Social Media Continues to Grow for Many Companies
When you find yourself in that position, throw a few of the following statistics at the CEO from the 2012 Social Media Marketing Industry Report.
Among them:
- 94% of all companies with a marketing department used social media as a portion of their marketing platform;
- Nearly 60% of marketers are devoting what amounts to a full work day to social media marketing development and maintenance;
- 43% of people aged 20-29 spend more than 10 hours a week on social media sites;
- Eighty-five of all companies that have a dedicated social media platform as part of their marketing strategy noted a gain in their market exposure.
- 58 % of businesses that have used social media marketing for more than three years stated seeing an increase in sales over that period.
So, if those numbers still have your company’s CEO questioning the importance of a solid social media effort by your team, share some of these thoughts with them:
- Engaging consumers – As more and more shoppers go on-line to browse and shop, not engaging them on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other social media platforms is flat out wrong. According to a recent Forrester Research Inc. report, on-line shoppers in the U.S. are forecast to spend $327 billion in 2016, an increase of 45 percent from $226 billion this year and 62 percent from $202 billion in 2011. In 2016, e-retail will account for 9 percent of total retail sales, a jump from 7 percent in both 2012 and 2011, according to the report, “U.S. On-line Retail Forecast, 2011 to 2016,” by Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru. That amounts to a compound annual growth rate of 10.1 percent over the five-year forecast period. With those kind of projections, companies need to be socially engaged;
- Avert on-line problems – Another reason your goal as a CMO is to have a solid social media presence for your company is knowing what folks are saying about your business. Are customers turning to Twitter and Facebook to complaint about your products or services? Are they taking to social media venues to disperse unfounded rumors about your company? Lastly, is your competition talking about you in ways that do not truly define your company? Three more reasons to be actively involved in social media;
- Be seen as an authority – Finally, a strong social media presence allows your company to be seen as an authority in its particular industry. Consumers are more apt to come to your Facebook and Twitter company pages if you are providing valuable links, authoritative blog posts, informative press releases and more. As your likes and followers increase, you can point to these figures in your brochures and other company promotions, giving you more clout with consumers.
While you will not always be able to sell your company’s top person on social media, your goal as a CMO is to promote it wherever and whenever possible.
By all accounts, social media is not going anywhere anytime soon.
Wouldn’t you rather be the CMO who was in front of the social media train than the one running to keep up with it?