JupiterResearch Finds 48% of Brand Marketers Plan to Use Social Tactics in the Near Term
Tuesday, 13 March 2007
JupiterResearch, a leading authority on the impact of the Internet and emerging consumer technologies on business, has found that 48 percent of brand marketers plan to use social marketing tactics in the next year, compared to 38 percent who did so last year.
Detailed in a new report, "Social Networking Sites: Defining Advertising Opportunities in a Competitive Landscape," JupiterResearch defines social networking sites as Web sites designed for members to create and post content, usually in the form of profile pages, primarily in order to communicate with each other.
"Users between 18 and 34 are much more likely than older audiences to visit social networks daily," said Emily Riley, JupiterResearch Analyst and lead author of the report. "Thirty percent of frequent social networkers trust their peers' opinions when making a major purchase decision, but only ten percent trust advertisements. Consequently, brand marketers must harness brand advocates and influentials by providing additional motivation for frequent networkers to engage in social marketing."
Advertiser adoption of social tactics will increase competition for attention on social sites among users who are engaged in intense social activity with their peers. In addition to engaging brand advocates to involve social networkers, brand marketers must target interests and activities that attract frequent networkers, and earn trust by mastering social networking flow.
"As brand marketers increase their use of social tactics, they are competing not only among themselves but also with frequent networkers," said David Schatsky, president of JupiterKagan. "Brand marketers must not act on social tactics as a broad category but, instead, create unique campaigns for different sites."
The complete findings of this report and recommendations for brand marketers are immediately available to JupiterResearch clients online at www.jupiterresearch.com. Also available for download is a JupiterResearch podcast about marketing on social networking sites, which can be accessed by going to http://podcasts.jupiterresearch.com.
For details on JupiterResearch's methodology, visit www.jupiterresearch.com/bin/item.pl/methodology or e-mail press@jupiterkagan.com to request a detailed methodology statement.
For additional information on this report or JupiterResearch's Social Marketing research service, visit www.jupiterresearch.com or contact Kieran Kelly, senior vice president of Global Sales and Client Service, at 1-800-481-1212 or researchsales@jupiterkagan.com.