88% of Marketers Are Using Referral Marketing Software

In the new “B2B Demand Generation Benchmark 2014” report by Software Advice they found that referral marketing software has become a huge strategic initiative for B2B companies.

Unfortunately there is some inconsistency in this report when they talk about referral marketing software. Since our industry is still establishing itself as it’s own category, most surveys are lumping referral marketing software in with similar but different solutions in the advocate and loyalty software industries.

So let’s keep that in mind when we go over the results.

Overall, this is a great survey that examines how B2B marketers are using demand generation tactics and their widespread use of technology products to achieve those goals.

A key finding from this report found that 79% of marketers use at least 11 different marketing software applications.

That shows me that there is still a strong need for more consolidation in the marketplace in order to accelerate widespread adoption of these solutions.

Quantity of Lead by Channel

The above chart highlights the overall quantity of leads different demand generation tactics provide these B2B marketers.

We can see that referral/advocate marketing ranks #2 in this category, which shows us a whopping 78% of marketers believe in the power of word of mouth to produce quality leads for their company.

B2B Channel Effectiveness Quadrant

The graphic above gives us a high-level view of what channels B2B marketers value when asked about lead quality, lead quantity and cost per lead.

We can see that referral marketing, in-house email marketing and trade shows/events are the only channels that rank significantly higher in those key areas of lead quality & lead quantity.

Although it’s referral marketing and in-house email marketing that have a much lower overall cost per lead than trade shows/events.

 Value of Software Solutions for Demand Generation Success

This chart shows us the overall interest B2B marketers have for demand generation software solutions.

We can see that B2B marketers put referral marketing software right up there with the rest of the big players in the space like marketing automation, social media monitoring and search engine optimization.

TL;DR

At the end of the day, this report is just another showcase of the growing interest B2B marketers have for marketing technology and how it can help them with their demand generation efforts.

This is an exciting time to work in the industry as B2B marketers are continuing to get out there and search for new products to drive profitable acquisition for their company.

Data courtesy of Software Advice – a website that offers marketing technology comparisons.