The document summarizes a study on the social media habits of Fortune 500 companies. Some of the key findings include:
1) Most Fortune 500 companies are present on major social media channels like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter but engagement levels are generally low.
2) Facebook fan pages drive the largest social audiences but many channels have been inactive for over 6 months.
3) Fortune 500 companies need to improve their social media strategies by more actively engaging customers, integrating social media across their online and offline presences, and responding directly to customer feedback and questions.
1. The Social Media Habits of the Fortune 500 TM Summary Highlights November 2009 C. Michelle Batten Flickr Photo by th.omas, February 12, 2009
2. Social media is now part of daily life Social media is now part of everyone’s daily life
3. Key social media channels now attract a substantial and growing global audience Consumers have instant access to information and are more connected than ever 17M+ uniques 2,681% growth 300M+ uniques 97% growth 8M+ uniques 320% growth 346M+ uniques 100M+ uniques 45% growth 100M+ uniques 32% growth 147M+ uniques 91% growth Source: ComScore Metrics 2008, 2009; Note MySpace, YouTube and LinkedIn data are U.S. only
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5. Search is now social and real-time Socially generated content is changing the rankings of organic search results Socially targeted searches enable consumers to quickly navigate the most current content from trusted sources
6. Socially generated content is helping to shape consumer purchase decisions 50% of surveyed consumers rely on online reviews in the first stage of their buying cycle; 66% do so at point of purchase 21% of surveyed blog readers say blogs help them decide on a product or service Sources: Opinion Research Group, April 15, 2009 and BuzzLogic Study, March 2009
7. Flickr Photo by phogel, January 10, 2009 Source: “The Social Media Habits of the Fortune 500” Study, iMediaWorks, 2Q,2009 Over 6 million people are engaging Fortune 500 brands through these key social media channels
8. How are Fortune 500 companies engaging with this social audience?
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11. The average Fortune 500 is present in just over a quarter of key social media channels
12. Nearly all industry segments participate in every channel with the exception of MySpace and virtual worlds U.S. Travel Suppliers primary presence exists within LinkedIn (38%) followed by Facebook (25%) and Twitter (14%) Source: “The Social Media Habits of the Fortune 500” Study, iMediaWorks, 2Q,2009
13. Employee networking and product usage / sales orientations dominate Fortune 500 social activities
14. Publishers lead the product usage / sales orientation followed by Retail and Telecommunications industry segments Fortune 500 brands primarily use YouTube, iPhone applications and Podcasts to drive product usage and sales Source: “The Social Media Habits of the Fortune 500” Study, iMediaWorks, 2Q,2009
15. Over a third of Fortune 500 key social media channels have been inactive for over 6 months
16. Some of the most inactive social channels include MySpace (71%), Podcasts (75%) and Facebook Fan Pages (44%) The most recent Fortune 500 social media channel adoption occurred within iPhone (75%) followed by Facebook Fan Pages (72%) Source: “The Social Media Habits of the Fortune 500” Study, iMediaWorks, 2Q,2009
17. Nearly two-thirds of Fortune 500 brands have social media channels with low engagement levels
18. YouTube and Facebook Fan Pages are the most lacking in social conversation levels Automotive, Telco and Computer segments have the highest engagement levels amongst Fortune 500 brands Source: “The Social Media Habits of the Fortune 500” Study, iMediaWorks, 2Q,2009
20. Computers, CPGs and Telcos attract the highest social audience share levels within their key channels Facebook Fan Pages are the largest source of Fortune 500 social audience; 7.5% of them exceed 100K to 1 million fans each Source: “The Social Media Habits of the Fortune 500” Study, iMediaWorks, 2Q,2009
22. Blogs are the largest primary source of brand name mentions for Telcos, Energy and Financial industry segments Photos and Blogs are the primary channel sources of brand name social mentions for 59% of the Fortune 500 Source: “The Social Media Habits of the Fortune 500” Study, iMediaWorks, 2Q,2009; Vitrue SMI Database
23. Facebook Groups are the largest source of negative branding for nearly all Fortune 500 brands
24. Negative “anti-branding” by third parties is most prevalent within Facebook and YouTube Publishing, Financial and Retail industry segments attract the most negatively branded presence within Facebook Source: “The Social Media Habits of the Fortune 500” Study, iMediaWorks, 2Q,2009
25. Only 18% of Fortune 500 brands are integrating their social media channels
26. Publishing and Computer segments are cross-integrating their social footprint better than their industry peers When Fortune 500 brands feature social media on their Home Page, it is most likely their Blog; YouTube is least likely to be featured Source: “The Social Media Habits of the Fortune 500” Study, iMediaWorks, 2Q,2009
27. Most Fortune 500 brands are not tapping into the full potential of an Integrated Social Web
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29. SOCIAL needs to be fully integrated within all of your consumer programs customer service event retail & merch out of home public relations partnerships direct SOCIAL Use social to unite and amplify your communications with customers tv/radio
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31. Learn more about your social media habits Flickr Photo by PinkSherbert_Photography, August 19, 2007 C. Michelle Batten, Lead Marketing Strategist [email_address] @iMediaMichelle