Social media marketing budgets are set to rise this year, but marketers who are opening their wallets to the channel still feel they need better analytics. According to a recent Web Liquid survey, just 23 percent of marketers are “very satisifed” with their social analytics tools.
Keeping track of social mentions is a priority for 95 percent of survey respondents, who say monitoring online word-of-mouth about their brands is important to their overall marketing agenda. At the same time, three-quarters of respondents (74 percent) currently have strategies in place to track social buzz about their brands.
Google Alerts are the social tracking tool of choice, used by 59 percent of respondents. The lackluster survey results regarding analytic tool satisfaction suggest Alerts are not enough. Marketers might consider using other free social tracking tools, including Klout or Peer Index, which Brafton’s social media teams have reported can help measure social engagement around brands.
No matter the tools they use to gauge the efficacy of word-of-mouth referrals and social marketing, businesses should look for ways to boost their social measurement as soon as possible. Web Liquid reports that 63 percent of respondents will increase social media marketing this year, and analytics are key to ensuring maximum results in this sector.
In addition to tracking social mentions, marketers should be sure to monitor the amount of traffic driven to their sites by social content marketing. As Brafton has reported, experts agree that integrated content marketing and a consistent brand experience are essential to social media success.
