Social media still faces challenges

NIELSEN   RESEARCH   DIGITAL

Hong Kong – A Nielsen study has found that while close to 80% of marketers and advertising are using social media, it still has major hurdles to overcome, including measurement.

Currently 80% of participants to the survey, carried out between January and February this year, use social networking sites, however this is expected to fall to 77% in the upcoming year as they look into other options.

Many are looking into discussion forums with interest jumping up to 60% from 44%.  Video has also captured peoples interest with 55% saying they plan to use it.

The Nielsen data shows many use it as a tool to connect with customers (79%), whereas others use it to build and maintain a community (66%).

Many feel that social media is a great way to keep up with the latest trend (63%) and build awareness (58%).

Facebook is the dominant social media tool with YouTube a preferred tool for creating "viral buzz".

Marketers are using different methods in order to measure the success of social media efforts. The most popular means of measure is the number of responses/comments (67%), the number of fans and website traffic (63%).   

However social media faces many challenges before it is fully incorporated into a sound business strategy. 

A majority (58%) raised concerns on the lack of measurable ROI, while others reported a lack of resources/time (53%) and lack of knowledge/expertise (46%). A full quarter were concerned about social medias unproven success thus far.

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