When it comes to social media strategy, most companies admit they don’t have one. A new study from Digital Brand Expressions, found that while 78% of companies use social media, only 41 percent say they have a strategic social media plan in place (and those are just the ones telling the truth).
Of the companies that have a social media strategy, 94% say marketing activities are included in the plan, while only 71% said public relations activities were included. Of little surprise, only 55% say they use social media for sales activities (social media for sales is still a huge untapped opportunity for most businesses).
While I have a hard time believing this many organizations don’t have a social strategy, I know plenty that don’t. On the other hand, a lot of companies start off with social media as tactics to support broader marketing plans. Many more organizations might have marketing strategies that include social media tactics, but not consider their organization to have a social media strategy. It’s semantics, but an important point to make.
Another interesting data point from the Digital Brand Expressions’ study is that 69% of those with a social media strategy report having metrics and tracking in place to measure ROI and track social media marketing performance. I’m seeing this more and more with the organizations I work – if a dime is spent on social media marketing, another dime is spent to quantify the ROI. I think we’ve finally got to a point where almost all marketers realize they need to try to quantify their return on any spend.
What do you think of this study? Do you think most organizations are sailing along rudderless with social media? Does your organization have a social media strategy? Let me know what you think.
(Image Credit: 154 Chrome Rain Social Media Icons by webtreats)
