56% of Marketers Say Social Analytics Make Campaigns More Successful

Netbase recently conducted the “2018 Social Media Marketing Survey: United States and Canada” to understand how top brands are ensuring success in the competitive digital space.

They found that the majority of marketers (56.11 percent) agree that social analytics make their campaigns more successful. However, 37.64 percent are still unsure if they really have an effect, meaning many marketers are still unclear on how to measure social media ROI.

Nearly all respondents (93 percent) agree that measuring social media impact enables brands to connect with their customers more effectively. That being said, it isn’t always easy for marketers to assess the effects of their efforts.

“If insights are too challenging to extract—requiring data scientists, or other high level experts to manage—it’s impossible to democratize their use,” note the authors of the report.

Businesses are using social analytic data primarily to manage their community and engagement efforts (72.36 percent), as well as to inform campaign strategy (63.89 percent) and monitor brand health (55.83 percent).

Marketers’ Ongoing Struggle with Social Media ROI

This is not the first report to hone in on marketers’ challenges with measuring the ROI of social media initiatives.

The “2017 State of Social Marketing” report from Simply Measured found that 61 percent of brand and agency marketers have been challenged to gauge the ROI of their social media initiatives. The majority of agencies (57.8 percent) are using engagement metrics to measure their success.

Nearly 24 percent are utilizing conversion and revenue metrics, and 15.7 percent are using amplification and brand awareness metrics. About 65.7 percent are also trying to align their social media strategies with their business objectives.