Social media marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach your target audience, engage it and build brand awareness. If you own a business or if you’re in charge of marketing then you already know the benefits of social media marketing. But you still may ask, “How much should my company spend on social media marketing?”
According to a CMO survey done by Duke University:
Social Media Marketing as % of total marketing budget
7.4%
10.1%
18.1%
We recently did a post titled: “How Much Should My Company Be Spending on Marketing and Advertising?” In it, we recommended that out of your total marketing budget, you should be spending 18% on social media for B2C marketing and 12% on social media for B2B marketing. If your competition is going to be there in five years, your goal should be to get there first.
B2B Recommended Marketing Spend
B2C Recommended Marketing Spend
Social Media Marketing Budget Breakdown
Once you’ve decided on a budget for social media marketing, you’re going to want to know where that money is going. After all, the term social media means a lot more than just Facebook and Twitter. But if you’re still wondering “How much should my company spend on social media marketing?”, consider some important numbers to better understand how to manage your budget.
According to a 2014 report by SocialExaminer.com in which over 2,800 marketers were polled asked to pick the single most important social platform for their business, social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn came out on top.
- Facebook 54%
- LinkedIn 17%
- Twitter 12%
- Google+ 3%
- YouTube 2%
- Pinterest 1%
- Instagram 1%
However, the numbers vary between B2B and B2C social media marketing. In B2C social media marketing, Facebook dominates an even larger portion of the graph. But for B2B social media marketing, LinkedIn overtakes Facebook for the top spot.
B to C
- Facebook 68%
- Twitter 10%
- LinkedIn 6%
- YouTube 2%
- Google+ 2%
- Pinterest 2%
- Social Review Sites 1%
B to B
- LinkedIn 33%
- Facebook 31%
- Twitter 16%
- Google+ 3%
- YouTube 3%
Although LinkedIn and Facebook dominate these categories for importance with marketers, according to the same report, businesses plan on allocating their resources differently in the near future.
When asked which social media platform in which they would like to increase spending, marketers picked youTube.
1. YouTube
- Increase 67%
- Stay the Same 17%
- No Plans to Use 15%
- Decrease 1%
2. Twitter
- Increase 67%
- Stay the Same 24%
- No Plans to Use 7%
- Decrease 2%
These numbers make sense when you consider that 58% of marketers agree that original written content is the single most important form of content that their companies utilize in attracting business through social media marketing.
Your budget will obviously vary depending on your needs and services, but we believe the information provided in this article should give you a better answer to the question “How much should my company spend on social media marketing?”
To learn more about social media marketing and how CMDS can help grow your business through a personalized marketing strategy, call us today at 732-706-5555.
About the author:
Chris Mulvaney is an award-winning online marketing strategist. He has helped to build countless corporate identities, creating marketing strategies using Websites, Social Media, SEO, Paid Search and PR. He partnered with various large corporations such as Glaxo-SmithKline, Sony, AstraZeneca, Schering, Johnson & Johnson, LG and Polo Ralph Lauren. His CMDS team can provide your company or organization with a significant competitive marketing advantage – online and off.