Results from the February 2018 CMO Survey indicate that companies currently spend 12% of their marketing budgets on social media. This is up from 3.5% in 2009 when this question was first asked. This increase is expected to accelerate with social media spending predicted to reach 20.5% of marketing budgets in the next five years!
Social Media as a Percent of Marketing Budgets
The key way social media is used in companies is reported to be “brand building and brand awareness,” followed by “acquiring new customers,” “introducing new products and services,” and “retaining current customers.” When asked to rank the top three social media in terms of impact on company performance, the number one tool was social networking, for example Facebook and LinkedIn, followed by blogging, and video sharing.
How Social Media Is Used By Companies
Although the contribution of social media to company performance remains lackluster and unchanged over the last two years, I am very pleased to see companies using social media to focus on key marketing strategy issues and urge this continued focus. This is likely the reason why, when we asked “whether the opportunity to pursue digital marketing opportunities has drawn your company’s attention away from marketing strategy fundamentals,” that 82% of CMOs replied, “No.” Bravo!
Does Social Media Distract From Marketing Strategy Fundamentals?
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