A report from eMarketer found that despite increased spending on ads, many ad businesses are having a difficult time improving their conversion rates. EMarketer reported that ad spending in the U.S. will surpass $31 billion this year. However, 35 percent of ad companies reportthey struggling to gain news business, and, ironically, blog marketing seems to be the most effective social tool for these firms.
The report shows that many ad agencies use social media marketing to try to reach new leads. RSW, a business relationship management firm, asked advertising companies to rate their conversions on a scale of one to 10. According to the report, only 7 percent of respondents say social media marketing leads to new business “often.”
Another 18 percent of respondents said social media converts prospects about half the time.
In terms of the best social media marketing platforms, 27 percent of respondents said content marketing in the form of a blog was the best tool.Ad agencies – and other B2B businesses – should take note that content in the form of email messages may be prospects’ preferred way to learn about services. More than three-quarters of marketers (79 percent) cite email as the best form of outreach from agencies.
Indeed, ad agencies say email newsletters are second to blogs in terms of generating leads. Seventeen percent said Facebook provided the most new business, and 20 percent pointed to LinkedIn. Twitter was named by just 1 percent of respondents.
Brafton reported earlier this week that developing a social media marketing presence on Twitter can be difficult, but becomes successful once a company fosters loyalty with their followers. According to the report, 75 percent of Twitter users do not unfollow a brand once they begin following it, and socially engaged users spend two to seven times as much as those not following a company on Twitter.
