assumed that a strong percentage of that will be directed toward social media marketing. The network that is likely to benefit the most when it comes to B2B is LinkedIn.
O2, a prominent communications company in Europe, has announced that its mobile wallet service will be shut down at the end of March this year. Mobile wallets have been growing in popularity, but the market is currently saturated with a wide variety of these mobile applications, making it difficult for any one service to stand out. Continued focus on a mobile wallet platform that is, essentially, identical to others is becoming an increasing dangerous trap for companies are heavily investing themselves int he world of mobile commerce.
Wallet applications are becoming more plentiful
While O2 is shutting down its mobile wallet service, the company is not expected to pull out of mobile commerce entirely. The O2 Wallet was launched approximately 18 months ago and was considered one of the first wallet applications from a large company. The app was meant to provide consumers with a way to manage their money and other financial information and received a strong following. Over the past year, however, much about the mobile commerce market has changed, leading O2 to believe that its wallet is no longer viable for consumers.
O2 begins focusing more heavily on Weve platform
O2 is now looking for ways to help people manage their money more effectively. Currently, O2 is involved in a joint venture with mobile network operators EE and Vodafone. Through this venture, the companies are working to develop a new mobile commerce platform called Weve. The platform is set to launch in spring of this year and promises to provide consumers with a variety of features that makes managing their financial information and shopping online with a mobile device easier.
Weve attracts strong support
Weve has already won the support of several major banks in the United Kingdom, including Barclays, HSBC, and Lloyds. The mobile commerce platform has also managed to overcome some legal issues concerning Europe’s competition laws. Whether or not O2 will devote the majority of its focus to the mobile commerce platform or decide to develop a new mobile wallet has yet to be seen.
