“Effective use of social media is no longer an option for companies – it is a requirement,” Christine Moorman, a professor of business administration at Fuqua, said in a release. “Going forward, companies which most effectively deploy social media will be best positioned to serve their client bases, particularly as digitally savvy customers assume a greater percentage of buying power.”
Some businesses have delayed the deployment of social media strategies, which has set these companies behind their competitors, Fuqua found in its study. More than 22 percent of responding businesses reported they have not integrated social media into their marketing mix at all.
In general, marketing budgets are likely to grow by more than 9 percent in the next year, according to Fuqua.
One way businesses have successfully integrated social media into their marketing efforts is with sharing plugins. As Brafton recently reported, Twitter’s retweet button, for example, provides companies with seven times more mentions on social networks than companies lacking the option.