Social Media Marketing: Where Have You Been Sharing Your Content in 2011?
Posted by Patrick Murphy on Wed, Dec 28, 2011
One of the most significant changes in the online marketing world this year has been the upsurge in social media marketing activity. Social media is not just an optional part of an online marketing strategy anymore: something for your team to dabble in. Now if you’re not in the social media fold then you’re not really competing at all.
In a recent survey, marketers were asked to share which social media channels they used to distribute their content in 2011. Unsurprisingly, Twitter has taken the lead in the social media distribution channels but every kind of platform has seen an uptake in use.
The biggest increase in social media marketing has been seen in YouTube with a 47% increase, LinkedIn with a 39% increase, and Twitter with a 35% increase. Facebook as also seen a 30% increase. YouTube is of course seeing higher adoption as more marketing teams add video production to their portfolio of offerings.
What about the social media rookies?
This year, Google+ was released and heralded as the new social media platform to rival the likes of Facebook. Google were aiming for world domination with this product. Unfortunately for them, uptake on the network has been slow: while everyone with a Gmail account now has Google+, not everyone is using it. Currently, 13% of social media marketers are experimenting with this platform. Some industries use Google+ at higher rates than others, specifically the professional services industries, marketing industries and business services industries.
While they haven’t been surveyed before, Slide Share and Flickr use is at 20% and 10% respectively. Marketers are really opening their minds to the varying kinds of opportunities that the social media world is presenting.
Summary
We’re excited about the upsurge in use of social media platforms to distribute content. The overall increase has been between 15%-20% across all platforms on average. In 2012, we can’t wait to see where inbound marketing goes, and have some great ideas up out sleeves, so stay tuned!
Don't forget to check out this FREE whitepaper on 'How to Grow your Business with Internet Marketing'!
