2014 Social Media Marketing Industry Report

Mike Stelzner over at Social Media Examiner has published the�6th Annual Social Media Marketing Industry Report�based on a survey of over 2,800 marketers.

It’s a pretty robust report at 50 pages and covers the gamut of social media marketing topics from the most important social platforms for marketing to the most important social content types to the ways marketers will be changing their approach to social media in the future.

Some of the highlights include:

92% of marketers say social media is important for their business (up from 86%)58% of marketers say original written content is the most important form of content68% of marketers plan on increasing their use of blogging61% of marketers plan to increase Google+ activities in 20146% of marketers are podcasting and 21% plan to increase podcasting activityFacebook and LinkedIn are the two most important social networks for marketers64% of marketers plan on increasing their use of LinkedIn

You really get a lot of details in this report on all major social networks and activities including Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, Vine, Forums, Podcasting, Snapchat and categories like mobile, social review sites and social bookmarking.

SME also asked some great questions about time spent on social, measuring ROI, outsourcing, types of content, integration with other marketing tactics and what other forms of marketing that social media marketers were using.

Top Goals and Benefits of Social Media Marketing

The top benefits cited for social media marketing include top of funnel objectives like increased exposure (92%) and increased traffic (80%). While that is to be expected, what is interesting is that the more time marketers have been at social media marketing, the more social media helped them improve sales.

The�breakdown between B2B and B2C social platforms that were most�important to marketers was interesting as always:

Top B2B Social Media Platforms:33% LinkedIn31% Facebook16% Twitter11% Blogging3% Google+3% YouTubeTop B2C Social Media Platforms68% Facebook10% Twitter6% Blogging6% LinkedIn2% YouTube2% Google+2% Pinterest1% Social Review Sites (Yelp)

The amount of importance placed on Facebook isn’t surprising given their popularity. I guess Marketers have resolved to accept Facebook as an advertising platform more than an organic social network.

Another interesting point is that only�11% of�B2B marketers and 6% of B2C marketers find blogging most important while 68% say they plan on increasing their use of blogging in the coming year.

Recent UMass Dartmouth studies show the biggest increase in Fortune 500 companies blogging in their 2013 report so blogging is definitely a future area of focus.�Marketers are optimistic about blogging, but I think shiny social network syndrome has them distracted from the true value blogging brings to social media success.

There’s a lot to digest and a lot of insights to be gleaned so be sure to get your copy of the report over at Social Media Examiner�for free while available (Until May 30th).

In the meantime, what are the primary benefits you are seeing from social media and networks? Are you integrating social across marketing and communications or is it treated more independently?