Though
social media marketing has become ubiquitous, most companies and brands
still struggle to achieve their desired results. Or to accurately
measure their results. Or to set the right goals to begin with.
Those are among the conclusions it’s fair to draw from the collection of social media marketing facts and statistics below. Eights years after social media marketing became a trending topic, marketers still struggle with tactics and metrics.
In
fairness, part of this is due to the difficulty of hitting a moving
target. As consumer and business buyer use of social media has matured
and become more sophisticated, their expectations of brands in social
media have evolved as well.
And ongoing changes by Facebook and other social networks that result in lower organic reach render many of yesterday’s effective marketing tactics far less useful today.
Here are five key takeaways from the research below.
Social media needs to be part of an integrated strategy. 90% of companies now use social media for business—yet most aren’t certain it adds value to the bottom line, and more than 60% have trouble assessing its impact or turning metrics in actionable ideas. Those who can measure results directly have discovered social media is far less effective at driving direct purchases than email or search advertising.
The answer isn’t to give up on social media, but to recognize it’s not great for direct response. Social media marketing is valuable, however, for enhancing brand presence and image online, and plays a key role in an overall web presence optimization strategy.
Advertising needs to be part of social media strategy. As noted below, organic reach is now less than 2%. It’s never been great on Twitter, and recent changes LinkedIn made to Groups functionality reduces their value.
Many marketers get this: spending on social network advertising is expected to double in the next five years. The good news: social ads are highly targetable and (at least for now) relatively affordable.
Social is for customer service. Engaging current customers on social media is much more common that engaging prospects. 84% of marketers believe social media can enhance existing customer relationships. Nearly two-thirds of social media users expect brands to offer customer service via social networks. And your prospective buyers—they are watching.
Influencer marketing? Think small. Pursuing the industry influencers with the largest follower counts may not be the best strategy. They are overwhelmed with brand pitches. Meanwhile, 91% of brand/company mentions on social networks come from people with fewer than 500 followers—and 94% of those mentions are positive.
Your best influencers are often your own employees (but train them). Your customers will share your content too—but only if it’s the kind of content that meets their idea research needs, not just marketing fluff.
Say it with images. It’s been said “a picture is worth a thousand words,” and nowhere is that more true, apparently, than in social media. Followers value images, videos, and case studies as the most valued content from brands on social media. Yet 58% of marketers say written content is their most important form of social content; just 19% say that of original visual content. Clearly a disconnect (and therefore an opportunity).
Find these and more actionable takeaways in this collection of three dozen social media marketing stats and facts.
2. But social media is not effective at directly driving purchases — it accounts for just 1% of e-commerce sales, compared to 16% for email and 17% for CPC.
3. The top eight social networks collectively now drive more than 30% of overall traffic to websites.
Recommended for YouWebcast: Sales and Marketing Alignment: 7 Steps To Implement Effective Sales Enablement
Those are among the conclusions it’s fair to draw from the collection of social media marketing facts and statistics below. Eights years after social media marketing became a trending topic, marketers still struggle with tactics and metrics.
Image credit: Buffer
And ongoing changes by Facebook and other social networks that result in lower organic reach render many of yesterday’s effective marketing tactics far less useful today.
Here are five key takeaways from the research below.
Social media needs to be part of an integrated strategy. 90% of companies now use social media for business—yet most aren’t certain it adds value to the bottom line, and more than 60% have trouble assessing its impact or turning metrics in actionable ideas. Those who can measure results directly have discovered social media is far less effective at driving direct purchases than email or search advertising.
The answer isn’t to give up on social media, but to recognize it’s not great for direct response. Social media marketing is valuable, however, for enhancing brand presence and image online, and plays a key role in an overall web presence optimization strategy.
Advertising needs to be part of social media strategy. As noted below, organic reach is now less than 2%. It’s never been great on Twitter, and recent changes LinkedIn made to Groups functionality reduces their value.
Many marketers get this: spending on social network advertising is expected to double in the next five years. The good news: social ads are highly targetable and (at least for now) relatively affordable.
Social is for customer service. Engaging current customers on social media is much more common that engaging prospects. 84% of marketers believe social media can enhance existing customer relationships. Nearly two-thirds of social media users expect brands to offer customer service via social networks. And your prospective buyers—they are watching.
Influencer marketing? Think small. Pursuing the industry influencers with the largest follower counts may not be the best strategy. They are overwhelmed with brand pitches. Meanwhile, 91% of brand/company mentions on social networks come from people with fewer than 500 followers—and 94% of those mentions are positive.
Your best influencers are often your own employees (but train them). Your customers will share your content too—but only if it’s the kind of content that meets their idea research needs, not just marketing fluff.
Say it with images. It’s been said “a picture is worth a thousand words,” and nowhere is that more true, apparently, than in social media. Followers value images, videos, and case studies as the most valued content from brands on social media. Yet 58% of marketers say written content is their most important form of social content; just 19% say that of original visual content. Clearly a disconnect (and therefore an opportunity).
Find these and more actionable takeaways in this collection of three dozen social media marketing stats and facts.
Stats and Facts About Social Media Strategy and Tactics
1. 90% of companies now use social media for business purposes – up from 60% in 2013. (iMedia Connection)2. But social media is not effective at directly driving purchases — it accounts for just 1% of e-commerce sales, compared to 16% for email and 17% for CPC.
3. The top eight social networks collectively now drive more than 30% of overall traffic to websites.
Recommended for YouWebcast: Sales and Marketing Alignment: 7 Steps To Implement Effective Sales Enablement
Source:Read more at http://www.business2community.com/social-media/36-sensational-social-media-stats-facts-01390662#fyL13vCwxQgtEoM6.99
Comments