Social Media Still Not Boosting Sales, but Time Investment Helps

Just 40% of marketers say that their social media marketing has benefited them by improving their sales, down 7% from last year, per an April 2012 report from the Social Media Examiner. Despite this, the results indicate that prolonged investment into the marketing channel pays dividends: the proportion of marketers who report sales improvements from social media rises to 58% among those who have been using the channel for more than 3 years. Similarly, the majority of marketers who spend 11 or more hours a week see results, while nearly two-thirds who spend more than 30 hours weekly earn new business through their efforts. (more…)