Social Media Continues To Frustrate Marketers

The business of digital marketing is still relatively young. However, with sites like Facebook Inc FB and Twitter Inc TWTR sporting hundreds of millions of monthly active users, digital marketing is already a multi-billion dollar industry.

However, unlocking and understanding the value and effectiveness of social media marketing can be difficult. According to eMarketer, many marketers attempting to unlock the value of social media marketing are still falling short of the mark.

Struggling to connect
While many businesses have invested time and money into social media initiatives, the returns on those investments are remain difficult to measure. A March 2015 study by Simply Measured and TrustRadius indicates that measuring return on investment (ROI) and the connection between social activities and business outcomes are two of the most challenging aspects of social media initiatives for modern businesses.

Elusive ROI
This latest study is certainly not the first of its kind to indicate that measuring returns on social media marketing efforts can be frustrating. A December 2014 study by SharpSpring found that 40 percent of global ad agencies cite ROI as a leading obstacle in media marketing success.

In addition, a January 2015 study by Econsultancy found that only 20 percent of client-side marketers would describe their ability to measure social media investment returns as “good,” while 80 percent of respondents would describe it as “OK or “poor.”

Shortage of tools
The most recent study by Simply Measured and TrustRadius indicates that social media professionals use an average of three social media tools to analyze marketing efforts. However, tools for advanced analysis, including content optimization, level of engagement and data accuracy, are not widely available at this time.