Examining the Current State of Social Marketing (Infographic)

Social media may be an integrated and essential part of most marketing strategies, but measuring the return on the investment and taking action based on social media insights still presents a challenge to many marketing teams. Aninfographic from Morrison Foerster examines the current landscape of social marketing, and the challenges marketers still face.

Predictably, Facebook still dominates, with 96 percent of B2C and 88 percent of B2B ventures using the site. However, Instagram is on the rise: 42 percent of B2C enterprises surveyed are using the site, which seems to be a wise bet, as engagement rates for the visual platform are higher than Facebook.

Niche marketing as a whole is on the rise. Pinterest is now used for marketing by 90 percent of specialty businesses in the U.S., and 84 percent of luxury brands use Pinterest for marketing. Catering to niches, especially through highly visual mediums seems to be a winning strategy for the long term, given Pinterest and Instagram’s continued success.

However, there are still significant challenges for marketers, chief among them, demonstrating the value gained from social media campaigns, with almost half of marketers being unable to do so. Additionally, 60 percent have trouble demonstrating ROI, and only 15 percent can show the quantitative effect of social media marketing on their business.

Even with access to quality social media data, only 41 percent of organizations agree that they are able to capitalize on the data provided. 50 percent agree that tying social activities to business outcomes is among their top three challenges.

For information showing that your company should persevere, and to see how users continue to engage even as brands fail to meet expectations, view the infographic below.