Trends: More Marketing Dollars Go Digital

The Center for Media Research, in a February 2010 report, notes that 28 percent of marketers nationwide are budgeting more for social media this year and less for traditional marketing channels (print, TV, radio).

Not surprisingly, survey respondents noted that while they could anticipate many opportunities new media present, lack of understanding of social media was the biggest impediment to its use. They cited lack of training as the most significant obstacle to developing their own digital media strategies.

“We’re finding that there’s a really strong sentiment out there,” said BroadBased CEO Jan Korb. “We’re hearing ‘We know it’s something we have to get involved in. How do we get started?’

“As with most tools that affect our industry, we were early adopters of blogging and other forms of social media,” said Korb. “Over the past year we’ve been sharing that experience with our clients, with great results. During a soft roll-out of our social media planning service in February, it became very clear that businesses are looking for guidance and training. They realize that social media is not going away.”

And to cement our commitment to social media, BroadBased has created a research-based protocol to determine what channels are right for any given company or audience. “We are guiding our clients through the planning, content development, launch and measurement of a social media programs,” says Korb. “It’s no harder than any other form of marketing planning. It’s all in the process.”