Social Media Examiner has released its annual Social Media Marketing Industry Report and the 2013 report highlights some interesting insights. Most importantly, the majority of marketers are convinced that social media marketing is essential but they aren’t confident that their social media marketing efforts are effective.
Taking a closer look at the key findings, an overwhelming 86% of marketers who responded to the study survey believe that social media marketing is important for their business, but 88% of marketers want to learn more about the most effective social tactics and the best ways to engage their audiences with social media. In other words, tracking social media marketing results is a problem for nearly nine out of ten marketers.
Key Areas of Focus in 2013 are YouTube, Blogging, and Podcasting
Three areas that marketers want to learn more about and plan to increase their use of and budgets for in 2013 are YouTube, blogging, and podcasting.
More than two out of three marketers (69%) plan to increase their use of YouTube and their investments in YouTube marketing in 2013.
Blogging is also high on marketers radar screens in 2013. 58% of marketers are currently blogging and 66% plan to increase their blogging activities in 2013. Interestingly, while blogging might be one of the more mature social media marketing and content marketing activities, 62% of marketers want to learn more about it.
Podcasting will also see a resurgence of activity in 2013. While only 5% of marketers are already involved in podcasting, 24% plan to increase their podcasting activities in 2013 and 32% want to learn more about it.
Facebook and LinkedIn are Ranked on Top but Effectiveness is Questionable
Overall, 89% of marketers believe that the top benefit of social media marketing is increased exposure, which isn’t surprising given the fact that most respondents indicated they cannot effectively track marketing activity results through social media channels.
For example, Facebook and LinkedIn were identified by marketers as the most important social networks for marketers, with Facebook ranked as most important by 49% of marketers and LinkedIn coming in second at 16%. However, nearly two out of three of marketers (63%) report that they do not think their Facebook marketing efforts are effective.
You can follow the link at the beginning of this article to get more details, access the full 70-page report, and watch video highlights from the report.
How does your brand stack up with social media marketing in 2013?
Image: ilker
Susan Gunelius is the author of 10 marketing, social media, branding, copywriting, and technology books, and she is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She also owns Women on Business, an award-wining blog for business women. She is a featured columnist for Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.com, and her marketing-related articles have appeared on websites such as MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, TodayShow.com, and more.
She has over 20 years of experience in the marketing field having spent the first decade of her career directing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. Today, her clients include large and small companies around the world and household brands like Citigroup, Cox Communications, Intuit, and more. Susan is frequently interviewed about marketing and branding by television, radio, print, and online media organizations, and she speaks about these topics at events around the world. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+.
