Marketing professionals are growingly becoming convinced of the immense value of proactive engagement with their prospects on an array of networking platforms. A recent survey of hundreds of senior executives from companies in North America establishes the fact that majority of companies investing in social campaigns can be assured of improved bottom lines. Importantly, an enhanced social media presence tends to trickle down, ultimately influencing key purchase decisions.

• Market research firm eMarketer mentions of a new study showing that more than 84 percent of executives recently polled attribute the effectiveness of sales & marketing efforts to social media campaigns. On the other hand, 81 percent feel that an active social media presence had helped them achieve an increased market share, underlining that companies should employ the avenues to create spaces for both existing and prospective consumers for meaningful conversations with key stakeholders.
• Yet it also notes of the fact that no one can conclusively define the impact into a quantifiable ROI for brands. But a focused social engagement activity is always preferable to little or no presence on the networking sites, if one goes by what the executives believe, emphasizing on a comprehensive social media strategy despite tangible measurement hurdles.
• Almost 70 percent of the respondents talk of a spike in their sales because of customers having a greater say on social media sites, even if some of it might be negative. Such kind of interactive approach builds credibility and trust with consumers, transforming them into potential brand advocates with immense value.
• In spite of these positive possibilities, assessment of the social media campaigns in terms of effectiveness remains largely subjective in nature. According to nearly half of the executives surveyed, one of the major impediments to an extensive social media campaign was apparent lack of standardized metric to measure tangible returns on advertising spend allocated for it.
• While taking into the number of followers and total Facebook ‘likes’ does provide marketers with a concrete number, not many can yet fathom how those numbers are to be translated into a quantifiable ROI for brands. Thankfully, an increasing number of executives are improvements in marketing and sales efforts, and market share gains as a result of well-planned campaigns.
• Even as executives align a well-planned social campaign with marked improvements in marketing & sales efforts, and to an extent, market share gains, the prospects also consider it to be an important yardstick of a company’s responsiveness. Almost 77 percent respondents of BRANDfog survey indicated that they were much more likely to buy from those brands whose CEOs actively uses social sites to define their company values as well as to amplify leadership principles.
• The CEO of BRANDfog, Ann Charles, was quoted as saying: “We’re now well at a tipping point, wherein business leaders must start communicating their vision through social media. As more and more consumers look to seek out brands, which serve a broader social purpose, the best way of articulating company values is through the executive leadership team’s voice. This will  bolster confidence in business leadership and provide a halo effect for the brand.”
• Interestingly, according to a separate study done by Accenture regarding social media usage among B2B marketers, close to 30 percent of respondents pointed out that they would seek increased CEO conviction for making social media initiatives more effective. The CMO Council survey respondents revealed that speed of adoption when it comes to new web technologies by top-level executives was still a challenge.