By Sergio Balegno, Research Director

Challenges Becoming Increasingly Important in the Year Ahead


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The learning curve has been steep during the past year and marketers have overcome many previous challenges to the effectiveness of social media marketing.

Going forward, the increasingly important challenges are those related to key performance indicators like ROI and conversions. Two years ago, a popular marketing myth was that ROI for social media programs could not be easily measured. Marketers have dispelled this myth by proving that not only can the ROI of social media programs be measured, but the return on social marketing invest is exceptionally high.

Marketers are learning that social media does not perform effectively as a standalone tactic. As social programs are strategically integrated into the marketing mix, fans and followers who are learning about brands in the socialsphere are following the trail of breadcrumbs back to Web sites and conversion pages where they become leads and ultimately customers. This conversion from social media user to customer is becoming increasingly important as marketers become more proficient at it.

For additional research data and insights about social marketing, download and read the free Executive Summary from MarketingSherpa’s 2010 Social Media Marketing Benchmark Report.