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Forrester report says it's time to take social media marketing seriously
A recent Forrester Report called Social Media Playtime is Over, authored by Jeremiah K. Owyang says that the recession offers an opportunity for social media marketing, but that it's time to move beyond experimentation and to incorporate social media marketing into the marketing budget, something that is not the case now. In fact, 45 percent of those responding stated the social media campaigns are paid for on an ad-hoc basis, meaning they are determined as needed.
In spite of the recession and lack of budgetary support, however, 53 percent of those surveyed said they expect to increase their investment in social media applications in the next six months. That represents an opportunity for content management vendors and stand-alone social media tool vendors who are looking for a foot hold in the enterprise.
But Owyang stressed that it's time for marketing departments to take social media marketing and look for ways to prove that it's not mere hype, and "demonstrate how social media is effective during budget trimming." He adds that it's important to look beyond traditional ways of measuring marketing success like page views and "instead focus on how customers have moved farther down the marketing funnel. Measure their awareness through activity, their interest through interaction, and their intent to buy with registration or questions. Focus on measuring based on business objectives, not just traditional Web analytics," he wrote.
Forrester surveyed 145 global interactive marketers in both B2B and B2C companies with more than 250 employees to generate the results in this report. It's worth noting that while Forrester may believe it's time to incorporate social media marketing into the core of your marketing strategies, a recent FierceContentManagement article, Don't forget marketing benefits of social media, quotes another report called the Social Media Marketing Industry report by Michael Stelzner, which found that 72 percent of those surveyed reported they had only been dabbling in social media in the past six months.
This would suggest to me that many companies aren't far enough down the line with social media tools to take it to the level that Forrester recommends just yet, but if your company is further along the implementation curve, you want to take the Forrester report seriously. Others need to find ways to take social media marketing to that next level sooner, rather than later.
For more information:
- see Jeremiah K. Owyang's blog post on the report
Related Articles:
Strategies for implementing social media tools depend on the audience
Web 2.0 and social media continue to transform content management
Content management continues its upward trajectory
ECM and social media are not at odds
Don't forget the marketing benefits of social media
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Comments
By John Moore | Posted 2:52pm | April 8, 2009
I couldn't agree more. Social media marketing is still, in many ways, hype without proven ROI. In these economic times we must invest both in cutting operational costs but also invest in actions that will improve our profits. Social media marketing provides opportunities for both However, you cannot expect them to be a silver bullet.
If interested, take a moment to review my "unofficial roadmap" for Twitter to become a true social marketing delivery platform (search for it on Digg).
If you review the aticle, you will be albe to to see that Twitter, which should be a tool you're using, still has work to do to grow into a rich platform. I do not say this to scare people from using the tool, just as a warning for some of the challenges you will need to work through.
John
By rmiller | Posted 5:28pm | April 8, 2009
Thanks for the comment, John. Please feel free to leave a link to your articles. It makes it easier to find them.
By Rotkapchen | Posted 5:45pm | April 8, 2009
The real question for even those who have noted that they intend "to increase their investment in social media applications": do they know what that means or why they should (how it will benefit them or their relationships)? Will they measure the impact?
By rmiller | Posted 8:34pm | April 8, 2009
The report and my summary do say that you have to measure ROI and provides some direction on how to do that (hint: it's not using conventional means). I think at this point people are beginning to get the idea. Twitter's growth numbers are astounding and if my follower list is any indication, I'm seeing a lot more companies follow me, not just individuals.
By Axel Schultze | Posted 10:55pm | April 8, 2009
You are right Ron - but the playing field is rapidly evolving right now.
The Social Media Academy released a research report this Monday, analyzing over 1 Million customers of 6 global enterprises including Dow Chemical, John Deere, NetApp, New York Life, Toyota, and Vodafone. It is amazing what a small group of analysts can do to identify the customer base of a global enterprise and what is going on in their business. Businesses are extremely vulnerable if they don't understand the implications of social media. But as with every threat there is an equally huge opportunity. The report is available at socialmedia-academy.com/research
@AxelS
By rmiller | Posted 7:08am | April 9, 2009
Once again, thanks for the great link Axel. I'll probably be writing about this report in the next issue. Thanks for reading and sharing valuable links with me and our readers.
By James Wood - HD-Productions.biz | Posted 4:57pm | May 14, 2009
Ron, I'm surprised that business not learning even from the success of Obama's web based campaign, who incidentally made full use a mix of social media strategies as well as benefited from the connected marketing and relationship opportunities, must realise that this something to definitely benefit from.
By rmiller | Posted 5:59pm | May 14, 2009
Hi James:
I agree completely. In fact right after the election I wrote an Editor's Corner called Obama's Victory Proves the Power of Web 2.0. http://www.fiercecontentmanagement.com/story/obamas-victory-proves-power-web-2-0/2008-11-12
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