Our Learnings from 11 Years of Social Media Market Research

In 2022, we compared findings from the eleventh edition of Althaller Communications' B2B social media study with results from our four PR market studies. Here is what those surveys showed about channel choices, influencer work and measurement.

The world of PR is becoming increasingly diverse. Social media is playing an increasingly important role in the industry. In the results discussed in 2022, the social web narrowly overtook print among the channels used by respondents.

Compare audience figures from the same source and measurement period when planning a campaign.

Moreover, you have numerous opportunities to position a brand as well as possible here. Through mentions, takeovers, influencers, hashtag campaigns, challenges, contests, and much more, you can get closer to your goals. Acquiring new customers is still at the top of the list of goals. But social media is also perfect for strengthening branding, changing an image, increasing awareness, or launching a new product.

In the surveys discussed here in 2022, Instagram was widely used. In that sample, Instagram was ahead of Facebook, especially in B2C, while LinkedIn led in B2B. TikTok recorded the strongest growth. The newest channel is becoming increasingly important for both B2C and B2B. Here, a new, young target group can be reached very well. Users spend a lot of time with the content, and the average conversion rates are also impressive.

In this context, the importance of influencers is also growing. In that survey, 84% of the PR professionals we surveyed are already working with them or plan to do so – especially in the B2C sector. But corporate influencers are also becoming increasingly important in the B2B sector to further increase reach.

How does a social media presence become successful?

We have summarized some tips from the longest B2B social media study for you!

1. Provide your target audience with interesting content.

Always try to view your profile from your target audience’s perspective and ask yourself what content can provide the most value to them. Posts should ideally be hardly promotional, but rather highly valuable. This will make your channel and especially your brand interesting to the target audience, and they will regularly consume your content.

2. Stay credible and authentic.

On social media, only absolutely genuine content has a chance. Users quickly realize if you try to fake it and it will only reflect negatively on the brand. So, be as real and approachable as possible.

3. Post continuously and regularly.

A good social media presence is not a sprint, but a marathon. Only if you continuously publish new, interesting content and keep your followers up to date will you be successful. No one will decide to follow a profile that hasn’t posted new content in weeks. Try to find a frequency that you can maintain long-term.

4. Offer transparent insights into the business.

Social media users are curious and follow you because they are interested in the brand, products, or topic. They expect transparent insights that they can’t simply read on your website.

How to measure the success of social media PR?

This, of course, depends heavily on the goals, as we have already described in our previous blog posts. Nevertheless, we want to show you an overview of the KPIs that PR experts in the DACH region use to measure their success:

The most meaningful metrics are the engagement rate and tonality. You can hardly draw any conclusions from follower counts alone. It's much better to relate interactions to the number of followers.