Facebook and Twitter in demand as marketing channels

Social media channels are a sought-after marketing tool when it comes to reaching a wide audience.There are still many new or previously underutilized effective opportunities for the marketing department when it comes to achieving goals on the various online channels. This is one of the key findings of the ExactTarget-Subscribers, Fans & Followers #22: The Audience Growth Survey".70 percent deal with social media marketingAs part of the study, 395 marketers in the USA were asked which marketing channels they use, which measures they implement on the various channels, and which goals they pursue in doing so. They were also asked to evaluate which marketing measures are particularly effective in achieving the respective goals.Social media play an important role in the marketing mix: 70 percent of all marketers surveyed regularly deal with social media marketing. 60 percent of them are convinced that Facebook plays an important role in their marketing campaigns. 52 percent consider Twitter to be significant.Leads and sales increase play minor roleBoth social media platforms are primarily used to raise brand awareness and increase the number of visitors to the company's own website. Acquiring leads and increasing sales play a lesser role in marketing measures on Facebook and Twitter. Particularly effective on Facebook: A giveaway for a "Like" Measures to improve customer service as well as entertainment are rated as particularly effective for achieving goals on Facebook.However, the survey results also make it clear that a number of the tactics rated as very effective have so far only been used to a limited extent. For example, only one in three companies surveyed responds to customer inquiries via its Facebook page (34 percent), but more than two-thirds (69 percent) rate this measure as very effective. The option of linking a giveaway or participation in a sweepstake with a "like" is only used by 39 percent of marketers, although it is rated as the most effective Facebook marketing measure of all (70 percent).As the survey shows, participants also rate the Facebook ad format of sponsored messages as very effective (67 percent). However, this option has so far only been used by 25 percent of marketers.Customer service via Twitter is promisingOn Twitter, too, such strategies, which focus on information, entertainment or rewards, are rated as very promising. However, many marketers still have some catching up to do here: 60 percent of marketers rate linking the Twitter channel with customer service as effective, but only 27 percent of those surveyed actually implement this. Regular answers to common questions as well as tips and tricks are used by 22 percent, while 59 percent consider it effective.The option of linking a giveaway or participation in a sweepstakes to "following" the channel is offered by only 20 percent of companies, but 57 percent say it works well.Promote mobile apps through various channelsOnly a good third of the marketers surveyed regularly implement mobile marketing measures (37 percent) and see them as an important part of their marketing strategy (34 percent). When asked what measures they use to attract more users to their mobile apps, not only are email and website leads the most common (both options are used by 65 percent of respondents), but they are also rated highly successful (59 percent and 55 percent respectively describe the measures as effective). There are also some promising strategies in this area that have been used rather rarely. For example, 40 percent of survey participants said they integrate mobile app demos at live events (50 percent rate it as effective).One-third use paid ads on social mediaPaid ads on social media channels are used by 33 percent of respondents, and the effectiveness rate here is also 50 percent. In addition, 24 percent of marketers use mobile apps to communicate special sales offers over a certain period of time and attract users to their apps in this way. Almost one in two respondents (48 percent) believe that this measure has also worked well.Attracting email subscribers online and offline Email continues to be the most frequently used channel by marketers, with 91 percent regularly implementing corresponding activities. The main objective for using customer e-mails is to sell products and services (64 percent). In addition, addressing customers via electronic mail is said to help generate leads (52 percent), drive traffic to the website (51 percent) and boost brand awareness (51 percent).Email addresses thanks to sales callsBut how do marketers get the coveted addresses? Querying the e-mail address for incoming sales calls is considered particularly effective (71 percent), but is only very rarely used (23 percent). The rating of linking an email query to enrollment in a store "loyalty program" is similar (67 percent see this measure as effective, but only 18 percent use it). Linking an email query to the creation of a customer account on the company website is rated as effective by most marketers (74 percent) and implemented by more than half of respondents.The full study is available at http://pages.exacttarget.com/sff ready for download.