Enterprise Social Media Adoption Ramping Up

A report issued by Society for New Communications Research reveals that many companies are adopting social media as a marketing tool however they are struggling to find effective metrics.

The report is based on findings from a survey of 297 advertising, marketing, PR and corporate communications professionals, 57% felt social media tools are becoming more valuable, 27% of whom say that social media is a core element of their communications strategy.

The most popular social media tools used were;
1) Blogs - 78%
2) Online Video - 63%
3) Social Networks - 56%
4) Podcasts - 49%

Awareness and engagement were cited as the most important criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of the social media in addition to the following:

* Enhancement of relationships with key audiences
* Enhancement of reputation
* Search engine ranking of website
* Customer awareness of program
* Click-thrus to website
* Comments/posts relevant to company or products
* Social media coverage
* Unique visitors from influencers’ sites

Researchers expected social media to be more effective when targeted at younger age groups, with 18-25 being the most likely to be influenced. However, the over-65 age group closely trailed the under-18 and 26-35 age brackets.