Making the business case for social media still eludes many companies

Influencer marketing has been around forever, but the face and medium of the influencer has changed dramatically.

The term influencer has dual meaning in social media. It refers to those social media venues that generate the most conversation about you. And it refers to the individuals that are behind the greatest amount of that buzz.

Increasingly, consumers are younger, more informed, more connected, and more influencial. In short, marketers face a new world order that is customer driven, rather than business driven.

Need proof? Consider the results of recent research on social media and marketing by research firm Aberdeen Group. In June and August 2010, Aberdeen Group surveyed more than 500 business executives to learn the primary drivers of their marketing programs.

"The data revealed that marketing efforts within 77% of those businesses are under considerable influence of changing consumer demographics. And the findings indicate that social media plays a greater role than traditional media in marketing campaigns targeting Gen Z and Gen Y consumers versus traditional marketing mediums ,” according to Aberdeen senior research analyst Chris Houpis.

“Most companies understand the rising use of social media and plan to increase their investments in the medium accordingly,” Houpis continued. “However, most organizations are struggling to develop and adequate business case and strategy to leverage social media adequately in the marketing mix. In fact, a majority of organizations do not have executive support to undertake such efforts.”