Irish marketers understand that using social media carries with it major opportunities as well as risks. 79% of marketers [surveyed by AMAS] believe social media tools allow them to understand audiences better, 68% think they provide opportunities to make valuable connections and 46% see cost savings associated with marketing via social media channels.
Marketers primarily use social media for relationship building (84%), creating brand awareness (76%) and for following online conversations about companies, brands and people (66%).
However, they say social media has its downsides:
• 61% say that it has increased their workloads
• 51% have concerns about damage to a company’s reputation
• 52% find a challenge in keeping up to date with what is happening in the social media space
• 39% have a fear of making mistakes that can’t be corrected on social media sites
The 2011 Irish Digital Marketing Sentiment Survey, is published by AMAS in partnership with the Marketing Institute of Ireland.
“The survey is a barometer of changing marketing behaviour in Ireland,” said Aileen O’Toole, managing director of online consultancy AMAS. “The results show that marketers are continuing to move their budgets online. Some traditional forms of advertising are losing out to advertising across a bewildering array of digital channels.”
43% of those surveyed had moved their marketing spend away from newspapers, while 41% had moved it away from direct mail. TV, radio, cinema and outdoor have proved to be more resilient.
Over 400 Irish marketers participated in this year’s survey, and three out of five have budgetary responsibility for their business’s marketing function.
State of the Net is available at www.amas.ie.

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