With technology changing so rapidly, it’s often difficult to know what’s worth paying attention to and what’s not. A Forrester Research study of 300 interactive marketers, recently covered in DM News, reported what percent of companies surveyed were using new media as follows:
Email – 96%
Search – 85%
Video – 65%
Podcast – 49%
Blogs – 48%
Social networks – 40%
User-generated content – 40%
Widgets – 29%
Mobile – 28%
The survey also asked the respondents who weren’t using these marketing channels whether they had plans to use them. With companies who planned to use these channels factored in, here’s how the numbers look:
Email – 100%
Search – 94%
Video – 84%
Blogs – 79%
Social networks – 76%
User-generated content – 72%
Widgets – 63%
Podcast – 59%
Mobile – 43%
I’m surprised at the high percentage of video users and planned users.
I’m equally surprised that more companies aren’t currently using blogs and user-generated content such as customer reviews, both areas that reap tremendous benefits for nearly every company that puts them to good use.
I hope you’ve got some of your 2009 budget set aside for trying some of these new possibilities. As I’ve discussed before, your long-term survival may ultimately depend on it.
