Social Media Key to Success
Listed under: News
Published: Friday, November 20, 2009
Websites such as Twitter and Facebook are fast-becoming the most effective forms of marketing, seeing one in three business owners prioritise them over other types of media, according to recent findings from communication and PR agency, Portfolio.
The report reveals that despite the growing awareness of social media, only 90% of organisations have allocated budgets for theirs, with 31% planning to do so over the next six months. The study also shows that only 29% of businesses currently make use of external blogs, with only 25% of organisations capitalising on the rapidly increasing popularity of Twitter.
Jonathan Bawden, senior account manager of Portfolio, says, “Given the findings it seems extraordinary that only ten percent of organisations have an allocated budget for a social media programme. The fact that one in three plan to do so by early 2010 is encouraging, but this remains a low figure and highlights the problem of how organisations are going to fund social media programmes without ‘stealing’ budget from other areas, such as traditional PR and advertising campaigns.
He continues, “While it takes considerable effort and is time-consuming for an organisation to run its own blog, it is possible to make use of this powerful social medium by contributing to relevant ‘external’ ones, for example sites run by others. Indeed, the majority of bloggers welcome such contributions as they can add significant value and
credibility.
Mr Bawden is also keen to stress that businesses can capitalise on their social media sites by using them to monitor and analyse changes in consumer behaviour. “The powerful influence of social media and the speed with which information propagates and grows means that the importance of monitoring and analysing it should never be
under-estimated,” he concludes.
The report reveals that despite the growing awareness of social media, only 90% of organisations have allocated budgets for theirs, with 31% planning to do so over the next six months. The study also shows that only 29% of businesses currently make use of external blogs, with only 25% of organisations capitalising on the rapidly increasing popularity of Twitter.
Jonathan Bawden, senior account manager of Portfolio, says, “Given the findings it seems extraordinary that only ten percent of organisations have an allocated budget for a social media programme. The fact that one in three plan to do so by early 2010 is encouraging, but this remains a low figure and highlights the problem of how organisations are going to fund social media programmes without ‘stealing’ budget from other areas, such as traditional PR and advertising campaigns.
He continues, “While it takes considerable effort and is time-consuming for an organisation to run its own blog, it is possible to make use of this powerful social medium by contributing to relevant ‘external’ ones, for example sites run by others. Indeed, the majority of bloggers welcome such contributions as they can add significant value and
credibility.
Mr Bawden is also keen to stress that businesses can capitalise on their social media sites by using them to monitor and analyse changes in consumer behaviour. “The powerful influence of social media and the speed with which information propagates and grows means that the importance of monitoring and analysing it should never be
under-estimated,” he concludes.
