MENG Trend Survey shows how social media challenges business

The Marketing Executives Networking Group recently carried out a survey among 533 senior Marketing executives. Among other key findings it showed that "social media" frustrates them. While they recognize how important it is, and plan to increase spending on it, they are unsure of how best to use it. This seems to continue the long-time discomfort with tools which are not completely under the control of the marketer. Public Relations is similar in that it is difficult to predict results, can easily backfire, and is tough to measure.

In fact, measurement of social media performance is becoming easier, and new "listening" tools,such as "Wise Window" are providing powerful new ways to track results. Since the tracking is almost instantaneous the company has the ability to fine tune. However, having said that, there is always the possibility of unexpected outcomes and the company has to go with the flow.

Potentially more interesting is the business which is dependent on social media, such as a networking site. For these, social media is not just a tool, but the product. Look for more and more of these to arise.