With 86% of business leaders saying social media often or consistently influences their overall business strategies, four out of five expect their company’s social media budget to increase over the next three years
CHICAGO, May 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — New research from Community Sprout, an industry-leading provider of social media management software, conducted by The Harris Poll revealed that 80% of business leaders anticipate an increase in their company’s social media budget over the next three years, as 93% agree that media data and insights Social networking sites will be the main source of business intelligence moving forward. Report, The state of social media in 2023: AI and data in the spotlightshows that almost every executive understands the value of social media data in making key business decisions across the organization. Among those who expect to increase their social media budget over the next three years, more than a quarter (44%) expect their social media budget to increase by more than 50%, despite macroeconomic trends putting pressure on the budgets of the entire organization.
The Harris Poll, conducted on behalf of Sprout Social, surveyed 778 US and UK business leaders in marketing, customer service and communications. We found that 90% of them agree that their company’s success will depend on how effectively it uses data and insights from social media to inform business. strategies – and turn to artificial intelligence for help. In fact, virtually every business leader surveyed (97%) believes that AI and ML tools will enable companies to more effectively analyze social media data, and 87% anticipate an increase in AI/ML investment in their companies in response over the next three years. Moreover, most believe that using social data more effectively (58%) and investing in new technologies to create efficient workflows (59%) will give their companies a competitive advantage.
“It’s heartening to see how business leaders now understand the ability of social media to influence every aspect of their organization, and the resulting investment in social media will drive brands into the next phase of growth,” said Jamie Gilpin, chief marketing officer at Sprout. Social. . “By having direct access to the most influential data and insights available, marketers have the ability to not only educate their organizations but also drive fundamental change. By providing every department with access to the latest social information, marketers can guide their business strategies while ensuring that their organization stays ahead of the competition.”
Other highlights of the report include:
- The potential of AI in business and marketing is clear: 86% of business leaders agree that implementing AI and machine learning is critical to long-term success, citing behavioral segmentation (49%), predictive analytics (45%), dynamic pricing (45%) and sentiment analysis (44%) among the most useful AI/ML applications in marketing.
- Business leaders are increasingly using social data in a variety of ways and Still believes it is misused: While 70% of business leaders agree that it is easy to demonstrate the impact of social media on their company’s bottom line, a similar proportion (69%) also agree that social media data and insights are currently underutilized within their company. Today, business leaders indicate that customer service (62%), brand awareness (60%) and market or industry knowledge (53%) are the three most important aspects of their company’s business strategy based on social media data and insights.
- Social media is the customer service channel: Majority of business leaders agree social media is critical to both providing exceptional customer service (88%) and customer retention (88%), with 96% saying it’s an integral part of customer feedback and feedback about products or services. Nearly every business leader surveyed (96%) expects social data to be integrated into a company’s customer relationship management capabilities in the next three years, and 93% believe increased investment in AI/machine learning will be critical for scaling customer support functions at this time.
- Social media management software has become a key component of the enterprise technology stack: About 7 in 10 business leaders (69%) say their company currently uses social media management (SMM) software, and 88% agree that it is a key tool in their company’s technology solutions. For those who use SMM software, 74% use customer engagement, about 6 in 10 use social commerce (63%) and social listening (62%), and about half use employee advocacy (55%) %), analytics (53%), and publishing and scheduling (52%).
With deliberate investment in people, tools and training, brands have a huge opportunity to leverage the wealth of business analytics that social media provides to achieve long-term growth and success.
For more information on the significant role social media plays in business, download the full report Here.
About Sprout Social
Sprout Social is a world leader in social media management and analytics software. Sprout’s unified platform shares powerful social data with more than 30,000 brands so they can make strategic decisions that drive business growth and innovation. With a full suite of social media management solutions, Sprout offers comprehensive publishing and engagement features, customer support, connected workflows, and AI-powered business intelligence. The award-winning Sprout software works on all major social networks and digital platforms. For more information on Sprout Social (NASDAQ: SPT), visit sproutsocial.com.
About the Harris poll
Harris Poll is a global consulting and research company dedicated to uncovering the true values of today’s society to inspire leaders to create a better tomorrow. He works with clients in three main areas: building a 21st century corporate reputation, creating brand strategy and tracking results, and monetizing organic media through public relations research. One of the longest-running surveys in the United States, The Harris Poll has been tracking public opinion, motivations and public sentiment since 1963 and is now part of Stagwell, a holding company of contenders created to transform marketing. To learn more, visit theharrispoll.com.
About the report
This survey was conducted online in the US and UK by The Harris Poll, commissioned by Sprout Social, among 778 social media marketing, customer service and communications professionals from various US and UK companies. The survey was conducted from March 13-27, 2023. Eligible respondents met the following criteria: they live in the United States or Great Britain; over 18 years old; employed full-time; manager’s degree or higher, job in social media marketing, customer service/customer service or communications/public relations; be involved in social media strategy and marketing decisions for their functions and activities; and work for a company that currently uses social media as an external communication channel.
The raw data was not weighted and is therefore only representative of those who completed the survey.
Social media profiles:
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www.twitter.com/SproutSocialIR
www.facebook.com/SproutSocialInc
www.linkedin.com/company/sprout-social-inc-/
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Contact:
Media:
Kaitlyn Gronek
Email: pr@sproutsocial.com
Phone: (773) 904-9674
Investors:
Jason Rechel
Twitter: @SproutSocialIR
Email: jason.rechel@sproutsocial.com
Phone: (312) 528-9166
