Social Marketing

Alterian released the results of their seventh annual survey. The sample covered 1068 marketing professionals worldwide and found that 66 percent of respondents will be investing in Social Media Marketing (SMM) in the next 12 months. Of those investing in SMM 40 percent said they would be shifting more than a fifth of their traditional direct marketing budget towards funding their SMM activities.

With brands turning more to earned media—the additional free exposure that a brand gets when consumers talk about a brand—they depend on motivated consumers to act as advocates. A survey conducted by Synovate for word-of-mouth ad network PostRelease investigated just how likely Internet users are to do that.

Going social is no longer an experiment for marketers; it is a reality. There is no question that companies and brands are investing real dollars in social network marketing. However, paid advertising in social networks—banners, text ads and search advertising, as well as the more targeted advertising being deployed by Facebook and MySpace—is only a fraction of the spending.

An oft-cited fear of brands is that online consumers will post negative comments about them, especially on social media where opinions can be broadcast far and wide. In their “Social Media and Online PR Report,” Econsultancy and bigmouthmedia explored ways marketers can combat brand bashing.

As marketers become more comfortable and more experienced using social media, they move from the trial phase of their marketing efforts toward strategic use of the channel. While the largest group of marketers is still somewhere in between, according to the “2010 Social Media Marketing Benchmark Report” from MarketingSherpa, about one-quarter of social media marketers have made it to the strategic phase of their efforts.

We all know social media is a hot topic, but how do we tie it to some sort of return? While 70 percent of companies are currently using social media in some way, statistics show that executives are more likely to assign employees to social media initiatives than budget dollars. Download report here.

The Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth recently conducted a new in-depth and statistically significant study on the usage of social media in fast-growing corporations. This new study revisits the Center’s study of Inc. 500 social media usage for the third consecutive year, making it a valuable and rare longitudinal study of corporate use of these new technologies.

This just in, consumers are now spending more time on social networks than any other form of website, including porn. The time is now to make the most of this newly emerging opportunity to connect with your consumer, to shape your brand, and develop long-term customer relationships at a fraction of ‘above the line’ media costs. In “Nine Ways Your Business Could Be Using Social Media, But Probably Isn’t,” the team at North Social outlines all of the ways that you can leverage social media to achieve your branding and business goals.

With everyone jumping on the social media bandwagon, Facebook contests are the hottest thing since Facebook itself and the average consumer gets exposed to plenty of contests and giveaways when they log on to check out their friend updates. Major brands have been quick to embrace Facebook as another potential facet to engage with their customers. Yet a majority of these brands remain faceless.

Americans have dramatically integrated social networking tools into their lives. Euro RSCG Worldwide, one of the world’s leading advertising and marketing agency networks, conducted a study on how people use the ever-changing options in social and online media available today. According to the study, their world is expanding and narrowing at the same time because of social media’s hyperlocalization quotient. And “cyberdisinhibition” — being more willing to behave online in ways they wouldn’t in person — has both emboldened users and led them to inappropriate behavior.