WASHINGTON, DC: Most consumer packaged goods companies in the US are still "wall flowers" when it comes to using social media to connect with consumers, a new study has found.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association, the trade industry body, conducted an informal survey of its members in order to assess their current and future plans relating to this emerging platform.
It received a total of 22 responses from its sample, and found that 64% of this group intended to transfer at least some of their marketing budget away from traditional channels and towards social media.
However, 53% of participating organisations also described themselves as being “wall flowers” in this space at present.
More specifically, around half had established a presence on Facebook, a figure that fell to 41% for setting up at least one account on Twitter, and 29% for producing a corporate blog.
Marketing departments took “ownership” of managing such social media initiatives in 70% of cases, while 76% of firms had developed internal rules governing how their staff should act on these services.
With regard to the main uses of these web properties, 82% of the sample employed them as a means for dealing with issues raised by their customers.
A majority of respondents were hoping to derive revenues directly from this channel, but only 9% said utilising this medium had generated more resources than it had cost to date.
Some 54% also had no formalised system in place to track the impact of their efforts on these sites, the GMA found.
The most popular metrics implemented by those contributors attempting to measure specific results were how many people had reclaimed coupons, and the online conversion rate.
Other such tools were the frequency and tone of relevant “comments” posted on the web, the amount of people registering as “fans” of a brand, and the traffic driven to dedicated campaign websites.
Summing up its findings, the GMA argued that many consumer packaged goods specialists are still "grasping at what, how and who to get involved in social media."
Measurement remains "a big question mark" for most, but the almost "endless" opportunities provided by social media will lead to a continuing uptick interest in this type of communication, it added.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association, the trade industry body, conducted an informal survey of its members in order to assess their current and future plans relating to this emerging platform.
It received a total of 22 responses from its sample, and found that 64% of this group intended to transfer at least some of their marketing budget away from traditional channels and towards social media.
However, 53% of participating organisations also described themselves as being “wall flowers” in this space at present.
More specifically, around half had established a presence on Facebook, a figure that fell to 41% for setting up at least one account on Twitter, and 29% for producing a corporate blog.
Marketing departments took “ownership” of managing such social media initiatives in 70% of cases, while 76% of firms had developed internal rules governing how their staff should act on these services.
With regard to the main uses of these web properties, 82% of the sample employed them as a means for dealing with issues raised by their customers.
A majority of respondents were hoping to derive revenues directly from this channel, but only 9% said utilising this medium had generated more resources than it had cost to date.
Some 54% also had no formalised system in place to track the impact of their efforts on these sites, the GMA found.
The most popular metrics implemented by those contributors attempting to measure specific results were how many people had reclaimed coupons, and the online conversion rate.
Other such tools were the frequency and tone of relevant “comments” posted on the web, the amount of people registering as “fans” of a brand, and the traffic driven to dedicated campaign websites.
Summing up its findings, the GMA argued that many consumer packaged goods specialists are still "grasping at what, how and who to get involved in social media."
Measurement remains "a big question mark" for most, but the almost "endless" opportunities provided by social media will lead to a continuing uptick interest in this type of communication, it added.
Data sourced from Mediapost; additional content by Warc staff
