For social success, think content

The survey of 457 corporate management and marketing/sales management professionals revealed the vast majority (85%) thought original content to be the key to the success of any social media campaign.

The resulting report, "Social Media Usage, Attitudes and Measurability: What Do Marketers Think?", also found that, in many companies (43%), demonstrating positive results for social media initiatives is not yet a requirement for funding.

"It goes without saying that any marketing tactic is ultimately rooted in a company's desire to strengthen customer bonds and/or generate leads, but social media is an ideal platform for engaging in regular dialogues with customer bases and prospects," said Gordon Plutsky, director of marketing and research, King Fish Media.

"This research confirms what we've been saying for years: content is the key to creating an emotional connection. Social media has clearly emerged as a dynamic vehicle for delivering it to the right people in their preferred format."

Additional findings from the report include:

- 72% of companies currently have a social media strategy and of those that don't, 80% intend to develop one in the coming year

- 67% focus social media efforts on their company as a whole

- 41% use social media to promote an individual within their firm

- 24% use social media to promote a specific brand.

Despite the growing use of social media, under 10% of the companies surveyed employ social media managers full-time even though most (85%) are handling their social media marketing internally. Instead, the majority (90%) incorporate social media tasks into an existing employee's role.

However, as MarketingVox recently pointed out, some firms, including PEPCO and TransMedia Group, are now looking to hire full-time social media managers.

Tags: content, management, social marketing