MARKETERS USE DIGITAL BUT WARILY

John Wanamaker famously said “Half of the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.”  That is apparently even more true when you are talking about digital/social media marketing.  A new survey by the Association of National Advertisers finds that 70% of national advertisers are using digital media for marketing but 62% of them are concerned about the inability to prove return on investment.


The ANA also found that 53% of the survey respondents said there was a lack of understanding about digital media among key people in their organization. That is likely because of the breadth and complexity of the medium.


The members of the ANA are generally sticking with the big names in the social media industry.  Ninety-six percent of those who market with digital media use Facebook; 89% use Twitter; 49% LinkedIn; and 33% Pinterest.


Seventy-five percent are using branded mobile apps, 67% QR codes; 53% text ads; 41% video ads; and 25% video advertising.


The ANA report mirrors another recent study from Advertising Age, conducted in conjunction with Citigroup, which found that almost 86% of the marketers/agency execs and media execs surveyed had a presence on Facebook, but only 55% advertise on the site.


The biggest problems, says AdAge, is determining whether Facebook is actually working for the advertiser.  A majority of those using the site said clicks and “likes” were the most important metric.  But, says the magazine, “when it came to driving purchase intent just over 19% said they ‘don't know’ if Facebook is useful and more than 13% said it's ‘not useful.’ Just 55% said Facebook is ‘somewhat useful,’ indicating a high level of ambivalence on a key branding metric.”  One ad exec told AdAge that "I do not believe that Facebook is an advertising platform. We need to explore other possibilities."