- Brian Morrissey

NEW YORK More marketers are using social media and emerging communications channels but many remain wary of the return they'll get from those investments, according to a new survey from Forrester Research.
 
Forrester's annual report on interactive marketing channels, based on a survey of 333 marketers, found strong and growing interest in relatively all new channels such as social media, online video and user-generated content. Tactics involving social networks, podcasts and user-generated content all showed 100 percent increases in marketer use compared to a similar survey conducted by Forrester last year.
 
Yet, that enthusiasm was tempered by the pressure to measure the impact of such initiatives in new channels without established metrics. For example, 68 percent of respondents said they adopt new techniques "only after they're proven."
 
That tends to benefit Internet marketing standbys like search and display ads and e-mail marketing, while newer methods of reaching consumers don't fare as well. In fact, Forrester notes that 15 percent of respondents said they "don't know" their goals for widget and mobile marketing efforts.
 
That said, measurement is a challenge for most forms of Internet marketing. Over half said they struggle to properly gauge search marketing, reputedly the most accountable online tactic. For online video, 58 percent said measuring effectiveness was the top challenge.
 
Not all emerging channels fared equally in marketer's eyes, including some high-profile tactics. In-game advertising does not attract much advertiser interest. Just 18 percent of marketers said they're currently doing it, and 67 percent said they have no plans to use it. Forrester recorded a drop in activity from a year earlier, when 24 percent used in-game marketing.

Mobile marketing also got a tepid response. Twenty-eight percent of marketers say they're using it, while 36 percent have no plans. Widgets also scored on the low end, with 37 percent saying they had no plans in the area.