Pitney Bowes’ Study Shows What Companies Love About Social Media

Postage meter giant Pitney Bowes recently surveyed 500 small to medium sized businesses on their marketing efforts. The study revealed that over two-thirds (68%) of marketers rely on e-mail for most of their marketing, and 60% rely on more traditional advertising channels.

In other words, e-mail marketing currently reigns supreme, with traditional advertising at a close second; however, social media marketing is quickly catching up to these more conventional methods. Around half of the marketers surveyed are using social because, they say, it is cost-effective and easy to use.

“The findings say 58% of small businesses surveyed use multi-channel marketing,” the statement from Pitney Bowes said. “Business owners are integrating various channels in order to properly serve the needs of their wide range of customers though there continue to be barriers to integration for many.”

Additionally, social media marketing is also the most popular ‘new’ channel being added by those surveyed, with 20% just beginning to use it. This seems a little strange to this social media agency, considering that those surveyed reported their comfort levels of using social media were on a par with those of using e-mail. The only explanation for this may be their reported concern with the inability to measure the “proven effectiveness” of social media marketing, placing its effectiveness behind direct mail and advertising.

Our California social media agency tends to agree with Pitney Bowes: “The results are an indication that traditional and new digital marketing methods are co-existing to create effective campaigns,” the report said.

It seems Pitney Bowes made a valiant effort to play Los Angeles social media agency for a day, with a report that revealed some interesting insights about the social media practices of the average small business marketer.