2011 Social Marketing Benchmark Report – MarketingSherpa

• 142 Charts and analytical commentary
• Research from 3,342 B2B and B2C marketers
• Special sections on CMO perspectives on social marketing ROI, monitoring and budgeting
• Top tatics and platforms for effective social marketing, integration and social CRM
• Social media success stories: Six campaigns that increased sales

Social Marketing Delivering ROI

As social media’s impact on marketing continues to grow and evolve strategic organizations are now finding ways to monetize the channel. Not long ago social media was defined in terms of “awareness” and “engagement”, this is no longer the case. Marketers now are not only projecting ROI, they are delivering it through social media integration, brand awareness, converting members and followers into paying customers and developing an effective social marketing strategy.

MarketingSherpa’s third annual benchmark on social media marketing examines how these organizations are overcoming the challenge of social media monetization, and details which strategies have proven to be most effective for achieving this important objective.

In the all-new 2011 Social Marketing Benchmark Report you’ll receive a comprehensive reference guide containing nearly 150 charts with analytical commentary, hundreds of informative insights from your peers, several case studies of real-life social marketing campaigns and more.

Key findings from the 2011 Social Marketing Benchmark Report include:

• CMO priorities have changed – now it’s “Show me the Money”
• Spending projections stack up to last year’s substantial increases
• Fast and easy often trumps social marketing effectiveness
• Social CRM integration an early stage strategy with momentum

This 209 page report helps you gain a deeper knowledge of the key issues from social media monitoring, budgeting, top tactics and platforms for effective social marketing.

7 Highlights of this year’s study

• Strategic priorities of CMOs and senior marketing executives for social marketing
• Why the most important objectives for social marketing address the most difficult challenges
• Values and costs organizations are using to calculate the ROI of social marketing
• How organizations are allocating social media budgets and where these budgets reside
• The usage, effectiveness and difficulty of social marketing tactics and platforms
• How marketers are integrating social media with other tactics in the inbound marketing mix
• How agencies view their clients’ social marketing efforts

Special Sections: New Social Insights, Tactics, and Charts

The 2011 Social Marketing Benchmark Report is more than just data. This all-new report gives you analysis and insight on topics critical to the future success of social marketers:

• Social marketing programs averaging 95% ROI
• Tools and solutions to measure the impact of social marketing
• Social marketing budgets averaging 11%
• Best social media platforms used for executing tactics
• Social media and search optimization – inbound marketing’s powerful pair
• Users measuring the customer impact of their SCRM solution
• Online forum brand building and giveaway offer gets 83% CTR
• Agency perspectives: Clients increasing social marketing spending up to 50%

What Others Have Said about MarketingSherpa’s Social Marketing Benchmark Report?

“I thought the report was great. The most important insight to me was the finding that the biggest barrier to social media is “lack of knowledgeable staff.” I’m encountering that exact situation with a major client now and it helped me figure out where the difficulties moving forward would be.”
-Karen Gedney, Creative Consultant and Copywriter, Karen Gedney Communications

“Social Media Marketing Benchmark Report is a great educational tool when working with of our clients or in new business pitches. We have an interactive practice group within the company – so staying cutting edge is critical.”
-Sharon Goldmacher, President, Communications21

“For me, the specific case-studies are what are most valuable. Those really help with understanding real-world possibilities and ideas for practical implementation.”
-John Schwartz, Project Manager, 5Q Communications

2011 Social Marketing Benchmark Report Summary Table of Contents:

Chapter 1: Social Media Marketing Maturity, Challenges and Objectives (p.7-28)

• Reaching the strategic phase of social marketing maturity a challenge
• Challenges to social marketing effectiveness in 2010
• Objectives focused on overcoming most frustrating challenges
• Objectives for social marketing in 2011
• Marketer insights on their changing expectations for social media marketing

Chapter 2: CMO Perspectives on the Monetization of Social Marketing for ROI (p.29-54)

• Strategic social marketing priorities for CMOs in 2011
• CMO confidence in social marketing ROI driving investment
• CMO insights on making a business case for social marketing ROI
• Social marketing programs about to reach an ROI turning point
• Values that translate into the “return” in social marketing ROI
• Costs that translate into the “investment” in social marketing ROI

Chapter 3: Monitoring How Social Media is Used and Measuring the Impact (p.55-74)

• Marketers are measuring what matters in social marketing and beyond
• Tools and solutions used to measure the impact of social marketing
• Marketer insights on monitoring and measuring social media marketing
• Consumers weigh in on who they are and how they use social media

Chapter 4: Budgeting for the Human Factor (p.75-102)

• Where the social media marketing budget resides
• Social marketing programs averaging 11% of the total marketing budget
• Where the social marketing money goes
• Online spending increasing more than decreasing – not so for offline tactics
• Organizations continue to increase social marketing budgets – substantially
• Marketer insights on the value of social marketing

Chapter 5: Top Tactics and Platforms for Effective Social Marketing (p.103-144)

• Social media marketing – how are you doing it
• When it comes to usage, “fast and easy” trumps tactical effectiveness
• Tactical degree of difficulty
• Tactical level of effectiveness
• Marketer insights on extraordinary results achieved from tactics used
• Regulating employee use of social media for marketing purposes
• Social media platforms used for executing tactics
• Changes in platforms used for marketing purposes
• Marketer insights on platforms used to produce an extraordinary result

Chapter 6: Social Media Integration and the Impact on Inbound Marketing (p.145-164)

• To what extent are marketers integrating social media?
• The use of social media integration tactics to optimize traffic to landing pages
• Social media and SEO – inbound marketing’s powerful pair
• Social media marketers have strong opinions about inbound marketing
• Marketer insights on inbound marketing strategy and tactics

Chapter 7: SCRM – Integrating Social Media Data to Extend the CRM Strategy (p.165-176)

• Social CRM increasingly important to managing social customer relationships
• Users measuring the customer impact of their SCRM solution
• Marketer insights on business needs SCRM fulfills

Chapter 8: Social Marketing Success – Six Campaigns that Increased Sales (p.177-182)

• Case Briefing: Social media giveaway campaign lifts sales 15%
• Case Briefing: Reaching influencers via social networks and advertising
• Case Briefing: Social media, videos and contest change brand perceptions
• Case Briefing: Product launch campaign ‘localizes’ a brand on social media
• Case Briefing: Integrated sms, social and email capitalizes on weather event
• Case Briefing: Online forum brand building and giveaway offer gets 83% CTR

Chapter 9: Agency Perspectives on Their Clients’ Social Marketing Campaigns (p.183-192)

• The promise of social marketing ROI driving client investment
• Agencies expect 78% of clients to increase social spending up to 50%
• Tactical effectiveness
• Tactical integration
• Social media platform usage
• Agency insights on client campaign strategy and tactics