Some brands and businesses feel pressure to push sales immediately with social media, and the results can be disappointing at times. Social media is not the best channel for driving direct sales, although it's benefits to an integrated marketing and sales marketing campaign are real and highly valuable.
According to a new report by the Social Media Examiner, the top benefits of social media marketing are increased exposure (89%) and increased traffic (75%) for a business. The survey focused on more than 3,000 marketers and their social media marketing activities. Within the report, only 43% of those polled state that their social marketing endeavors have spiked sales.
The report points out that for those marketers and businesses that spend considerably more time devoted to social media, the impact on sales increases ( 62% of marketers report increased sales with 40 or more hours a week devoted to the channel).
Another consideration is that many businesses, corporations and marketers cannot adequately measure the impact and return on social media marketing with their web analytics process. This gap may result in a lack of proper attribution to the channel (either negative or positive).
Interesting fact from the report: Large corporations (with 1,000 or more employees) were similarly more likely than self-employed business owners to find their efforts rewarding (46% vs. 29%). This report helps clarify the perceptions of social media usage in marketing, but it should be pointed out that each individual organization polled practices their craft differently. Social media, when integrated into a larger campaign and connected to other channels, can be remarkably successful for driving leads, building brand value and affecting sales. Corporate websites and campaigns would be remiss to dispatch social channels because of their singular weakness at driving direct sales. Each channel serves a purpose (or more than one) and taken as an integrated campaign, businesses may find much greater value than investing in a single channel.
REPORT: 2013 Social Media Marketing Industry Report - https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-marketing-industry-report-2013/
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