Marketers choose social media over DM

In a survey of more than 1,000 marketers from around the world, Alterian found that 66 per cent of respondents will be investing in social media marketing activity over the next year and as many as 40 per cent said they would be using the DM budget to do so.

The 40 per cent said they would cut their DM budget by more than a fifth to pay for their social media activities, according to Alterian's 7th Annual Survey.

David Eldridge, Alterian chief executive, said: "Untargeted and irrelevant marketing techniques are now redundant and the results of this survey show many in the industry recognise this."

The research found that 51 per cent of those surveyed were placing a reasonable or significant amount of effort moving from a campaign-centric DM model.

The upsurge of investment in social media overall also includes marketers investing in monitoring and analysis tools with 36 per cent surveyed indicating they were planning such a move.

The rise in the number of marketers turning to social media monitoring tools is reflective of a maturing market and a growing understanding of the role social networking can plan in marketing campaigns.

Eldridge said: "Without the adequate investment in listening and measurement tools it renders any anticipated investment in social media ineffectual. The key to an effective social media strategy is listening."