Marketers are all-in for social media in the UK, but need to be careful to target receptive users
As social networks become a part of the everyday routine of consumers in the UK, marketers need to think carefully about how their social media ads are being seen.
A February 2012 survey by YouGov, an online public opinion and consumer behavior firm in the UK, found that 18% of internet users surveyed in the country did not mind being served ads based on data culled from their social media profiles and activities.
However, the percentage that didn’t mind social media ads was dwarfed by those that did, at 47%. Thirty percent had no opinion about social media ads based on their social media activities.
“It appears that whilst social media can be a key tool in the brand marketer’s armoury,” said Dan Brilot, media consulting director at YouGov, in a statement, “it has not quite reached the effectiveness necessary to be considered as a truly mass media marketing tool.”
Still, marketers seem to be overlooking effectiveness and focusing instead on the potential for exposure: eMarketer forecasts 25.9 million social network users in the UK by the end of this year, or 41% of the total population. According to a June 2011 survey of US and UK senior marketers by InSites Consulting, only 9% indicated that they did not use any social media marketing to promote their organization.
Brilot added a bit of advice marketers would be wise to keep in mind: “With the ability to share, tweet and interact on any kind of site almost a given, social media services increasingly need to have an extra raison d’être beyond merely being ‘social’ to make an impact in today’s crowded market.”
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Check out today’s other articles, “Omnichannel Shopping Puts a New Spin on Ecommerce” and “Search, Social Media Important Indicators of Branding Effectiveness.”