It’s seems that every company now has some sort of social media presence. Today, you almost have to. Having a social media presence has quickly become an expectation of most consumers. Yet, there are some out there who doubt whether social media is worth the investment. It’s easy to forget that for social media to be effective it takes time, resources and money all of which can raise some concerns. Well, today the rubber meets the road. If you’re a little skeptical that social media may not be worth it, I have some interesting facts that may just change your mind.
Last month social commerce company, Bazaarvoice, released a survey of 100 members of The CMO Club. Now I know what you’re thinking: “100…seems like a pretty small sample size to me!” Well that may be true, I do want to call your attention to the fact that 56% of the brands included in the survey have more than $1 billion in annual revenue while another 36% have $100-999 million in annual revenue. So, it’s safe to say that those surveyed definitely pack a punch.
Some of the key findings of the survey included:
- Social (media) data impacts decision for nearly all CMOs. Almost half of CMOs have used social data to make predictions or forecasts, and nearly nine in ten say this data has influenced their decisions.
- CMOs believe social reveals consumer sentiment and improves brand awareness. CMOs are most confident in social data analysis of product/service sentiment, and in its impact on overall brand loyalty and awareness.
While those two findings are good, they are a little expected. Here’s the real juicy bit, what do these powerful CMOs believe when it comes to social media’s effect on the big three: Brand Awareness, Brand Loyalty and Sales.
As you can see, it speaks volumes that CMOs, perhaps unlike their fellow c-suite peers, realize that social media is here to stay – yes I know, but there are some who still think that social media is a “fad”- and that it can play a significant role in the bottom line.
It’s also important to note that it appears CMOs realize that social media is a reflection of the universe in which they live. The graph below shows that a large number of CMOs surveyed believe that “social media is effective for identifying discernible trends among customers.
According to Erin Mulligan, CMO, Bazaarvoice, “In a consumer-obsessed C-suite, the CMOs are the chief customer advocates and social (media) data is their ultimate weapon. Social data lets CMOs truly know their customers and predict consumer’ future needs before they even have them. Nearly all CMOs now use this data to drive decisions. As the business world re-centers around serving and delighting consumers, social data is turning CMOs into customer champions – and heroes within the C-suite. And as an industry, we have just started to tap into the potential of social data.”
Social media is an important tool in an organization’s belt. It gives important perspective as to how they are doing as well as playing an integral part in the bottom line. So if you haven’t invested in your company’s social media strategy, you really should.