Benchmarking Agency Social Media Activity

11th August 2011

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• This presentation enables marketing agencies to benchmark their social media activity against those of their peers

• Findings based on 251 interviews with B2B marketing agency professionals conducted in June/July 2011

• The survey was conducted by B2B research specialists Circle Research on behalf of B2B Marketing magazine

Vital Statistics

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To what extent does your organisation have a social media strategy?

Base: All agency respondents (251)

Clearly defined strategy

32%

General policies on use but nothing specific

47%

Just ad hoc activ-ity

21%

Don't know1%

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I don’t know 3%

6%

31%

42%

45%

45%

51%

52%

66%

Other

Which of the following did your organisation use to develop its approach to social media?

Base: All agency respondents with a social media strategy (197)

Comparison of different social media tools

Gut feel

Competitor research

Internal and agency brainstorming

Research into target audience behaviour

Research into target audience attitudes

Research to identify key opinion formers

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Below is a list of potential reasons to use social media as a marketing tool. Which three would you say are the most important objectives for your organisation?

Other

Improve investor relations

Aid product development

Improve channel partner relations

Enhance customer service

Deepen understanding of target market

Drive sales

Reinforce brand positioning

Increase search engine visibility

Build customer relationships

Strengthen thought leadership position

Generate/nurture leads

Raise brand awareness

3%

5%

5%

13%

10%

11%

9%

18%

20%

4%

4%

10%

8%

14%

12%

11%

16%

14%

3%

8%

6%

5%

17%

21%

13%

24%

1st priority 2nd priority 3rd priority

Total

58%

47%

41%

40%

29%

27%

23%

12%

8%

4%

3%

0%

6%

Base: All agency respondents (251)

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When planning your social media activity, do you consider how it will impact on SEO?

Base: All agency respondents (251)

A key considera-tion33%

Something that's considered, but not key

46%

Aware of the impact, but doesn't affect

planning 14%

Don't even consider it5%

Don't know2%

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13%

15%

56%

15%

5%

8%

50%

37%

Middle management

16%

10%

44%

30% Very effective

Quite effective

Not very effective

Not at all effective

Not sure16%

21%

48%

11%

In your experience, to what extent is social media effective in targeting these audiences?

Base: Agency respondents who target: C-suite execs (107); senior management (184); middle management (158); media contacts (102); external analysts (50). Net score calculated by subtracting negative from positive scores

14%

6%

27%

44%

9%

C-suite execs Senior management

External analysts

Media contacts

NET: 21% 36% 55% 64%79%

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Do you have a specific budget for social media?

Yes20%

No76%

Don't know 4%

Base: All agency respondents (251)

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Budget vs. time allocated to social media

Base: All agency respondents who responded to the question (216/233)

0% 1-4% 5-9% 10-14% 15-19% 20-29% 30-39% 40-49% 50-59% 60-69% 70-79% 80-100%

15%

28%

15%14%

8%

6%5%

2%3% 3%

1%

13%

15% 15% 15%16%

7%6% 6%

3% 3%2%

Budget

Time

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As a percentage of total marketing spend, do you expect your spend on social media to increase or decrease over the next 12 months?

Base: All agency respondents who knew whether their organisation had a specific budget (240)

Increase signif-icantly22%

Increase slightly 50%

Stay the same 25%

Don't know; 3%Decrease slightly; 0%Decrease significantly; 0%

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Do you expect the amount of time your organisation spends on social media to increase or decrease over the next 12 months?

Base: All agency respondents who knew how much time they dedicated to social media (233)

Increase signif-icantly 25%

Increase slightly 52%

Stay the same 23%

Decrease slightly; 0%Decrease significantly; 0%

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11%

21%

68%

5%

95%

Which of the following social media techniques are you currently using?

11%

28%

61%

52%

23%

25%

Currently use

Plan to use

No plans to use

Company activity on social networks

Company blog Online PRProprietary online

community

Base: All agency respondents (251)

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What’s the extent of your organisation’s presence on the following social networks?

Base: All agency respondents whose organisations currently use social networks (238)

76%

84%

67%

53%

24%

6% 6%

13%

20%

46%

35% 33%

17%19%

16%12%

18% 19%

5% 5%

17%

36%

58%

79%84%

71%

63%

Company page

Designated individual

No presence

Industry specific community

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In your opinion, which three social networks are most useful to your organisation at present and which three do you think will be most useful in 12 months time?

13%

8%

3%

5%

22%

18%

42%

37%

64%

63%

5%

1%

2%

3%

11%

14%

28%

54%

83%

88%

Most useful at presentMost useful in 12 months

Industry specific community

I don’t know

Base: All agency respondents whose organisations currently use social networks (238)

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On average, how many times a month does your organisation or designated individual/s representing your organisation tweet?

Base: All agency respondents with a Twitter account (182). Excludes don’t knows

15 or fewer

30 or fewer

45 or fewer

60 or fewer

75 or fewer

90 or fewer

120 or fewer

150 or fewer

180 or fewer

240 or fewer

300 or fewer

>300

30%

59%65%

77% 79% 81%

89% 91% 92%96% 98% 100%

Tweets per month

Mean = 6250%

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On average, how many times a month does your organisation or designated individual/s representing your organisation blog per month?

Base: All agency respondents with company blogs (157). Excludes don’t knows

2 or fewer

4 or fewer

6 or fewer

8 or fewer

10 or fewer

15 or fewer

20 or fewer

25 or fewer

50 or fewer

>50

26%

55%

69%76%

83%88%

93% 93%97%

100%

Blogs per month

Mean = 850%

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On average, how many times a year does your organisation or designated individual/s representing your organisation post videos on its YouTube account

Base: All agency respondents with YouTube accounts (114). Excludes don’t knows

0 2 or fewer

4 or fewer

6 or fewer

8 or fewer

10 or fewer

15 or fewer

20 or fewer

25 or fewer

50 or fewer

>50

9%

32%

46%

61% 63%70%

82%89% 91%

96%100%

YouTube videos per month

Mean = 1450%

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Which social networks have you bought promotional services (such as advertising) from in the past 12 months?

Base: All agency respondents whose organisations currently use social networks (238)

58%

0%

0%

0%

1%

3%

4%

5%

22%

31%

Industry specific community

None

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Below are some measurements of social media engagement. Please indicate how many people follow your organisation’s Twitter account

125 or fewer

250 or fewer

500 or fewer

750 or fewer

1000 or fewer

1500 or fewer

2000 or fewer

2500 or fewer

5000 or fewer

7500 or fewer

>7500

25%

45%

62%

71%

80%84%

89% 91%95% 95%

100%

Twitter followers

Mean = 1550

50%

Base: All agency respondents with a company Twitter account (167). Excludes don’t knows

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Below are some measurements of social media engagement. Please indicate how many people subscribe to your company blog

0 25 or fewer

50 or fewer

75 or fewer

100 or fewer

125 or fewer

250 or fewer

500 or fewer

1000 or fewer

2000 or fewer

>2000

6%

29%

42%46%

58%63%

69%

79%

88% 90%

100%

Blog subscribers

Mean = 92250%

Base: All agency respondents with a company blog (52). Excludes don’t knows

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Do you currently use social media to generate leads?

Yes69%

No26%

Don't know 4%

Base: All agency respondents (251)