NEWS19 May 2010
UK— A significant number of marcoms professionals in the UK seem content with taking a DIY approach to online brand monitoring, according to the second wave of McCann Erickson’s Social Media Index study.
The survey of 115 in-house marketing and communications managers found 45% using simple Google Alerts to track mentions of their brand online.
Paid-for tools are in use – but no individual provider matches the popularity of Google. Radian 6 came closest, with 14.3% of respondents using the software, following by PR Newswire’s Social Media Metrics at 10.4%.
The results broadly reflect the findings of a US study by Business.com, which found a high reliance on Google and other search engines for brand monitoring purposes.
Returning to the McCann Erickson research, 48% of those surveyed said they don’t feel they have adequate knowledge on how best to use social media channels effectively for marketing purposes. This is down 16 percentage points on the first wave of the study, but still “surprisingly high”, says McCann – especially since average usage of each of the main social networks is up by around 22% on the last survey.
Joanna Randall (pictured), head of PR and social media communications at McCann Erickson Bristol, said: “There is a clear need for more information and training specifically targeted to marketers.”