infoTECH Feature

July 08, 2011

Social Media Ranked as Most Effective Marketing Channel

Many local businesses rank social media as the most effective marketing channel over paid research, according to Roost, a technology company.

Roost assists local businesses to find new customers and increase repeat business through social channels.

The technology company will be releasing quarterly reports on the state of local business and its use of social media. These reports will focus on top-of-mind topics and trends for local business, related to social media.

According to the recent Roost survey, social marketing is the most effective channel for 71.4 percent of small businesses. This is four times more than the 15 percent who responded with traditional paid search marketing’.

Around 87.3 percent of the respondents said social marketing is either somewhat important or very important. Of the social networks local business tend to use most, 84.1 percent reported Facebook was the most effective for their business.

Around 46.1 percent use social media to market their business because it saves money. Social marketing is good for the bottom line, while bringing enjoyment to the work day, as nearly 45 percent of respondents chose ‘It’s a fun way to interact with people’ as the main reason they use social media.

Though it is considered an effective channel for most of the Roost respondents, social media does not come without its challenges for local businesses. According to 45 percent of respondents, they are not sure how to measure success.

“What we see with these results are that social media marketing is an incredibly valuable part of a local business’s arsenol for success,” said Alex Chang, CEO of Roost, in a statement.

“There’s a low barrier to entry because it’s free and easy to get started with it. It’s also fun and a great way to interact with customers, many of whom prefer social media to other marketing channels. And most importantly, it works. These are all very important factors to local businesses who often have little time and budget but who want to attract new customers and grow their businesses,” Chang added.

Recently, SAS marketing director Jonathan Hornby said that instead of focusing on revenue or profit associated with an individual's or household's transactions, organizations are now starting to think about the value of influence and collaboration - particularly given the growth of social media.


Rajani Baburajan is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Rajani's articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Tammy Wolf
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