Brafton has reported that measuring social media ROI is poised to be a top priority among businesses this year, with more than half of marketers planning to monitor social mentions. […]

Brafton has reported that measuring social media ROI is poised to be a top priority among businesses this year, with more than half of marketers planning to monitor social mentions. Brands that target young shoppers may find that monitoring social chatter will offer valuable insight – and keep them busy.

A recent survey from Colloquy shows that more than half of young shoppers (56 percent) talk about products and services via social networks. In fact, social networks proved one of the top three brand discussion forums among this consumer group.

Adoption of social media brand conversations is less prevalent among the general population. Still, Colloquy found that more than one-third of all Americans (35 percent) turn to social networks for product chatter.

Plus, the experts say the number of influential consumers who dish about brands on social sites is steadily rising. “[The] 48 percent of [word-of-mouth] champions who belong to a loyalty program and reported using social networking communities in 2011 is a significant jump over the 27 percent in our 2009 study,” says the company.

Marketers must make sure they have a presence on social spaces in order to participate in the conversations about their brands – and keeping track of brand conversations could pay off. As Brafton has reported, 81 percent of CMOs think social investments will return revenues this year.

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.