BURLINGTON, MA--(Marketwire -01/11/12)- Awareness, Inc., provider of on-demand social marketing management software (SMMS), today announced results of its State of Social Media Marketing Survey, available in the report State of Social Media Marketing: Top Areas for Social Marketing Investment and Biggest Social Marketing Challenges in 2012 -- http://bit.ly/wiiY8K
"Our State of Social Media Marketing report reveals clear social marketing maturity patterns," says Brian Zanghi, CEO of Awareness, Inc. "Companies experienced in social marketing are moving beyond growing social presence and reach. They are shifting to active social media management for increased lead generation and sales. We expect less-experienced marketers to follow their visionary peers, adopting established practices as they move along the maturity continuum."
For example, while increased presence across social media platforms is still the top priority (70%) for marketers overall, followed by increased frequency of content publishing and more robust social marketing management processes and tools (59% and 50%, respectively), investments in expanded social reach will be led in 2012 by self-reported social marketing novices and dabblers, 78% and 71% respectively.
Experienced social marketers also plan continued investments in social reach but at a lower rate: 64% reported that they plan to increase investment in this area in 2012, mostly represented by expansion into new platforms such as blogs, YouTube, Forums, foursquare, Flickr, SlideShare and Tumblr.
Where experienced social marketers differ from their less-experienced colleagues is in their planned use of robust social media monitoring and management platforms: 64% of experienced marketers plan increased investments in robust social media management platforms, compared to 43% of social marketing novices. Experienced social marketers will also see an increased focus on mobile social media presence.
"We expect experienced social marketers to set the stage for the industry, driving best practices and establishing the benchmarks for others to follow in 2012," says Zanghi.
In addition to these findings, the State of Social Media Marketing report identifies top-line trends, such as a lack of sufficient resources as the top challenges affecting marketers in 2012 (77%). Only 8% of respondents reported a social marketing budget above $50,000. Similarly, 74% of respondents reported only one to three workers dedicated to social media; only 12% of respondents reported a dedicated staff of five or more.
Despite these slim resources, marketers plan aggressive social media monitoring and broader platform use in 2012, an indication that they will rely heavily on social technology to achieve goals. Marketers reported that they plan to monitor for brand mentions at least a few times per week (78%) and to monitor industry conversations (62%). Also, more marketers (25%) plan to use social media management platforms in 2012 than in 2011 (19%).
The survey, which Awareness will conduct annually, was administered in November and December of 2011 and received responses from 320 marketers from a cross-section of industries, company sizes and levels of social marketing experience. Survey respondents represented executive and senior management roles (39%), mid-level management (27%) and marketing support roles (27%). Content areas covered in the report include:
- Corporate investment in social marketing trends
- Social marketing resources: people and budgets
- Greatest social marketing challenges
- Social media monitoring and management practices
- Measuring social marketing ROI trends
- Top social media platforms used
- Social media platforms use by experienced social marketers
- LinkedIn trends
- Top social marketing news resources
The State of Social Media Marketing: Top Areas for Social Marketing Investment and Biggest Social Marketing Challenges in 2012 is available for download here.
About Awareness, Inc. (http://www.awarenessnetworks.com/)
Awareness, Inc. is the leading provider of enterprise-class, on-demand social marketing management software (SMMS) for marketers to publish and manage social content, engage with their audience and measure the effectiveness their social media activities across multiple social media channels. The Awareness Social Marketing Hub is built upon Awareness' expertise with some of the world's leading brands and marketing agencies including MLB, Sony Pictures, Comcast, Likeable Media, Associated Press, Cox Communications, Mindjumpers and American Cancer Society. Backed by NorthBridge Venture Partners, Awareness, Inc. is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts.
About The Awareness Social Marketing Hub (http://www.awarenessnetworks.com/why-the-hub)
The Awareness Social Marketing Hub is built to address the challenges marketers face managing multiple social channels. The Social Marketing Hub is the first enterprise-class application for serious marketers who want to plan, implement and measure meaningful social media strategies across the organization.
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Jenn Reilly
Jenn at scratchmm dot com
Scratch Marketing + Media
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