Local Social Marketing In Need of a Solution

by Jack Loechner, Aug 25, 2010, 2:45 PM

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According to a new poll of brand marketers by Harris Interactive for Buddy Media, 72% of brand managers agree that social media offers great potential to reach existing and potential customers across the globe, but they are lacking tools and information to leverage it successfully.

On the heels of Facebook's announcement that it has reached 500 million users worldwide, the largest and fastest-growing two-way communication platform in the world, few companies are using Facebook to reach customers globally. According to the poll only one-third of large companies with revenues in excess of $100M are currently using Facebook to do so.

The biggest obstacles brand managers at large companies face when using social media to reach customers globally, says the report, include: Managing and maintaining information; Measuring success; and Keeping region and country-specific content fresh.

Major Obstacles in Using Social Media to Reach Local Market Customers (% of Brand Managers)
Obstacle	% of Respondents Agreeing
Tracking or measuring success or ROI	48%
Managing information	45
Engaging audience	42
Identifying influencers to carry brand message	39
Keeping specific content fresh	32
Posting multimedia content	28
Tracking real time metrics	24
Finding creative for online social marketing	23
Tools to customize content anywhere	22
Source: Buddy Media / Harris Interactive, August 2010

Michael Lazerow, CEO and Founder of Buddy Media, says "... in order for bands to effectively reach consumers across the globe, they need to ... think global and act local... cost, scale, segmented audiences, inconsistent design and incomplete analytics... all local branding dilemmas... when it comes to social marketing."

The study found that 93% of marketers considered it at least somewhat challenging to reach audiences in local markets with a unified brand message, and the most popular tactics used to market to local audiences were websites with local content (69%), print ads (62%) and event promotion (59%). Less than half of respondents used social media fan pages for this purpose, and less than one in three used paid social media advertising.

The. Websites with local content were considered the most effective tactic, named by 30% of brand marketers, compared with just 10% who thought fan pages were best.

Very Effective Tactics for Reaching Local Market Customers (% of US Brand Managers, June 2010)
Tactic	% of Respondents
Websites with local content	30%
TV ads	18
Print ads	15
Local programs offering products	11
Radio ads	10
Social media fan pages	10
Paid social media	7
Banner ads	5
Text messages	3
Source: Buddy Media / Harris Interactive, August 2010

Please visit here for more information and access to the PDF file of the study.

 

 

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0 comments on "Local Social Marketing In Need of a Solution".

1. Fiona Posell from Produce Communications
   

   commented on: August 25, 2010 at 3:38 p.m.

   Great article. Can't seem to access the PDF of the full report. Have requested the info from their PR firm directly.

2. Phil Goodman from Western Media Corp.
   

   commented on: September 21, 2010 at 2:40 p.m.

   Try reaching generational mindsets to deliver your message. It will improve your ROI. Go to Genergraphics.com and see for yourself.

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