Facebook is now third most important marketing tactic

Small businesses, while not yet at the usage levels of their larger counterparts, are warming up to social media marketing, according to a fall 2010 survey from small-business marketing firm Constant Contact.

The businesses surveyed overwhelmingly considered word-of-mouth the most important marketing tactic for finding new customers, but that figure includes discussions that take place both online and offline. Websites and email marketing followed as the only other tactics a majority of small businesses said were “very important.”

Overall, websites and email were rated the most important marketing tool for business promotion, with more than nine in 10 small businesses surveyed citing both. Facebook took a distant third, at 63%, but that was up from 50.5% in a March 2010 survey from Constant Contact. Twitter’s importance was rated relatively low, at just 31%, but that too was up from March (25.6%).

Among larger businesses, social media tends to play a larger role. A June 2010 survey of US online marketers from email marketing firm Lyris also found email and company websites were the top marketing tactics used—each by more than 95% of respondents—but social media clocked in at 82%, significantly higher than Facebook’s rating in the small-business survey.

“Small businesses are also slower to adopt social media, in part because many of them lack a strong web presence to begin with,” wrote Debra Aho Williamson in the December 2010 eMarketer report “Social Media in the Marketing Mix: Budgeting for 2011.”

Article Source: eMarketer

Nearly three-quarters this year

As consumer usage of social media continues to increase in the US and around the world, marketers have transitioned from cautious engagement to full deployment.

Next year, four in five US businesses with at least 100 employees will take part in social media marketing, eMarketer estimates. That’s up from just 42% as recently as 2008, and the number of marketers using the channel will continue to rise through 2012.

“Marketers that have spent the past few years ramping up their internal social media marketing infrastructure—and their presence on sites such as Facebook and Twitter—will take social media to new heights in 2011,” said Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer principal analyst and author of the new report “Social Media in the Marketing Mix: Budgeting for 2011.” “And as they do, they will evolve the way they market across all media, not just online.”

eMarketer developed its social media marketing forecast through analysis of a dozen third-party surveys and their methodologies. The increase in usage stems from several trends, including rising consumer social media usage, the fact that Facebook now has a truly mass audience, and the promotional firepower companies have seen in action on social sites.

Social media is top of mind not only when it comes to usage but also spending. A worldwide survey of marketers by Maxymiser, a provider of website personalization tools, found that social media ranked third among areas marketers planned to focus their online marketing budget in 2011, after search and their own website.

According to several independent studies, spending on social media continues to rise.

“As spending increases, other marketing channels may lose budget,” said Williamson. “Total marketing budgets in general are not increasing, so social media spending must come from other types of marketing. Early indications are that offline media and promotions may be hit first.”

While the spending picture is bright, future increases will be tied to ROI. The need for effective measurement will reach its strongest point to date in 2011.

Article Source: eMarketer

Three-quarters will market on social sites this holiday season

Holiday advertising budgets are shifting as marketers increase their reliance on online channels, according to research from BDO USA.

While print advertising remains on top for holiday spending, nearly 27% of retailers reported they would spend most of their budget for the period online, including on social networks. That was up just from 18% last year and puts online ahead of broadcast for the second year in a row.

In addition, 75% of respondents said they had included social networks in their marketing strategy, up dramatically from 51% in 2009. Most focused only a small percentage of total marketing efforts on social networks, but nearly 18% said at least 20% of their efforts were social.

Facebook is the main venue for retailers’ social media marketing, followed distantly by Twitter and other social networking sites.

Facebook has been a consistent retailer favorite. the e-tailing group found in Q1 2010 that 91% of retailers planned to have a Facebook presence within the year, making it more popular than customer reviews. Marketers responsible for ecommerce have also been quick to adopt Facebook’s “like” feature. According to BDO, Facebook’s popularity among retailers was up significantly since 2009, when just 76% used it for marketing.

Other researchers have likewise found that more companies are planning to use social media marketing this holiday season. US online retailers told Shop.org in September that the three top changes in their holiday plans vs. last year were increased use of Facebook, Twitter and other social media. The same month, an e-tailing group survey found most US multichannel retailers planned to up their social media usage this holiday season at least a little.

Article Source: eMarketer