Nearly two-thirds of chief marketing officers are planning to invest in content creation for social media during the next 12 months, making this the most popular marketing activity by a significant margin. That is one of the main takeaways from the latest annual report published by thought leader The CMO Survey.
Social media marketing spend is expected to soar during the next five years and account for 19 per cent of total budgets, and it is clear that content remains king, as engaging and informative articles and videos will be a main focus for investment. In total, 62.6 per cent of respondents said that they are already using these resources to ensure that marketing investment delivers desired performance gains.
Content tops the list of company investments in social media, but modern enterprises appear slightly less enthusiastic about spending on analytics (43.6 per cent), social listening (41.5 per cent) and campaign optimisation (41.5 per cent). This suggests that brands could benefit from working with a digital agency that would be able to make sure that content reaches a target audience and increases conversion rates.
The need for a knowledgeable third party is also highlighted by the fact that enterprises are generally only making four types of investment on average, which means that certain worthwhile activities are being overlooked. The report noted that brands should leverage more core marketing activities, as this would drive better results.
In terms of goals and objectives, 46.1 per cent of marketing officers are using content and social media to build their brand and increase awareness. This is the primary aim, as there was a notable drop off to acquiring new customers (31.4 per cent), introducing new products and services (28.9 per cent) and retaining current customers (28.4 per cent).
Brands have a staggering number of platforms and tools at their disposal across social media, and Salesforce has urged marketers to take advantage of Instagram’s new multiple-image posting feature. The visual platform now has a user base of more than 700 million, and creative clips and breath-taking stills have been championed by Salesforce for their ability to tell brand stories in new and exciting ways.
