Trade associations have increased the use of paid digital content, as well as photo and video platforms like Instagram and YouTube, in their communications efforts, according to a study by Kellen.

kellenGoogle ads, sponsored posts on Facebook and Twitter are the preferred paid media among trade groups as more than one-third of US associations (37%, up from 32%) said they are now using such tactics.

Key goals for paid content are to promote organizational content (58% in US) or attract people to events (67%), although efforts to recruit members via social have struggled with 38% calling such outreach for new members ineffective and 45% saying it has been effective.

The need to turn a limited amount of in-house writing or data into multiple forms of content has precipitated the need for paid placements and the use of social platforms like Pinterest, which were initially seen as consumer, rather than commercial, domains.

Kellen, an association management and PR firm, also found increased adoption of Instagram (29%, up from 19% a year earlier) and YouTube (73%, up from 64%), with the adoption levels higher in the US than Europe. While LinkedIn use was steady at around 88%, Pinterest registered an increase from 21% to 24%

Facebook and Twitter remain the top social media tool, reportedly used by 93% and 91%, respectively, slight increases over a year earlier.

After a series of high-profile gaffes among corporations, Twitter is now perceived to carry the greatest threat, among social platforms, according to 22% of respondents, edging blogs (20%), Facebook (19%). LinkedIn is seen as the safest platform, cited by only 8% as a "high risk" outlet.

Responsibility and Measurement

Kellen, which said 439 trade orgs participated in the survey, reported that social media has increasingly fallen under the guidance of communications managers (48%, up from 41%). While only 17% reported having a dedicated social media manager, nearly one-fourth of respondents said a staffer spends more than 10 hours a week on social activity, while 45% said social media duties log from one to five hours per week.

While social and digital tools rise among trade groups, measurement has lagged. Kellen reports that a reported increase in measurement was attributed to "vanity metrics" (likes, followers) rather than more quality data like comment analysis and social listening research from an independent company, the latter of which actually decreased from 2014.