Kiwi businesses sharpen social media tools
More than two thirds of New Zealand businesses believe social media is a key tool to increase customer engagement and loyalty, according to a Communication Agencies Association of New Zealand (CAANZ) survey.
The CAANZ Digital Leadership Group (DLG) survey also found that 70 percent of respondents believed social media allowed businesses to develop more meaningful one on one relationships with customers, which in turn allows agencies and marketers to gain a greater insight into customer thinking.
DLG chair Tony Gardner says the survey, which was conducted online by Nielsen in December 2009 with an overall sample of 166 New Zealand marketing professionals, provides a very useful snapshot of where New Zealand businesses across a wide range of industries sit regarding the use of social media.
“What was perhaps most telling was that 84 percent of businesses surveyed planned to allocate less than five percent of the organisation’s marketing budget on social media activities in 2010, at a time when social media is becoming the communication channel of choice for an increasing number of consumers,” he says. “You only have to look at the significant growth in internet engagement compared with other media. According to Nielsen Media Research on channel usage, the percentage of time spent on the internet is now 20.5 percent compared with radio 31.6 percent and television 47.8 percent.”
Limited organisational understanding of social media and a shortage of qualified staff were the main barriers to the increased use of social media for marketing purposes. And it confirmed the DLG’s view that social media will normalise in 2010 and become a fundamental part of the marketing communication mix.
The survey results confirmed the need for a greater focus on social media. The CAANZ DLG is holding a forum on Social Media in Business in Auckland on March 11 and the conference will feature local and international speakers sharing their insights on harnessing the commercial power of social media.
Further details can be found at www.caanz.co.nz.
Gerry Kookmeyer
February 5, 2010
How can SIM become a fundamental part of the marketing communicaiton mix if 84% of businesses won't spend more than 5% of their budget on it?
Thomas Speck
February 5, 2010
Sure social media is going to be important but each business needs to figure out WHY they are going to use it and HOW. If they can't answer those questions they need to stay out of the area as a failed attempt can do much more damage than good.
Unfortunately this advice seems to be nowhere in the article…
courtney lambert @cjlambert
February 8, 2010
Good summary and a yes a real need to understand more. One issue I do see is small business social media strategy (which is quite tactical) being used to give advice to large corporate and govt organisations. The bigger the organisation, the more complex social tools get to integrate with the communications strategy. A real need to make this distinction.