Marketers fear using social media

Posted on: 2:01pm, 2010 June (Monday 14th) By: admin

The latest trends report from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) show that nearly half of the marketers surveyed were still scared of fully exploiting social media, despite platforms such as Facebook now engaging potential customers on a vast scale.

58% of marketers in larger firms with a turnover of more than £100m feared the use of Social Media the most. Nearly one third of the public and charity sector also agreed that Social Media is still something to be wary of.

David Thorp, CIM director of research and professional development said, “This is an incredible figure. Marketers and organisations have a tool that they are almost frightened to take advantage of because they don’t understand the ramifications of using it and how it can integrate into their strategies”.

Thorp claimed that social media will contribute to the way that marketing is practised but marketers are unsure how to use it. “It is fundamentally capable of changing the rules of the game. There is recognition that [social media] is needed but I don’t think there is strategic leadership on how best it can be applied. That nervousness is reflected in the survey,” he says.

We at Digitalis Media think that using social media can be easy, if you follow these cardinal rules:

1)    Choose your Social Networking platform carefully, Facebook is the most popular platform but it may not always be the most relevant for your brand and/or target audience. LinkedIn, Twitter and Foursquare etc are all powerful Social Networking sites in their own right.

2)    Make sure you define your target audience and create your messaging and/or campaign around who you want to target and what you want to say.

3)    Make sure that you incentivize your audience, whether it is: quality/ news worthy content, discounts, insight, competitions/ promotions and/or events. Users will not engage with your brand unless they think they will gain something from it.

4)    Ensure that you have the resource to follow through your campaign, i.e. someone to moderate and update on a regular basis.

5)    Measure your success. They’re Social Media measurement tools in place to allow you to moderate and follow the success of your campaign, make sure you exploit these to your advantage.

If you want to know more about what we can do for you, contact Roger Jones roger.jones@digitalismedia.co.uk.

Source: Marketing

• Add Comment