Are brands run ragged by real-time social engagement?

$

Two-thirds of brands manage real-time social engagement in-house, but half have other marketing roles too. Our benchmark report on brands in real-time social media shows that 50% of those at the coal-face of social engagement are also managing other roles in marketing and communications.

So are social media managers run ragged?

Well when it comes to brand opinion on best practice, a dedicated resource is not top of the list. In fact only 3% of those surveyed suggested it was best practice in real-time social engagement.

One in six outsource social profile management to an agency. And a lot more bring in specialist skills for content creation, extra peak support and campaign activity.

There are some pressure points though…

The survey reveals that

  • 45% struggle to find the skills and resources in social
  • 62% find managing out of hours’ engagement an issue
  • 38% say it is a challenge to personalise content and 38% struggle to create content on the fly

Of course every company will have different requirements, but resource is a key issue: both in finding the right people and ensuring the best skills and capabilities. After all, real-time social engagement is demanding. To do it well and maximise the opportunity you need the social media talent!

You can read the full report at https://po.st/realtimesocial

Latest Posts

£38m pipeline in 12 weeks. That was the outcome of a programme for a large tech B2B brand built on a fairly unfashionable idea. Instead of filling social and event content with the messages the brand most wanted to push, we built it around the questions buyers were genuinely trying…
Read More
Whether it’s for consumer products or B2B lead driving, Reddit has found its footing as a key platform for reaching audiences far and wide. And the best part is – it’s cheap to advertise on. 121m daily active users in Q4 of 2025 (up 19% on the year before) means…
Read More
When your social is too polished to trust AI is helping marketers move faster. Fair enough. The bigger issue is that it can make weak strategy look polished enough to slip through unchallenged. AI is now embedded in the day job. GWI says 84% of advertisers and marketers in the…
Read More