Third Of Marketers Don’t Believe Social Media Is Important

Nearly a third of respondents to a new survey by The Internet Advertising Bureau UK (IAB) said that they don’t believe that social media plays an important role in the marketing function, proving that the discipline still has some maturing to do.

The study of behaviour and attitudes towards social media amongst 180 agencies and brands for the IAB by ICM Research showed that as well as an ambivalence to its role in marketing less than half (43%) integrate it into the wider marketing function.

Return on investment is also largely being ignored, according to the study. It showed that half of brands don’t ever measure the ROI of social and only a quarter do it some of the time. Nearly one in five (18%) of agencies meanwhile never measure 18% and just over a third (35%) do it some of the time.

For those who do embrace and appreciate its importance 20% of respondents cited Coca Cola as being a brand that did social particularly well. This was followed by 15% who cited Nike and 12% who cited Virgin.

The study showed the top tips for succeeding in social were being relevant, setting clear objectives, being authentic and credible and being adaptable – features that brands like Coca Cola embrace, according to Alex Kozlof, the IAB’s director of marketing and communications. “The brands seen as leading the way, which are dominated by large multinationals, are signature components of these principles,” he said.

However brands and agencies differ widely in what they feel is the most important element of a successful social media campaign. Budget was cited by 14% of agencies compared to engaging content for 13% of agencies. More than twice as many brands (28%) meanwhile cited the importance of engaging content.

The lacklustre enthusiasm for social media marketing is despite the fact that agencies expect social budgets to rise 33% and brands expect a rise of 21%, with driving brand awareness, brand engagement and web traffic important factors in such campaigns.

When it comes to measuring effectiveness 55% use engagement to measure success, 52% look at traffic driven and 45% look at click throughs. Lead generation and conversions are measured by 40% of respondents.

“Although the use of social has become more sophisticated it still has a lot of growing up to do in convincing a significant part of the marketing industry that it has an important and beneficial role to play,” says Kozlof.