15 Mind-Blowing Stats About B2C Brands

Consumer-goods purchases are often based on the emotional connection a person has with a brand. That's why it's no surprise that content marketing and social media are top-of-mind for B2C marketers, as they fight through the online clutter to get attention and build relationships. 

Overall, the forecast is sunny for B2C digital marketing. Digital spend is on the rise, and companies say they feel optimistic about their digital fitness. Here are 15 stats that offer the lay of the land for B2C marketing in the year to come.

1. Ninety percent of B2C marketers are using content marketing, compared with 86 percent last year. Thirty-four percent of B2C marketers consider themselves effective at content marketing—up from 32 percent last year.

2. B2C marketers have rated many tactics higher in effectiveness this year; in-person events and e-newsletters top the list. B2C marketers are using all social platforms more often, with LinkedIn use registering the biggest jump (from 51 percent to 71 percent).

3. Eighty percent of B2C marketers used Twitter in 2013, up from 69 percent last year, finishing second behind Facebook (89 percent) and ahead of YouTube (72 percent), LinkedIn (71 percent), and Google+ (55 percent).

4. Sixty percent of B2C marketers said they have generated leads from social media.

5. B2C companies actually convert customers using social media, with 54 percent of those generating leads reporting revenue generated from social. 

6. B2C company Procter & Gamble is consistently one of the world’s top advertisers, investing $9.7 billion into marketing in 2013. 

7. B2C brands are more ahead of the curve than B2B brands when it comes to mobile marketing. B2B brands tend to be more conservative in their approach across most parameters, viewing mobile marketing as “experimental.” About 70 percent of B2C brands report that they are satisfied with their mobile efforts.

8. Twenty-six percent of B2C brands rate multi-screen advertising as very important. Eight percent of B2B brands say that multi-screen is important. 

9. B2C marketers retain more focus on feature phones relative to B2B: While 45 percent of B2B marketers say those devices are not a mobile marketing priority, only 19 percent of B2C marketers say that.

10. Traditional media will continue to lose dollars across nearly all sectors. Only the B2C product category will up investment, though by a minimal 0.8 percent.

11. B2C service companies (think Geico or Great Clips) will increase digital ad spend 10.4 percent this year.

12. Safeway's Diane Dietz is the highest paid B2C CMO. 

13. In terms of a percentage of overall firm budgets, B2C product companies devote the largest share to marketing (16.3 percent). 

14. Coca-Cola is the biggest B2C brand in social media by both reach and engagement. 

15. Marketers from B2C product companies expected digital ad spending to rise 11.1 percent this year, compared to 14.6 percent last year.

http://www.cmo.com/content/cmo-com/home/articles/2014/1/28/15_stats_b2c_brands.html