If forced to only select only one social media platform to market on, 49% of marketers would pick Facebook, followed by LinkedIn at 16%, according to a recent survey by SocialMedia Examiner.
YouTube holds the top spot for future plans, with 69% of marketers saying that they plan to increase their use this year. Podcasting could also see significant growth—while only 5% of marketers are currently podcasting, 24% plan on increasing their activities in 2013.
Below, additional key findings from the 2013 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, which surveyed more than 3000 marketers to understand how they are using social media:
Social Media Important, Difficult to Measure
- 86% of marketers indicated that social media is important for their business, up from 83% in 2012.
- 79% of marketers said that they had integrated their social media and traditional marketing activities.
- Only 26% of marketers agreed that they are able to measure their social activities.
- 89% of marketers said that increased exposure was the number one benefit of social media marketing.
Effectiveness of Facebook Marketing
- Only 37% of marketers agreed with this statement: "My Facebook marketing is effective."
- B2C marketers were more likely to agree (44%) than their B2B peers (29%).
- 46% of businesses with 1000 or more employees agreed, compared with only 29% of the self-employed.
What Marketers Want to Learn More About
- At least 88% of marketers want to know the most effective social tactics and the best ways to engage their audience with social media.
- When it comes to social media platforms, marketers want to learn most about blogging: While 58% of marketers are blogging, 62% want to learn more about it and 66% plan on increasing blogging activities in 2013.
About the research: The study was based on a survey of 3025 marketers. 56% of survey participants were primarily B2C marketers, while 44% were primarily B2B marketers.
