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What Marketers Are Saying About Social Media

by Daria Steigman on January 22, 2010

Want to know how communicators are using social media? You could pose a question on Twitter or you could do a deep dive. MarketingProfs did the latter, surveying 4,763 marketers and others managing communications for their organizations. That included 3,285 who specifically said they are responsible for social media.

I don’t have a copy of The State of Social Media Marketing, but I did get a peak at some of the findings. There is some great data here:

  • 48.2 percent said their organizations have a social media presence. They are typically companies that have “very little to hide.” Companies in industries with strict regulations and major repercussions for leaking information (think drug makers, bankers, insurers) are less visible.
  • 60.8 percent who do social media said that it is not part of their job description.
  • Social media isn’t cheap: Most of those doing social media are mid- or senior-level people.
  • 48.8 percent said their company has no official social media policy; 12 percent said they have a restrictive one.
  • There is a correlation between culture and the success of a company’s marketing efforts. Employees who blog (independently) can spark new ideas and increase prestige.
  • All the measurement tools are helpful, but incomplete. For example, 52.8 percent of those surveyed said that paid analytics tools are “helpful but incomplete” (versus 66.1 percent of those using Google and other free tools). And approximately one-third of respondents (33.6 percent) said that the paid tools “enable perfect tracking” (versus 28.1 percent for those using free tools).

There is also a lot of data about the disconnects between the tactics people use a lot (i.e., what’s popular) and the tactics that are most effective. For example, the most used tactics on Twitter are driving traffic (72.1 percent) and driving sales (54.2 percent)—how’s that worked out for you lately? In contract, the most effective Twitter tactics cited involved two-way communications strategies and monitoring for PR problems in real time.

Photo by webtreats (Flickr).

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Is LinkedIn Getting Old?

by Daria Steigman on November 11, 2009

LinkedIn tweet

There’s been a lot of discussion about the new “chocolate and peanut butter” pact that enables cross-posting between Twitter and LinkedIn. My reading of LinkedIn’s description of the new functionality is that people will have the option to selectively cross-post tweets to their status update.

I offered my thoughts here, here, and here, so I won’t stay more on this now. But there is a bigger question: What’s LinkedIn doing?

The new Twitter-LinkedIn arrangement has Twitter’s fingerprints all over it (extending to LinkedIn a service that’s already available to Facebook and MySpace users). LinkedIn hasn’t even tried to explain how this might be of use to its users–just how to use it.

LinkedIn is six years old, and the site looks it. You can’t even customize a font right now. Rather than focusing on add-on features, the company would do well to look at its core usability and the customer experience. Sure, they don’t have a lot of competition right now–but would you want to bet your business on the market environment maintaining the status quo?

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Small Business Taps Into Social Media

by Daria Steigman on April 16, 2009

A recent study on social media trends offers some useful insights on small business use of social media. The top line findings–that Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn, and Facebook are marketers’ preferred social media tools–is pretty predicable. But it’s some of the other data that offers a good reminder of why business owners need to understand, and consider using, social media.

According to the Social Media Marketing Industry Report, business owners were more likely to use social media tools than people working for someone else. And more and more of us are incorporating social media into our marketing mix. The report finds that business owners of companies with 2-100 employees tended to be earlier adopters than our sole proprietor brethren–but more of them are joining the social media ranks every day.

Business owners reported that social media has led to:

  • more exposure for their business
  • improved Web traffic
  • new partnerships
  • better search engine rankings
  • leads and new business

The report also contains a useful Top 10 list of questions people want answered about social media. They’re worth keeping in mind when considering your own use of social media or if you’re trying to convince a client to add a social media component to their marketing strategy.

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LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Part II

by Daria Steigman on October 2, 2008

During AdWeekDC, the LinkedIn/Facebook/MySpace panel not only gave their definitions of social media, they also talked about how the McCain and Obama campaigns are using social networking.

All three panelists agreed that having an online presence is critical to being a part of the conversation:

  • Dale Durrett, LinkedIn, said the candidates are using the site’s polling product to ask about energy policy and other key topics. They’re also using the Q&A feature (1,500 people answered Obama’s first question about economic competitiveness), plus targeted advertising.
  • Tim Kendall, Facebook, said his site enables the campaigns to microtarget, such as advertising to everyone betweeen 18-25 living in Boston or to all Facebook members in a specific congressional district or county.
  • Jason Oberfest, MySpace, said his site has created a standalone property, MyDebates.org, that links to each candidate’s MySpace page and offers members an opportunity to share their opinions and get up-to-date on the issues.

In the end, social networking is just a tool — and hopefully not the only one in the candidates’ toolbox or yours. As LinkedIn’s Durrett put it, “People need to understand the people aspect, and how they identify with social media. Once you understand who the people are, the next step is the technology.”

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LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace on Social Media

by Daria Steigman on September 18, 2008

What is social media? It’s a simple question, and it’s been the source of much discussion of late in the blogosphere. It was also the first question posed this morning to a trio of folks representing MySpace, LinkedIn, and Facebook at an Advertising Week DC session on Social Networking: Come a Little Closer.

  • Jason Oberfest, MySpace, said social media is “about connecting people.” He defined MySpace’s three pillars: 1) members’ self-expression; 2) enabling the discovery of media assets; and 3) enabling people to meet other people with similar interests.
  • Tim Kendall, Facebook, called “the social Web the next great platform” after 1) business productivity on the PC; 2) the Internet; and 3) search.
  • Dale Durrett, LinkedIn, defined social media as “people using technology to get information and assets from each other (instead of from companies and institutions). He defined LinkedIn’s role as providing business professionals with the ability to be more productive day-to-day by enabling them to reach out quickly and find needed expertise.

Next post I’ll write about the panel’s thoughts on using social media effectively.

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