Social media spend to increase, claim marketers

Three-quarters of social media marketing professionals plan to increase their budget for the medium over the course of the next 12 months, reports Direct Marketing News.

New figures suggest that while 88 per cent of respondents from a pool of over 700 marketers believe they gathered a positive return on investment (ROI) through social media, 97 per cent claimed that in general, social media is a positive tool for businesses - regardless of ROI.

In order to judge ROI, 38 per cent cited increased fans, 'likes, comments and interactions, 24 per cent cited increased revenue; while 15 per cent cited increased brand awareness.

Marketing expert Victoria Ransom talks about the ways business can measure social media ROI, stating: "Different business are measuring the benefits and measuring the ROI in different ways, which I think points to in some cases just how early businesses are in the cycle of social media."

Furthermore, The Drum cited that Facebook was the most-used social media site used by social media marketers, with a massive 94 per cent. Twitter came second with 74 per cent, with blogs coming in third with 41 per cent - a hammer blow to fledging social network Google+.

Overall, 85 per cent of respondents believe that social media helps to engage in dialogue with customers, while 58 per cent said it helped them to increase sales and partnerships.