With the rise of social networks and participatory trends on the internet, the consumer has given way to setting up their social media strategy. Internet users are increasingly present in the media, where free speech abounds in favor of or against a brand, product, etc.

To reach their target, acquire prospects and build customer loyalty while staying on budget, businesses whatever their size, are now effectively integrating social media into their marketing strategy. The question is no longer whether you need to be present on social networks but how good you are at managing social customer relationships (CRM).

Awareness, Inc., a provider of on-demand social marketing automation software, announced results of its State of Social Media Marketing Survey, which stated that adoption of social CRM systems is low among marketers.

Low adoption of Social CRM

In the report The State of Social Marketing Report: 7 Major Findings & In-Depth Analysis, Awareness said that majority of marketers are planning to use a CRM system by the end of this year. Nearly 16 percent are currently using a social CRM, while 46 percent do not use a system at all. Moreover, 17 percent claim that they are not aware of social CRM, and 21 percent plan to implement a CROM strategy in the coming days.

Companies with social media marketing budgets of more than $100,000 have a high rate of social CRM adoption, with 44 percent having already embraced social CRM and another 26 percent will do so by the end of the year.

Measuring ROI: the biggest challenge

The majority of respondents believe that higher customer engagement (78 percent) and revenues (51 percent) using social marketing can drive business growth, yet nearly one third (66 percent) are still putting effort into growing their social presence and creating social content.

More than 57 percent of respondents said that measuring ROI is their biggest social marketing challenge, as they find it difficult to tie social media results to business plans and to analyze unstructured data (54 percent).

“Our State of Social Media Marketing report reveals that brands struggle to measure ROI, despite the volume of marketers with social media presence and experience,” said Brian Zanghi, CEO of Awareness, Inc. “Brands remain ill-equipped to tie their social marketing initiatives to business results. However, companies experienced in social marketing are applying new technologies to identify and segment prospects and buyers, such as social CRM and social marketing automation to drive business value.”

Facebook and Twitter: preferred communication

The Awareness survey indicates that 65 percent of respondents use community platforms as well as social platforms like Facebook (89 percent) and Twitter (84 percent), followed by LinkedIn (77 percent), YouTube (71 percent) and blogs (61 percent). The rise of Pinterest’s platform can be seen here, with 39 percent saying they use the pin board network, while a further 24 percent plan to do so this year.

Almost all respondents (96 percent) stated that brands’ effectiveness measurement is based on the number of fans and followers on social media, while 89 percent calculate the traffic social draws to their website to measure the effectiveness of a brand.

In addition, 20 percent of respondents do not currently monitor social media for brand mentions, while one third do not monitor social media industry conversations, compared to just 12 percent who do.

Given the extent of the phenomenon and the market potential social networks offered into their marketing strategy, it seems obvious today for marketers to integrate it as part of business plans. The challenge is not to choose a communication channel to reach the customer, but to identify favorite channels and create an interactive relationship between the advertiser and the consumer.