SmallBusinessNewz

We continue to see evidence of more and more companies turning to social media as part of their marketing strategies, but a survey from Emailvision finds that only 3% of marketers are turning to social tools like blogs and Twitter. Like with all surveys, results should be taken with a grain of salt, and only 102 companies were surveyed here, but regardless, there is no question that there are still plenty of companies who are not utilizing such tools.

"It's understandable that many brands are wary about investing limited resources in new and emerging marketing channels," says Olivier Piscart, Regional Manager, North America at Emailvision. "Getting the basics right with existing channels can free up time and money, offering a solution to these brands. This time and money can be used to integrate social media into established approaches; allowing businesses to develop new strategies, while refreshing existing techniques at the same time."

Emailvision's findings suggest that businesses still favor traditional digital marketing channels. About half of their respondents cited SEO and email as being among their leading tools. It would appear that many of these businesses are just failing to compliment their more traditional campaigns with social media efforts.

Emailvision recommends use of consistent messages across multiple channels and linking email content to social media updates. They say this will drive interest in both channels. A recent study indicated that Twitter is the most linked to social network from email marketing campaigns.

The firm also says it's a good idea to encourage engagement in ways like offering prospects a discount or incentive for following your brand. They also cite measurement as a key aspect - monitoring click-throughs from social media sties and reviewing online chatter surrounding your brand. This can aid in the improvement of multi-channel integration.

According to Emailvision, who cites information from Compete and the Inside Numbers on Twitter, Facebook is set to catch up with Google in terms of unique users and Twitter is expected to attract its 25 millionth user by the end of the year. This is the kind of info that makes social media hard to ignore. Luckily, it can be used to compliment tried and true marketing tactics.