Social Media ROI Still A Mystery To UK Businesses

Social media outlets have been gaining prominence in the world of marketing and most of marketers would agree that it is a key factor for boosting consumer loyalty and brand credibility. However, it appears that the majority of UK businesses are still baffled by what social media brings to them.

A new survey from EPiServer, which interviewed 250 UK marketing professionals on the ways they use social platforms, reveals that just 10% of businesses can measure ROI from social media, despite the fact that 75% of all polled companies either have their own social community online, or plan to start one over the next year.

In addition, it seems that many companies have been slow in adopting social media as a tool for growth, as 29% of those surveyed claim to have set up their social network accounts over the past 12 months. Still, 35% have been using the channel for over a year.

The fact that UK businesses are wary of social media is partly reflected by the small proportion of companies that have appointed dedicated people to manage and develop social media strategies. Just 22% of businesses have hired such people, which is practically no change from last year. Moreover, 40% say that they do not plan to appoint a social media manager, mostly due to lack of resources.

Among individual networks, Facebook proves to be the most popular, with two in three businesses having a company account there, followed by Twitter, with 60% of those polled. Nearly 25% operate accounts on more than one social network.