Brafton has reported that marketers will need to monitor social ROIs this year, and the results of a new survey indicate that CMOs are hopeful about returns on investment in social media. The CMO Club’s survey of 133 CMOs across industries reveals that social marketing is a top priority in 2011.
The majority of respondents (81 percent) expect their annual revenues to be linked to social media in 2011. This is up significantly from expectations last year, when just 44 percent of CMOs anticipated linking revenues to social media.
The report indicates that marketers will, indeed, need to develop new methods for monitoring their returns on leading social platforms. More than half of marketers don’t know how to gauge their ROI on Twitter, and 50 percent are uncertain about the benefits of LinkedIn marketing.
Similarly, half of marketers say they want to focus on measuring the impact of industry blogs on their business this year. (As Brafton has reported, other surveys suggest fresh, engaging content is necessary to see success with a corporate blog, and brands may want to invest in custom content marketing accordingly).
Even as CMOs try to determine the best methods for measuring social success, 64 percent say they will increase their social budgets within the year. Moreover, 72 percent of respondents say they will hold social strategies accountable for sales. The majority of respondents believe social investments will account for up to 10 percent of revenues this year.
Marketers looking to reach social audiences with ads will find no shortage of relevant platforms. Just this week, as Brafton has reported, Facebook unveiled its Sponsored Stories ads, which let social mentions handle brand promoting. Plus, the recent buzz about Twitter’s self-service ad platform that will be released later this year makes clear new social ad channels are on the way.
