The survey, sponsored by the American Marketing Association (AMA) and the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) and conducted by Decipher in autumn 2013, gathered the views of 328 marketing executives.

Half of all respondents saw difficulty in measuring offline WOM as a ‘major obstacle’, while 39% saw it as a ‘minor obstacle’.

Other findings are as follows:

• Just 34% believed online social media can be effectively measured; 22% believe offline WOM can be effectively measured
• Nevertheless, nearly two thirds ( 64%) of marketers believe word of mouth (WOM) marketing and social media are ‘more effective than traditional marketing’
• 70% of marketers said their company will increase spending on social media, more than any other marketing channel – including offline WOM at 29%
• Just 6% of companies rate themselves as ‘advanced’ in WOM marketing

Full findings can be found here.