Selling Social: How Companies Are Connecting with Social Media

SELLING SOCIAL

– For companies, not all social media platforms are created equal
– Have you noticed more ads on the social media you frequent? There’s a good reason for that.
– Companies are trying to dip into the massive pool of social media users; what platforms are they using – and how is that likely to change? 79%
– Marketers who have integrated social media into their traditional marketing activities 86%

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– Marketers who say social media is important for their business

What They’re Using – And What’s Most Important

– Companies use a wide range of types of social media, from Facebook to Pinterest, but Facebook is still the king of social media. Social platforms used
– Facebook – 92%
– Twitter – 80%
– LinkedIn – 70%
– Blogging – 58%
– Google+ – 42%
– Pinterest – 41%
– Photo sharing (Instagram) – 18%
– Forums – 16%
– Geo-location (Foursquare) – 11%
– Social bookmarking (StumbleUpon) – 10%
– Podcasting – 5%
– Daily deals (Groupon) – 4%
– Q&A sites (Quora) – 4% Single most important platform
– Facebook – 49%
– LinkedIn – 16%
– Blogging – 14%
– Twitter – 12%
– YouTube – 4%
– Google+ – 2%
– Forums – 1%
– Pinterest – 1%
– Other – 1%

Why Use Social Media?

– Increased exposure for their business is the top reason marketers use social media. Sales? Those are last.
– Increase exposure – 89%
– Increase traffic – 75%
– Provide market insight – 69%
– Develop loyal fans – 65%
– Generate leads – 61%
– Improve search rankings – 58%
– Develop business partnerships – 54%
– Reduce marketing costs – 47%
– Improve sales – 43% A closer look Sales
– 62% of companies that spend 40+ hours a week earn new business through their efforts Exposure
– Just six hours a week can make a difference: With as little as six hours per week, almost all marketers (92%+) indicated their social media efforts increased exposure for their businesses. Cutting costs
– At least 62% of businesses with 10 or fewer employees agreed social media reduced marketing expenses, while only 38% of businesses with 1,000 or more employees agreed.

They’re Using Social Media, But Do They Know It’s Working?

1 in 4
– Marketers who are able to measure the return on investment of their company’s social media activities

What the Future Holds

– Facebook and YouTube are likely to see increased use, while daily deal and geo-location sites are likely to see marketers reduce their efforts. 8 in 10
– Companies that won’t use daily deal sites or will reduce their use 65% of companies have no plans to use geo-location sites, like Foursquare. Increasing use
– YouTube – 69%
– Facebook – 66%
– Blogging – 66%
– LinkedIn – 65%
– Twitter – 64%
– Google+ – 53%
– Pinterest – 51%
– Photo sharing – 38%
– Forums – 29%
– Podcasting – 24%
– Social bookmarking – 17%
– Geo-location – 16%
– Q&A sites – 14%
– Daily deals – 7%