Marketing communication: More and more SMEs are also using social media
Two-thirds of Swiss companies rely on target-group-specific content shared via social media channels as part of their marketing communications. In addition, more than half of companies now use content marketing, as a ZHAW study shows.
According to the "ZHAW Content Marketing Study 2021", 66 percent of companies in Switzerland rely on social media to reach their customers. They use these channels to distribute content created specifically for the target groups and thus draw attention to themselves. The reason for this development can be quickly identified: marketing communication via social media is cost-effective. Social media are therefore very well suited for content marketing. This aims to reach customers with content that offers them clear added value, such as informative, advisory or entertaining benefits. As part of marketing communications, content marketing is generally on the rise: more than half of the companies surveyed (57 percent) actively use it. For the study mentioned at the beginning, ZHAW researchers surveyed around 660 Swiss companies from all parts of the country online. The study was conducted by the ZHAW School of Management and Law and supported by Watson and AZ Konzept.
Facebook most used
"Companies today have recognized the importance of social media, and even very many small and medium-sized companies are now making extensive use of them," says study author Adrienne Suvada from the Institute of Marketing Management at ZHAW. The companies surveyed primarily use Facebook (69 percent), LinkedIn (53 percent), Instagram (50 percent), YouTube (42 percent) and Twitter (35 percent). When it comes to companies' assessment of the effectiveness of social media platforms, pretty much all of them score positively, with the niche channel Spotify achieving the best result with a score of 4.03 (out of 5). However, only about four percent of companies use it. Of the larger providers, LinkedIn and Instagram stand out in particular. In addition, Facebook and Twitter are also seen as effective distribution channels.
SMEs catch up
Content marketing in general is used by 58 percent of large companies, and by 48 and 52 percent of medium-sized and small companies respectively. Furthermore, three-fifths of the companies that do not currently use content marketing plan to do so in the future. "While larger companies have been relying on this tool for some time, the trend now seems to have arrived among small and medium-sized companies as well," says study author Adis Merdzanovic of the ZHAW Institute for Marketing Management.
With content marketing, companies pursue a dual objective: on the one hand, they want to retain customers with good and interesting content and thus position themselves on the market; on the other hand, many see it as a further instrument for promoting sales and turnover. On average, companies invest a good 33 percent of their marketing budget in content marketing. This proportion is likely to increase in the future.
Also in marketing communication: content matters
"Digitization and social media have given companies new communication channels. But to use these successfully, content with real added value for the target groups is also required," says Suvada. The study also shows that one of the most important challenges is the regular creation of good quality content. Forty-one percent of companies say they struggle to produce good, engaging content, while 38 percent struggle to provide new content on a regular basis. Yet companies draw on many different formats for their content production: from online events to videos and illustrations to podcasts or blogs, they use virtually all content marketing tools, albeit to varying degrees.
Source: ZHAW
