Senior marketers expect spend for new media and online initiatives to increase in the next year despite the poor economy
"The PR industry has a remarkable opportunity to prove the value of what we do in the digital space. We must take ownership of this area and do better in measuring the immense impact these techniques can have on our clients' businesses."
–
Mark Hass
Chief executive officer of MS&L Worldwide
The sixth annual PRWeek/Manning Selvage & Lee (MS&L) survey by Millward Brown polled 252 U.S. chief marketing officers, VPs of marketing and marketing directors and managers, focused on digital and consumer generated media, marketing ethics and the role of public relations in the marketing mix.
Their findings show that despite weakened economic conditions over 75% of senior marketers expect spending for new media and online initiatives to increase in the next year.
The one thing marketers overwhelmingly agree on is that they would “most likely” cut from other disciplines before turning to digital if forced to scale back budgets as a result of poor economic conditions in this order.
· Advertising (35%)
· Point-of-sale marketing (29%)
· Public relations (16%)
· Direct marketing (16%)
· Digital (4%)
CGM is the marketing discipline seen as the top priority over the next 6-12 months by nearly three in ten (28%) despite its relative newness. Marketers view CGM as a tool for supporting brand and reputation:
CGM is important for creating brand awareness (68%)
... is the same phenomen to observe. I live in Europe, there was a few weeks ago the same survey. The results were almost the same too. Interesting for german speaking people is that website: Internet Marketing Strategie (based on the survey) Unfortunatly not in english.
I couldn't agree more with the findings of this industry survey.
At our firm, social media services now account for more than a third of our total revenue, and this will likely double by this time next year. We are seeing increasing demand for such services as part of our more existing engagements and, in some cases, prospects have deferred earned media-focused programs altogether, seeing greater ROI in the CGM alternative.
As a result, we have evolved our professional development programs accordingly, requiring that all staff block out time each week to become proficient in blogging/blogger relations, social network engagement, new media utilization and community creation. The ultimate goal in this endeavor, beyond new business growth and client retention, is to more effectively educate, engage and entertain the diverse industry stakeholders less readily influenced through more traditional communications tactics.
