BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - March 11, 2009) - How can marketers trapped in a vortex of
plunging consumer demand and growing budgetary constraints that has made it
necessary to curtail or completely eliminate investments in traditional
marketing channels and programs hope to attract, retain and increase the
value of profitable customers? At least part of the answer lies in
harnessing the power of social media marketing to encourage customer
advocacy, according to research by Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company
(
NYSE:
HHS).
A new benchmark report, called "
The ROI on Social
Media Marketing: Why It Pays to Drive Word of Mouth," reveals that 68%
of Best-in-Class companies are revising their marketing budgets for 2009 to
increase their spending in social media marketing. Based on survey
responses from more than 275 diverse enterprises, the report places
particular emphasis on how Best-in-Class companies launch successful viral
campaigns, form and participate in niche communities, and spur customer
advocacy through various other approaches to social media marketing all the
while gleaning valuable customer insights from consumer-generated content
to inform future marketing actions. To access a complimentary copy, visit:
http://www.aberdeen.com/summary/report/benchmark/5639-RA-social-media-marketing.asp.
Despite the seemingly obvious benefits, Aberdeen research reveals that the
investment in social media marketing is not always easy to justify in terms
of financial outcomes. In fact, over half of all companies indicated that
it was either somewhat difficult (39%) or very difficult (20%) to make the
business case for investing in social media marketing initiatives, partly
due to a lack of defined performance metrics and the challenge of applying
those metrics to track and measure marketing performance in terms of
financial outcomes.
Aberdeen research suggests that when it comes to social media marketing,
achieving the desired objectives means more than just deploying the right
set of enabling technologies. Success in social media marketing also
requires a combination of strategic actions and organizational
capabilities. Aberdeen found that Best-in-Class companies are twice as
likely as Laggards to have dedicated resources devoted to social media
marketing, for example, and also more than twice as likely as Laggards to
have defined performance metrics for measuring social media marketing
effectiveness.
The report includes a number of recommendations to help spur performance
improvements, based on the actions that Best-in-Class companies are taking.
Recommended actions include using social media monitoring capabilities to
identify and measure the value of key influencers, integrating social media
marketing activities with other marketing tactics / media buys and
correlating customer advocacy to financial outcomes.
"Companies on the whole have becoming increasingly sophisticated when it
comes to leveraging word of mouth to raise brand awareness, drive marketing
improvement and, ultimately, increase shareholder value," said Jeff Zabin,
Research Fellow at Aberdeen Group. "The benefits of social media marketing
have become increasingly clear and compelling over the past year, even if
the metrics for measuring success are still evolving, and more companies
today are viewing social media as a lead-in to a marketing plan as opposed
to an afterthought."
A complimentary copy of this report is made available due, in part, to the
following underwriters: Open Text, Scout Labs, Visible Technologies and
Zuberance. To access a complimentary copy, visit:
http://www.aberdeen.com/summary/report/benchmark/5639-RA-social-media-marketing.asp.
For additional access to complimentary
Customer
Management Research, please visit
http://research.aberdeen.com/index.php/Customer-Management.
About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company
Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market
intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more
than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely
positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating
demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment
analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets,
corporations turn to Aberdeen™ for insights that drive decisions.
As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in
context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's
analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of
Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement -
Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role
Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit
Aberdeen
http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more
about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to
http://www.harte-hanks.com.
(C) 2009 Aberdeen Group, Inc., a Harte-Hanks Company
451 D Street, Suite 710
Boston, Massachusetts 02210-1928
Telephone: (617) 854-5200
Fax: (617) 723-7897
www.aberdeen.com
Contact Information: Media Contact:
Jeff Zabin
Aberdeen Harte-Hanks
(847) 328-4795
jeff.zabin@aberdeen.com