The and Social Mediaa
Setting the Pace for US Businesses
Research Partners
Dr. Nora Ganim Barnes
Director, Center for Marketing Research
Chancellor Professor of Marketing
UMass Dartmouth
Eric Mattson
Marketing & Social Media Consultant
Blog: www.ericmattson.com
Podcast: www.jenerous.com
What’s your SMQ?
• Read blogs? Have blogs?
• Listen to podcasts? Have a podcast?
• Have social networking profile?
• Watch online video? Share videos online?
• Read wikis? Contribute to wikis?
Why study corporate social media?
-- 94 million blogs indexed
-- 100 million videos viewed daily, 65,000
new videos uploaded daily
-- 200 million accounts
-- 8.29 million articles in 253 languages
In a 30-second spot world, social media has ENORMOUS market power and potential.
The Big Question
Are businesses actually using social media?
Or is it all hype?
Previous Research
• 2005 Cass/BackBone Media surveyed 75 corporate bloggers
• 2006 SocialText and Blog Business Summit hosted wikis to track Fortune 500 blog usage
• 2006 Makovsky/Harris Interactive found that of the Fortune 1000, 15% have someone writing a blog
• 2006 Jupiter Research reported 35% of large co.’s planned to have corporate blog by end of the year
Research Methodology
Started with a respected list:
Developed a survey focused on 4 questions:1. Is the Inc. 500 familiar with social media? 2. Is the Inc. 500 using social media? 3. Does the Inc. 500 consider social media important?4. Does the Inc. 500 monitor social media?
All calls made at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research.
121 of the 2006 companies responded.
• Diverse in industry, size and location.
• Included 4 of the top 10, 7 of the top 25, and 22 of the top 100 companies from the list.
Results are statistically valid
The Response
Familiarity
Usage
Usage
56%
The Bottom Line: Over half of Inc. 500
companies are using at least one form of social
media.
Importance
Monitoring
51%
Methods: Reading RSS feeds, monitoring web
statistics, tracking video downloads, surfing the
web and watching online competitive activity
Responsible Party
The Conclusion
Social media has arrived in business The hype is
real.
• 56% of the Inc. 500 are using at least one form of social media.
• 66% consider social media “very important” or “somewhat important” to their strategy
• 51% of companies are monitoring social media
Actionable Advice
1. These technologies are still young. There are no few right answers. Explore. Play. Participate.
2. Start with education. Familiarity drives usage.
3. Be patient. Invest appropriately. Social media is not an overnight “silver bullet” for success.
Q&A
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Social Media and College Admissions Overview
• We surveyed (via phone) the admissions departments at the 2,000 4-year accredited universities in the US.
• 453 responded including top schools like Duke, Vassar, and Carnegie Mellon.
Statistically valid results
Social Media and College Admissions Questions
Focused on 4 main questions:1. Are colleges and universities familiar with
social media?2. Are colleges and universities using social
media?3. Do colleges and universities consider social
media important?4. Do colleges and universities use search
engines and/or social networking to recruit and research perspective students?
Social Media and College Admissions Results
• 61% of accredited 4 year colleges use at least one form of social media.
• Blogging is the most common media with 33% of admissions departments using it.
• 51% of admissions depts. feel that social media is “very important” to their recruiting strategy.
• Colleges are using search engines (26%) and social networks (21%) to research potential students.
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