The 2014 Social Media Marketing Industry Report proves social media marketing continues to grow for any business that “sells.” For business owners, including retailers, social media is mandatory to increase sales and remain competitive.
Top Benefits
According to the report published by socialmediaexaminer.com, the top two benefits of social media marketing are increasing exposure and increasing traffic.
Increased Exposure: The vast majority of marketers (95%+) reported that with as little as six hours per week, social media efforts were proven to increase their business exposure. Not to mention, almost all marketers (93%+) who’ve been using social media as a marketing tool for one year or more report it generated exposure for their businesses as well.
Increased Traffic: A total of 84%+ of marketers noticed an increase in traffic with as little as six hours per week used for social media marketing. When comparing participants who had used social media for one year or more to those with less experience, increased traffic reports at 79%.
Most Important Content
Marketers were asked to pick the single most important form of content for their business. A total of 58% of marketers selected original written content as their most important. Coming in at number two are visual assets at 19%, and original video ranks third at 12%. The high level of importance for writing and blogging is revealed in this chart.
Changing Content Activities
While social media marketing continues growing, it is also constantly changing. It’s important for marketers to observe social media trends to know how to effectively reach their audience. Aside from what forms of social media to use, marketers must be aware of what kind of content will best capture their audiences. Respondents plan to increase use of original written content (81%), original videos (73%), original visual assets (such as infographics) (70%), curation of outside content (46%), and original audio (33%).
Gauging Your Time ROI
The survey reported 64% of marketers are using social media for 6 hours or more and 37% for 11 or more hours per week. It’s also reported nearly 19% of marketers spend more than 20 hours each week on their social media platforms.
There is a direct correlation between the length of time marketers have been using social media and the amount of time per week they commit to it. For those just beginning with social media (less than 12 months of experience), 51% report to spending five hours or less per week. However, it’s important to note that 65% of marketers who have been doing this for two or more years report to spending six hours or more per week on their social media activities.
If you’re wondering how the size of your business should affect the amount of time you spend on social media activities, take a look at the chart below. As you will see, businesses who have 1-5 or 6-10 employees are the groups who spend the most time on their social media activity.
