Report: Social Media Deemed Least Effective by Online Marketers

How satisfied are you with the business value your company has achieved by using each of the following marketing channels?

This was the question asked by Forrester Research, where social media advertising had measured up to be the least effective advertising medium when it comes to the opinion of ROI (return on investment) for online marketers when judging “business value” achieved among all online mediums used.

The report, titled “Q3 2013 North American and U.K. Digital Maturity Online”, was based on an online survey of nearly 400 online marketers and was revealed in a blog post titled “An Open Letter to Mark Zuckerberg.” by Nate Elliott, Forrester’s VP and Principal Analyst.

The post, which can be read in it’s entirety here, was based mostly on the ROI of Facebook, specifically, although the reports data details opinions on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Google+, respectively.  Elliott wrote, “While lots of marketers spend lots of money on Facebook today, relatively few find success.”

Now this does not mean you should stop your social media marketing efforts in their tracks. No… Social media is still an important part of marketing online, as well as an important part of what search engines likely use to measure Social Interactions (engagement and buzz on a particular product or brand) in their algorithms.

This research only suggests that marketers deem the least direct return from it in regards to value. There are many hidden benefits from social media marketing be it links, shares, traffic and real world discussion. But it’s interesting non-the-less.

Alternatively, a Q3 Adobe Social Intelligence report, released on October 28th, says its seeing Social ad ROI skyrocket. “Advertisers are getting more ROI than ever before,” Adobe digital analyst Tamara Gaffney said. “Consumers are starting to integrate social into their purchasing behavior.”

John Colascione

About The Author: John Colascione is Chief Executive Officer of SEARCHEN NETWORKS®. He specializes in Website Monetization, is a Google AdWords Certified Professional, authored a how-to book called ”Mastering Your Website‘, and is a key player in several online businesses.