Secret ingredients

Social media marketing is a popular way to gain a competitive edge, but time and budget allocations haven't yet caught up with the level of interest, according to the second annual Coremetrics Face of the New Marketer survey of marketing professionals from e-commerce and online media/content companies, writes MarketingCharts.

Though most marketers are eager to participate in social-media marketing, few have budgets in line with that objective, the study found:

• 78 percent of surveyed marketers see social media marketing as a way to gain a competitive edge.
• However, just 7.75 percent of total online marketing spend is devoted to social marketing.
• The average spend going to online advertising is 33 percent, and 28 percent to online-promotion design and implementation.

Nevertheless, in the past year, marketers have begun using social media:

• 58 percent have implemented user-generated content or reviews.
• 31 percent of respondents have implemented a blog.
• 25 percent of respondents have implemented RSS feeds.

(See MarketingCharts's coverage for some additional findings, including on SEO and email.)

"As more and more marketing tools become available, we'll continue to see a greater divide between perceived importance and resource allocation," said John Squire, SVP product strategy, GM marketing services at Coremetrics.

"The ability to accurately monitor the ROI achieved by new marketing tools will help marketers take that first step toward incorporating new digital marketing programs, as well as rethink the effectiveness of current campaigns."

About the study: The survey of 116 senior marketing professionals was conducted during the third quarter of 2007. Coremetrics asked marketers which social marketing tools and activities they were using or intended to use, and how much of their time and budget is spent on social media as opposed to traditional marketing activities.