In today’s post we continue our look at Social Media Examiner’s recent report on social media data and trends.
Some of the findings in this report included these seven benefits:
Improved sales
It takes time to develop relationships that lead to sales. However, a large percentage of marketers who take the time find great results. For example, more than half of marketers who’ve been using social media for at least 3 years report it has helped them improve sales. More than half who spend 6 or more hours per week find the same results and 74% of those who spend 40+ hours earn new business through their efforts.
Conversely, 50% of all marketers taking this survey report social media has not helped them improve sales (see prior page). This may be because they lack the needed tools to track sales.
Increased exposure
With as little as 6 hours per week, the vast majority of marketers (95%+) indicated their social media efforts increased exposure for their businesses. Nearly all marketers (93%+) who’ve been employing social media marketing for one year or longer report it generates exposure for their businesses.
Grew business partnerships
The more time marketers invest in social media, the more they gain business partnerships. More than half of marketers who’ve invested at least 1 year in social media marketing report that new partnerships were gained.
More than half of those investing as little as 6 hours per week in social media were able to build new partnerships. Marketers selling to other businesses were more likely to achieve this benefit (61%) than those selling to consumers (54%).
Generated leads
By spending as little as 6 hours per week, 66%+ of marketers see lead generation benefits with social media. More than half of marketers with at least one year of social media experience were generating leads with social platforms.
Reduced marketing expenses
Nearly half of those who spend at least 6 hours per week on social media efforts saw a benefit of reduced marketing expenses. At least 57% of businesses with 10 or fewer employees agreed social media reduced marketing expenses, while only 40% of businesses with 1,000 or more employees agreed.
Improved search rankings
Improved search engine rankings were most prevalent among those who’ve been using social media for one year or longer, with 58%+ reporting a rise. At least 60% of those investing a minimum of 6 hours per week in social media marketing saw improvements in search engine rankings.
Increased traffic
A significant 84%+ of participants found that increased traffic occurred with as little as 6 hours per week invested in social media marketing. And those who’ve used social media for 1 year or more reported substantially better results (79%+ reported benefits) compared with those with less experience.
What happens next?
How are businesses planning to change their social media activities? Respondents were asked to indicate whether they will increase, decrease, remain the same or not utilize various social media channels.
Marketers told the survey that they plan on increasing their use of blogging (68%), YouTube (67%), Twitter (67%), LinkedIn (64%) and Facebook (64%), in that order. 85% said they have no plans to utilize Snapchat. 68% also have no plans to utilize geo-location.
Blogging: Remember blogging? It’s back – in a big way, probably in response to search algorithm changes. There is a genuine need for real, original content, that isn’t limited to 140 characters. Not since 2010 has blogging been the number one area of increased activity for marketers. Blogging has incrementally increased from number four in 2012 to number three in 2013 and now to the top spot for increased activity. B2B marketers are more likely (74%) to increase blogging activity compared to B2C marketers (63%).
YouTube: For the first time since 2011, YouTube has slipped slightly from its number one spot. A significant 67% of marketers plan on increasing their YouTube marketing.
Twitter: A majority of marketers (67%) will increase their activities on Twitter, up from 64% in 2013. Twitter moved from the number five slot in 2013.
LinkedIn: 64% of marketers plan to be increasing their use of LinkedIn. As expected, B2B marketers are significantly more likely to plan on increasing their use of LinkedIn (77% of B2B vs. 54% of B2C). Social media newcomers (72%) were more likely to increase their use of LinkedIn.
Facebook: Research shows a decline in the use of Facebook among marketers, partly in response to changing algorithms. It moved from the number two slot in 2013. 7% of marketers have said they plan on decreasing their use of Facebook. However, Facebook is still the single most important social network to most marketers. Only 4% of those surveyed do not plan to utilize Facebook at all.
69% of B2C companies plan on increasing Facebook efforts, compared to only 54% of B2B. Social media newcomers (73%) were more likely to increase their use of Facebook.
How Marketing Plus can help you stand out in social media
So, what do you think of our analysis? Got any questions about social media, or marketing in general? Need advice on how to proceed with a plan to grow your business’ visibility in the crowded digital marketplace? We can help.
Marketing Plus will see to it that your brand is out there 24/7. Call us and set up a meeting to review your social goals — we can design the solution you need to manage your critical social media and content creation tasks.
