Whilst the vast majority (75%) of marketers are aware that they can integrate email and social media, only a third are actually doing so, according to new research.
The findings come from a new social media planning and measurement tool, eC-social, from email service provider eCircle.
The three-part social media study conducted over the last six months, has talked to over 5,000 consumers and 600 key marketing decision makers from businesses across Europe.
The research shows that whilst the vast majority (75%) of marketers are aware that they can integrate email and social media, only a third are actually doing so.
Whilst 57% of European companies asked are using email marketing and 44% are using social media, few are managing to fully integrate the channels.
The study also shows that some of the most common tactics in social media such as online adverts are liked the least by consumers.
The study uncovered the fact that marketers are largely ignoring the influence of local networks such as VZ (Germany) and Hyvves (Holland) despite this sites being popular with their target consumers.
The number one reason for companies not using social media was that it is not targeted enough. Concerns around accountability and social media’s inability to prove its impact was also mentioned in 53% of responses.
This was not seen as a problem for email marketing, but marketers would like to see improvements in the reach of the channel. Only 31% of respondents recognised the role of viral as part of their email strategy.
eC-social, a comprehensive new social media platform is being launched from eCircle in response to this problem. Through one dashboard you can access information from a range of online channels, evaluate what is being said, plan strategy as well as produce and distribute content.
The system is designed to give a plug and play solution fitting into existing systems such as Google Analytics, Omniture or Sysmos.
Volker Wiewer, CEO, eCircle comments: “The research confirms that there is a serious gap between marketers approach and what consumers want. It’s surprising to see that less than half of the companies involved in this research are using social media and only a third have developed an integrated programme between their social media and email marketing. With the rise of global marketing there is also a danger that local trends are being missed.
Our clients are increasingly looking for ways to make digital marketing as efficient and effective as possible. eC-social will allow marketers who recognise that they needed to integrate their digital marketing efforts but aren’t yet doing it, a simple way to activate it quickly. The concern around measurement and effectiveness will also be appeased as marketers can track every interaction and observe trends in their campaign using our new product tool.”
Download a PDF version of The European Social Media and Email Marketing Study here.
Find out more about eC-social and request a free demo here.