Found via Sixty Second View is the interesting stat that almost half of brand marketers are planning to use social networking to promote their brand in the next year, say JupiterResearch.

Now, big fat pinch of salt aside, this is an interesting stat for the sole reason that if there are that many marketers looking to promote themselves through social media, then where in the hell are they all? - I honestly can't recall seeing any efforts of big business, record labels aside perhaps, to social media to interact with me.

One of the problems I can see is all these good intentions are often abruptly halted by the raft of legal advisors most large scale organisations employ. Couple this with how much of an unknown quantity this relatively new medium is, as well as the relatively difficult job markers can face trying to track any ROI, and it's (almost) understandable that people are reticent to get involved.

I know from personal experience that without a considerable buy in from the business, these things are very difficult to get off the ground and even more difficult to prove worthiness, but unless companies start to embrace social media now, it's going to be way too far down the line to do anything effective. It takes open minds at the top, as well as within the marketing deparment to make things happen.

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