CorpComms Magazine

Seven in ten marketers have little or no understanding of the social media conversations that surround their brand, according to the eighth annual survey of marketers by Alterian.

Indeed, while 38.6 per cent say they use a 'few ad hoc tools' to monitor the discussions, almost three out of ten (28.8 per cent) claim to have 'very little' understanding and 2.6 per cent have none.

Agencies are more likely than in-house marketers to report regularly to management on social media conversations around their brands. The survey claims 44 per cent of agencies report to their bosses about online chatter regarding clients, while just 27 per cent of marketers have similar discussions.

Just 23 per cent of those surveyed believe their brands to be fully engaged with customers, while 57 per cent perceive their brands to be 'somewhat at risk' from not being as engaged as they could be while seven per cent have major concerns but do not know how to start to alleviate the risks.

European respondents are significantly more likely than others to claim that their brands are at risk as a result of poor engagement with clients.

While social media is still a relatively new platform, Marisa Peacock, a media strategist for CMSWire, said: 'Engaging users across social media platforms has become a full time job. Not only do you need to participate, you need to be able to monitor and analyse the chatter. It is no longer enough to simply be active on social media.'

The survey also found that, while 11 per cent of marketers personalise each visitor experience on company websites, one third view the site as a corporate brochure. This lack of personalisation and engagement is a missed opportunity, according to the survey, because customers interact with a corporate website more often than other channels.

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