Marketers to increase social media budgets, despite lack of measurability

A whopping 96% of World Federation of Advertisers members polled for the research are spending more time and money on social media. However, half of them admitted to being unsure of the likely return on that investment and 9% believe the outcome will be "poor".

Over a quarter (27%) of those who have increased their social media efforts have found running fan pages takes more time and money than they had anticipated. The payoff, they say, is additional insight and increased loyalty (cited by 85%), and the opportunity to increase advocacy (80%). Just 9% found their social activities took less time and cost less than expected.

Marketers looking for success from social strategies can't rest on their laurels. They need to keep on their toes and listen to the fans, who are increasingly expecting more out of their interactions with brands.

Regular posts on fan pages, with news and information, and opportunities to interact are vital, concludes the research, as well as variety, community, new product information, contests and, of course, a bit of fun.

"Marketers that don't regularly add new and interesting content to their fan pages and embrace what their fans want from the page are missing out on an opportunity to build loyalty among some of their most important consumers," said Duncan Southgate, Global Innovation Director at Millward Brown.

Tags: loyalty, marketing budget, ROI, social marketing, social media