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Marketers moving beyond 'social experimentation'

Companies have moved from experimentation with social media marketing to a range of activities which are more likely to be integrated with other marketing channels and across business functions, according to research by Econsultancy, LBI and BigMouthMedia.

The company's 'State of Social Report 2011' found that almost two thirds (64%) of companies say they are now beyond the experimental phase compared to 54% a year ago. In fact, the companies surveyed were much more likely than one year before to be using Facebook and Twitter for a range of purposes, such as marketing, publishing new content, customer service, gathering customer feedback, and market intelligence.

More than half of respondents (52%) said their organisations use Facebook for reacting to customer issues and inquiries, compared to only 29% one year before. Similarly, 50% of companies now use Twitter for customer service, compared to only 35% previously. Half of organisations (51%) are also using Facebook for gathering customer feedback, compared to 37% one year earlier.

"This shows a change in social media focus. In the last year, more companies have set up a presence on social media channels and in some cases, social media has become a priority as organisations have started to see the potential benefits," said Econsultancy's research manager, Aliya Zaidi. "There has been a marked increase in the number of companies using social networks for a range of business functions, including a huge change in the extent to which organisations are using Facebook and Twitter for customer service and gathering customer feedback. Where previously the focus for companies was on getting started with social media, more marketers are now focused on optimising their social media strategies by heightening engagement and listening and responding more effectively across social media channels."

According to Lyndsay Menzies, CEO for BigMouthMedia and CMO for LBI, "Social media has moved well beyond the land-grab phase and this study underlines the idea that brands are taking it seriously, embracing the opportunity that it presents to connect with their customer base. The increasing convergence of the channels - and in particular search and social media - is fuelling social media's adoption as customer awareness, advocacy and acquisition become intrinsically linked."

The research also found that the trend expected to have the biggest near-term impact is the increased use of mobile and smart devices such as tablets, deemed to be 'highly significant' by more than half of responding companies (54%). The smartphone is overwhelmingly deemed to be the 'most persuasive' device for social media, according to 73% of respondents. Significantly fewer respondents cite other devices, such as the laptop, tablet and desktop computer.

The majority of companies surveyed are using Twitter (87%) and Facebook (82%) as part of their social media marketing or online PR activities. More than two thirds of companies (69%) are using Google's video-sharing platform YouTube and 57% are using business network LinkedIn. Relatively small numbers of businesses are using other networks or web properties for social media activity such as the recently launched Google+ network (14%), location-based platform Foursquare (15%) or question-and-answer network Quora (3%).

"When social media industry was in its relative infancy, there was much talk about the wide range of social channels available, including smaller platforms and the rise of niche social networks," explained Zaidi. "But now, the social media landscape is dominated by the established 'Big Four' social networks, with the majority of companies using Facebook and Twitter for their social media activity."

Among the study's other key findings:

The full report has been made available to purchase directly from Econsultancy's web site - click here.


Sources: Econsultancy; LBI; BigMouthMedia /
The Marketing Factbook.
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    Categorised as:

  • Customer Experience
  • Knowing The Customer
  • Marketing Know-How
  • Marketing Technology

Have you seen The Customer-Focused Marketing Playbook?

This comprehensive and practical guide to the latest ideas in customer-focused marketing hands you over 200 packed pages of strategy, best practices, do's and don'ts, practical know-how, facts and figures, and ideas to optimise your marketing strategy, boost sales, market share, increase ROI and profit.

Learn the insider's tricks and techniques to turn every customers into a 'super spreader' for your brand. It's better than free advertising. Once you start this ball rolling, your brand can grow rapidly through word-of-mouth, advocacy, influencers, and customer loyalty. Super-charge your company's marketing strategy, build up your market share, and make more sales through repeat business and customer loyalty.

Find out what works - and what doesn't - and who's succeeded, and how they did it. See how the world's top brands keep their competitive edge against all odds.

The Customer-Focused Marketing Playbook walks you step-by-step through the techniques, metrics, reporting, analysis, marketing models, technologies, tools and innovations for successful marketing strategies - both traditional and emerging - with expert guidance from thought leaders in every major market. Find out the best ways to gather, analyse, and act on customer data to increase profitability, build your brand, empower your customers, beat the competition, reduce churn, and increase customer profitability. This is a marketing book you simply can't afford to be without.

This book aims to hand you all the facts, figures and research data you need for the best decisions for a more profitable, more engaging marketing strategy. It also highlights all the facts, forecasts and trends identified by our experts from the global Marketing Factbook's vast database of market data, news, studies, research and articles, and presents you with an invaluable library of ideas and practical support you can call upon at will.

With The Customer-Focused Marketing Playbook at your side, you'll have instant access to a true goldmine of easily adaptable and up-to-date strategies, walk-throughs, trends, research and market data, plus all the supporting arguments you need to build a solid, profitable marketing strategy.

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