Brands have been urged to make sure their marketing efforts via social media produce tangible results.
According to Pete Markey, brand communication and marketing director at Aviva, 90 per cent of his company’s marketing budget went towards traditional channels until fairly recently.
Now, however, there is a 50/50 split between traditional channels on one hand and social and digital content on the other.
Mr Markey stressed that measuring the effectiveness of this approach is a priority for the business.
“You can have 20 million Facebook followers and likes, but no customers, so you’ve got to get this balance right,” he commented.
“For me, there should always be a commercial return.”
Mr Markey said this does not mean that a firm always has to sell something. However, he said there should be an “understanding of what journey you are taking customers on and what the output should look like”.
“I think of it as engagement and interaction leading to some kind of commercial benefit,” he stated.
Mr Markey added that measuring the effectiveness of its digital marketing efforts is also important because Aviva is an accountable business, with every penny it spends having to be paid back.
“The ultimate aim of any bit of activity in any business has to be a commercial result,” he said.
Tricks and tips to maximise digital effectiveness, Marketing Week
