Survey Reveals Disconnect in Social Media Marketing Programs

Coremetrics released results of its second annual 'Face of the New Marketer' survey. This poll of marketing professionals found that social media marketing is quickly gaining popularity as a way to gain competitive edge. However, the survey also revealed that time and budget allocations are not yet reflective of this trend.

The findings included the following:
A clear disconnect between the desirability of social marketing and the budget allocated to it:
-- 78% of respondents see social media marketing as a way to gain
competitive edge, but only 7.75% of total online marketing spend is
devoted to it.
-- This compares with an average of 33% of spend going to online
advertising and 28% to online promotion design and implementation
However, progress is being made in the field:
-- 58% of respondents have implemented user generated content or reviews
in the past year
-- 31% of respondents have implemented a blog in the past year
-- 25% of respondents have implemented an RSS feed in the past year

Search Now Tops for Local Information, says Survey

DDI: 182

Some interesting findings emerge in Nielsen's new survey about local search behavior. Approximately 2000 U.S. consumers were randomly selected from the Nielsen//NetRatings MegaPanel to participate in the survey. Of particular note:

A majority of the survey respondents (73%) say they are over-exposed to advertising. According to the survey, only 24% of people say their shopping habits are never influenced by the ads they see. A roughly equivalent number (72%) say they would prefer finding products and services via search rather than having ads pushed to them. Among the 73% that said they were exposed to too many ads, an overwhelming majority (91%) would prefer using search vs. having ads sent or pushed to them.

Marketers deploying search enginge optimization or keyword strategies for a localized campaign should take note of the Nielsen data for guidance on best practices. This data is particularly useful for campaigns that integrate sponsored links with mapping technology for direct clickthrough to local sites.