OK, we kicked that up just a notch; MarketingSherpa actually said that social media had “rapidly evolved to become a member of an elite trio of interactive marketing tactics,” right up there with email and search marketing. In fact, their research showed that…
- 88% of respondents felt that social media would become “a standard tactic for most companies, much like email or search marketing”; and
- 74% believe that it will soon have… its own budget line item and staff, along with those two established vehicles.
With an N of 1,886 marketers, it would be difficult (as always) to question Sherpa’s results on methodological grounds.
On his WebMarketCentral blog, Tom Pick provides a nice framework for thinking about why these results make total sense, based on their role in the marketing arsenal:
- Social media is really a top-of-the-funnel tactic, most akin to PR …nearly as much about reaching influencers as prospects.
- Search is the classic lead-generating activity, bringing interested suspects into your funnel who over time may become bona-fide leads and ultimately customers.
- Email is the most effective medium for communicating with real prospects who’ve given you permission to address them personally. Depending on your segmentation abilities, it allows for near one-to-one tailoring of your message; and read rates are up to 20 times higher with your house list than the small fraction that will see any given Tweet.
As Tom concludes: “The three tools need to be used in tandem, each for its own unique strengths. Neglecting any one will reduce the effectiveness of the others.”
