Awareness eBook Uncovers Latest Trends inSocial Media Marketing

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Survey results reveal that companies are moving from free social media services to enterprise platforms that offer more control; Upcoming webinar on March 9

Waltham, MA — March 4, 2009— Awareness, Inc., the social media marketing company, today announced the availability of "Corporate Trends in Social Media Marketing," a new eBook that compiles recent findings from a survey of more than 600 marketing executives and best practices from corporations that have adopted social media as part of their marketing strategy. A webinar about the research and "Corporate Trends in Social Media Marketing" will take place on March 9.

A shared project of Chris Brogan, president of New Marketing Labs, and Mike Lewis, Awareness' vice president of marketing, this eBook is based on collected survey responses from 623 marketing executives at mid-to-large sized organizations, and presents social media best practices that Awareness has culled from its work with a number of organizations, including Marriott, Proctor & Gamble, Constant Contact and Hershey's.

The eBook and survey reveal:

• Most organizations are leveraging "unpaid" forms of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, along with lower cost blogging applications like WordPress and SocialText to execute social media programs.
  • 93% of organizations surveyed are using some form of unpaid social media
  • When asked which solution media platform is currently being used or evaluated, 202 organizations indicated WordPress. 29% of companies with more than $250M in revenue are using or considering WordPress while 61% of companies with less than $250M in revenue are considering or using WordPress.
• Yet, despite adoption, organizations are still hesitant to launch social media initiatives. Concerns included lack of participation, maintaining a consistent brand image, and calculating ROI.
• While marketing budgets are generally declining for 2009, roughly 50% of respondents have allocated a percentage of their marketing budget to social media. Most of these organizations are planning an upgrade from "unpaid" sources to an enterprise platform that offers more data control, increased functionality, and a hard ROI.

For a complete summary of the survey results and best practices on how to adopt and mitigate risk when implementing social media programs,the "Corporate Trends in Social Media Marketing" eBook can be downloaded here.

These findings will also be presented in a webinar on March 9 with Chris Brogan and Mike Lewis.

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