As the environment continues to mature and grow it is pushing other techniques aside.
Recent analyses and reports are showing that social media marketing is not only greatly expanding in its use and effectiveness, but it appears to be achieving its goals at the expense of display advertising.
Using social networks is proving to be much more appealing to consumers who are growing weary of other ad forms.
Recent research by IZEA, a social sponsorship startup, has revealed that after having surveyed 10,000 brand marketers, social influencers, and social media consultants, approximately one in three marketers are equally weary of display ads as has been seen from the side of consumers. On the other hand, social media marketing appears to be continuing to expand and mature on every level.
The social media marketing study revealed that actions in this area are improving in every direction.
For example, the use of sponsored photos has increased to 33 percent in 2013 after having been only 24 percent at the same time last year. Moreover, 29 percent of marketers said that they had been using Pinterest’s sponsored pins opportunity, said the report.
IZEA also pointed out that when comparing the revenue generated by sponsored images with that of display ads, it is the sponsorships that bring in more money according to 55.7 percent of the participants in their study.
At the same time, though, the rise of promotions and advertising in social networks has led to a notably greater demand from influencers. In fact, these individuals who are highly connected should now increasingly expect to receive brand compensation for making mention of the products or services that they are selling, said the report. Twenty six percent of influencers have said that the amount of time that they spent in the maintenance of their social presence can now be compared to the hours that they would apply to full time employment.
Equally, though, social media marketing remains a confusing environment, as a considerable percentage of influencers have not yet completely mastered the best practices for compensation disclosure, as the FTC now requires that this must occur when a substantial reward is traded for the creation of content.
That June 2012 social media marketing survey occurred just slightly before the IPO at Facebook. This most recent version of the survey has seen an increased percentage of respondents that claim to be using Facebook as a part of their advertising mix. That said, it continues to remain at a steady level greater than 80 percent. At the same time, the specific number who said that they are now advertising over the network has spiked significantly when compared to 15 months before.