Market researchers StrongMail recently reported the results of a marketing survey which shows that 92 percent of businesses contacted indicated that they plan to increase or at least not decrease their marketing spending in 2012.
Given the economy is showing some signs of life after a few dark years, this might not come as a complete surprise to many. However, of the companies that plan to increase their spending of marketing dollars a full 60 percent say their increased spending will be for email marketing, and 55 percent said the increased spending will go toward social media marketing.
It is now possible to reach more than one billion people using just three social media networks, namely Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, there is simply no reason to wait for the opportunities to improve. In fact, never before have marketers been able to reach a larger audience with just a few simple tools.
Even a 30 second Super Bowl commercial, the most valuable televised airtime available, doesn’t reach even half that number of eyeballs. By comparison a well-written Facebook ad, well placed, can reach ten times that many people at a much lower cost.
Email marketing as well stands a much better chance at targeting the specific demographic you are aiming for without the hit-or-miss of a television commercial.
The fact that social media marketing is now within reach of nearly anyone with a brand, product or service to sell it stands to reason that more and more companies are looking to capitalize on this reach.
Research has shown that the trend toward more social media marketing will likely continue as the networks expand their reach and more companies grow accustomed to the new paradigm. So far many companies (remember, only half said they were looking to increase the use of social media marketing, which means the other half is not) are still too unsure of how to use social media marketing to get their message out; too afraid of what the use of social media might mean for their systems, their secrets; or how to mitigate the risks often associated with the use of social media marketing to take full advantage of it.
As more companies come to accept social media marketing as the new way to do business in the 21st Century, many others will be looking to capitalize on the next frontier in social media; mobile. Companies that understand social media marketing today will surely be in a better position to integrate mobile marketing strategies into their marketing plans tomorrow.
