A new survey released by Econsultancy shows that marketers are planning to spend more on social media this year, even though they are still unsure how to measure the success of their efforts.
According to a press release describing the results of the study, 81% of respondents expected to increase spending on social media in 2010, while only 18% expected to see no change in social media budgets or spending.
However, at the moment, most organizations don’t seem to know what tangible benefits, if any, they are actually getting from this increased spending. According to the Econsultancy press release, 61% described their organizations as “poor” or “very poor” at measuring the return on investment for their social media efforts.
The results of the survey should surprise no one-in fact, they closely mirror the results of a survey released last month by Alterian. Marketers know that they need to be involved in social media. However, without an effective way to measure ROI, throwing money at social media is kind of like throwing coins into a wishing well and hoping you get your wish.
According to social media guru Brian Solis, 2010 is the year that this will change, the year that “we enter into a new era of social media marketing, one based on information, rationalization, and resolve.”
He notes that CMO’s want, more than anything, to get measurable results from social media, not warm fuzzy talk about “engagement” and “connection.” Engagement and connection are great, but the not-so-warm-and-fuzzy truth is that they are really just means to a concrete, measurable end, such as obtaining new customers or retaining old customers.
To better manage social media ROI, Solis suggests first “defining the “R” in ROI.” That is, first determine what results you are trying to achieve, whether it be increased revenue or something else, and then set goals and measure accordingly. If you have time, read the whole article (and the lively debate in the comments) for more insight.
One of the great things about Dukky is that our platform allows marketers to integrate social media with direct marketing campaigns in a way that makes it incredibly easy to measure and analyze the impact of social media on the results. Our real-time analytics can show you who’s sharing your offer, which social networks they are using, the social influence of each customer and more.
Other aspects of your company’s social media strategy may be more difficult to measure, but when it comes to integrating direct marketing, mobile and social, we’ve got you covered.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 7:55 pm and is filed under Best Practices. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
