Over half of executives in the food and drink industries do not measure the return on investment (ROI) they get their use of social media, according to a global just-food survey.

More than 54% of industry professionals said they did not monitor the ROI that their companies make on social media networks. A further 18% "did not know" if the business in which they worked measured the returns.

The results was one of the more notable from a survey of over 500 food and drink executives from around the world that just-food conducted as part of its report into how companies in the industries used social media.

When asked by just-food what the "top three barriers to implementing a social media strategy were", a number of respondents said it was difficult to measure the ROI.

"Showing the ROI of a Facebook fan or a Twitter follower", was one barrier put forward.

However, some 52% of those surveyed said their companies now had a formal social media strategy. However, a quarter of executives said their companies had not devoted a part of their marketing budget to social media.

Nonetheless, over two-thirds of respondents said social media would be included in their companies' next marketing budgets.

just-food is the world's leading portal for the global pre-packaged food and retail industries. Its daily mix of breaking news, views, analysis and research serves over 100,000 food executives each month. http://www.just-food.com/