As we have reported before, social media promotion, although commonly applied to eCommerce, is also difficult to measure in terms of effectiveness. A recent study conducted among 351 marketing leaders seems to prove that social media effectiveness is difficult to pin down.
Quantitative Methods Applied to Social Media
The CMO Survey conducted in September 2014 showed that only 15% of surveyed marketing leaders claim that they can prove the positive impact of social media on their sales using quantitative methods. It might seem that 15% is not much, but what this survey really shows is that the influence of social media is difficult to measure with the classic methods. However, there are other proofs that investing in online promotion is the right direction.
Why Social Media Advertising is so Attractive to Marketers?
Online sales increased by 25% in 2013, from 8.9% to 11.3%, which means that customers are not only more used to shopping at eCommerce stores, but they also spend more time online than ever. Marketers are well aware of that trend and they are continuously increasing their budgets for online promotion every year. In 2015 budgets for digital promotion are expected to increase by 10.8%, while the traditional advertising spending will decrease by at least 3.8%. The social media budgets experience the most dramatic increase and it is estimated that they will grow by 128% in the next five years. Why are marketers so optimistic about social media? The above mentioned study also shows that not everything can be measured by quantitative methods – 40% marketing leaders reported that they have qualitative proofs of social media effectiveness. To sum up, entrepreneurs keep spending more on eCommerce development services and social media advertising despite the fact that the link between social media promotion and increased sales is rather vague. However, marketers seem to universally agree that strong online presence is the key to success. Social media advertising is just one of the factors, but important if not for the sales, then for building up your brand image.
Author Bio:
The article is written by Jane kaine. She is a Marketing analyst working in a top company. She is a blogger who writes on topics like Online marketing, travel, ongoing trends in marketing, Social media etc. She loves to share her experience through blogging and loves hear feedback from the readers. You can contact her through twitter or facebook.
