Commentary

Local Social Marketing In Need of a Solution

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.

 

 

2 comments about "Local Social Marketing In Need of a Solution".
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  1. Fiona Posell from Produce Communications, 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., 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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