Tech Companies Embrace Social Media Marketing but Struggle to Find Revenue Potential, According to Software Marketing Study

Fourth Annual Report Shows Big Jump in Use of Mobile Marketing

WASHINGTON, D.C. – September 2, 2015– The Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) today released the results of its fourth annual Software Marketing Industry Report, which examines a range of issues facing marketing executives at leading technology companies. A key take-away is that while 96 percent of marketers are using social media marketing many have yet to find it is driving significant revenue. This year’s report also shows strong growth in mobile marketing, and that customer referrals have surpassed events and trade-shows as the top lead generator.

 

Each year, SIIA surveys more than 100 marketing executives about their company’s use various tools and platforms - including email, mobile, events, and social media - to build their brand, gain leads, and improve customer support. The survey provides a unique look at the impact of new media on marketing, where companies are generating leads, the changes marketers anticipate in the years ahead, and more.

 

For full results of the survey, please contact Allison Bostrom at abostrom@siia.net.

 

Rhianna Collier, Vice President and Managing Director of the SIIA Software & Services Division, said, “Marketers clearly love social media, but they aren’t yet seeing significant revenue value with social media marketing. Our study finds that less than half say social media is effective for lead generation, and only one-quarter say they plan to increase social media spending. Companies are also now applying to social media the same strict ROI metrics they use for other marketing efforts, which is likely increasing the pressure to see results.”

 

Collier continued, “Our study also suggests that with limited marketing dollars, investment in social media may be falling prey to increasing interest in mobile. Mobile marketing saw a big jump from the previous year, with half of all marketers now using it and many employing mobile-optimized websites and emails.”

 

Survey results show only 46 percent of marketers say social media is effective for lead generation, while 50 percent say their company spends just 10 hours or less on social media marketing efforts. Fifty percent of marketers report using mobile in their marketing efforts, with 52 percent of those using a mobile website and 37 percent using mobile-optimized emails.

 

The survey also finds that marketing executives continue to have a difficulty with results measurement. Only 56 percent say they can effectively measure their marketing efforts. The primary way in which they are attempting to measure is simply looking at web traffic and visits (84 percent), followed closely by lead quantity (79 percent) and downloads of resources (78 percent).

 

Other key findings include:

 

  • Marketers consider LinkedIn the most effective social media platform (79 percent say it is effective or somewhat effective), followed by blogs (68 percent) and Twitter (65 percent).

 

  • Customer referral (22 percent) has surpassed events and trade shows (21 percent) as the number one generator of quality leads.

 

  • With increased budget and resource constraints (21 percent of marketers say lack of budget is the biggest marketing challenge they face), companies are outsourcing more marketing efforts such as graphic design (41 percent), SEO (31 percent) and content creation (28 percent).

 

  • As opportunities grow for marketers to automate marketing functions, the survey finds that the top three uses of marketing automation software are: 1) campaign tracking (78 percent); 2) reports, analytics, and dashboards (77 percent); and 3) integration with other systems (71 percent).

 

The fourth annual Software Marketing Industry Report surveyed more than 100 marketing executives, with the majority, 88 percent, identifying their primary geographic market as North America. The survey took place at the end of 2014.

 

About SIIA

SIIA is the leading association representing the software and digital content industries. SIIA represents approximately 800 member companies worldwide that develop software and digital information content.  Information technology (IT) and software security are critical issues to SIIA’s members, many of whom strive to develop safe, secure and state-of the-art products that effectively serve their commercial and government customers alike, while protecting their intellectual property.  For more information, visit www.siia.net.

 

The Software & Services Division of SIIA (SSD) represents the best software companies and products in the world, those companies that develop the applications, services, infrastructure and tools driving the success of today’s high-tech industry. SSD's programs and activities are designed to foster company growth and success by providing professional insights and strategy, executive networking, industry exposure and business development opportunities. SSD member executives actively collaborate to share business and operational expertise, best practices, and new innovations to help companies efficiently build growing and successful businesses.