Winds of Change: Marketers Now Convinced Social Drives ROI (Report)

Social isn't just for top-of-the-funnel anymore. The latest Salesforce State of Marketing report, released today, shows that marketers are convinced that social marketing can drive return on investment. An amazing 77 percent of the 3,975 marketers polled by Salesforce said that social can drive ROI (compared with just 31 percent last year). Even further: 39 percent said social generates "significant ROI," a stance shared by just 9 percent of those polled last year. Additionally, most marketing leaders told Salesforce they plan to increase their spend on social media, with 67 percent planning to boost social marketing budgets, 67 percent planning to spend more on social engagement and 65 percent planning to put more money behind advertising on social channels. For many, this next stat will seem obvious. Salesforce found that those who are happy with their company's achievements on social are 11x more likely than an underperformer to respond to customers on social. High-performing marketers were also more likely to tie content marketing to ROI: 47 percent of top-performing marketers said content marketing drove return, compared to 8 percent of underperformers. Marketers whose companies deeply integrated social were also the most pleased with their efforts. These marketers are putting their money where their mouth is. The report shows that 65 percent of marketers polled currently advertise on social—and 71 percent feel their efforts are effective. Interestingly, marketers are also raving about video: 54 percent of those polled currently use video ads and 21 percent plan to do so this year. Video marketing was actually crowned as most effective, as 72 percent of marketers agreed that video advertising is effective. Mobile marketing is also on the rise. Salesforce found that 77 percent of those polled believed mobile marketing efforts helped the bottom line, compared to 31 percent in 2015. In this year's survey, 38 percent of marketing leaders polled said mobile drove significant ROI; 21 percent of marketers felt similarly in last year's study. Here's a look at what marketers said were the most effective mobile techniques for ROI: Scott McCorkle, CEO of the Salesforce Marketing Cloud, elaborated on the results of the report in a press release: The rise of the connected customer is forcing marketing to evolve from delivering outbound campaigns to managing personalized experiences that engage the customer from day one and guide them through a seamless journey with the brand. The results of our research show that high-performing marketers that change their mindsets, tactics and technology to embrace a customer journey strategy will reap the benefits. The full report can be viewed here. Readers: Do you believe that social marketing is now effective at driving ROI? Top image courtesy of scyther5 / Shutterstock.com.

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Winds of Change: Marketers Now Convinced Social Drives ROI (Report)

An amazing 77 percent of the 3,975 marketers polled by Salesforce said that social can drive ROI (compared with just 31 percent last year).

Justin Lafferty

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Justin Lafferty