The survey also revealed that Twitter was the most popular social media channel, followed by LinkedIn and Facebook. And social bookmarking services and paid channels including promoted tweets were cited as the least popular tools.
The gap between cost and return for social marketing may have something to do with social media protocols within companies, which are still evolving. As uncovered by the survey:
- Approximately 11% of marketers said their companies have a formal social media policy;
- 55% of respondents said contacting a social media-generated sales lead by phone or email is appropriate, even if the prospect had not invited the vendor to do so;
- Meanwhile, 48% said it is appropriate to respond to a prospect via social media, if the prospect contacted the vendor via email or phone first;
- 100% of respondents said it is acceptable to invite a prospect to join a marketer’s online social networks, though some suggested the invites be limited to networks such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Quora, Plaxo and YouTube, versus more personal sites like Facebook; and
- 31% said it is acceptable to critique a competitor via social media.
“Social media is an exciting and enticing sales and marketing medium, but best practices are clearly still emerging,” said Adam Blitzer, Co-Founder and COO of Pardot, which recently introduced a series of social media management tools for small business marketers.
Another obstacle facing marketers who are engaged in social media are the tools and services they use for implementing and measuring their campaigns. According to the survey, over 64% of respondents use “internal, free tools” only to manage social media campaigns, while just 9% rely on an outside agency or social media expert for help.
“There’s no question social media can be a powerful tool for establishing community and generating leads,” Blitzer said. “But to optimize its value, social media efforts should be monitored carefully and integrated into broader content and lead nurturing programs.”
