A recent study by Burson-Marsteller,via eMarketer, had some interesting findings for how Fortune 100 companies are using social media.First, Twitter seems to be the social-media darling not just with mainstream media, but with the world's largest companies as well. According to the study, 54% of the Fortune 100 companies surveyed are active on Twitter. Another interesting stat is that 21 of the Fortune 100 companies use only Twitter or Facebook Pages or have a company blog. Of that 21%, 76% of those companies that only use one channel, use Twitter. Given that the tool can be picked up quickly, and is especially useful as a customer-service management tool for larger companies, these figures shouldn't be a big surprise.
Another interesting finding is that 32 of the Fortune 100 companies are blogging. This figure is over twice that of the Fortune 500 companies that are blogging. It's also a good sign because blogs require a solid time-commitment, much moreso than the average Twitter presence.
And finally, the study found that 60% of the Fortune 100 is using one of the three sites/tools of Twitter, Facebook Pages, or a blog. And 17% are using all three.
Now let's remember that not EVERY company should be using social media. BUT for larger companies, that have many more customers, using social media makes much more sense. As these companies have more customers, they also have more customers online, and likely have more customers that are online and using social media to discuss that company.
So it's good to see that most members of the Fortune 100 are at least experimenting with using social media to connect with their online customers. But the rate of adoption should probably be much higher, and likely will be in the next couple of years.
8 comments:
Thank you for the post on facebook. I shared it with my friends. I obtained a Twitter name and have watched Twitter since March. Just starting to post more tweets and learning by watching. I signed up to follow you.. wow over 9,000 followers! I know I can learn from you! Thanks again.
Carra thank you for the follow, I just returned the favor ;)
I'm surprised that number isn't way higher. It seems every company is using Twitter and other social media sites these days. Traditional advertising is slowly dying to say the least.
Hi Mack. Like the blog posting but can you give some examples of companies that shouldn’t use social media for marketing purposes?
Alan
Thank you for the post, Mack. It will be interesting to watch how companies, especially the Fortune 100, keep embracing social media along with their customers. And it certainly makes sense for larger companies who often have the resources to put into it. I would love to get your opinion on how these companies are using social media; in other words, what objectives are they trying to meet? Increase awareness? Connect with customers? As you mentioned, more and more are taking up Twitter as another customer service channel, but what are the rest of them doing with it? I see an awful lot of contests being run - not exactly a conversation, but definitely the beginnings of engagement.
Smaller businesses often seem to struggle with social media, as everyone is already so swamped. I find the best use of social media in a smaller business are those companies who are passionate about connecting with customers and are excited about using social media for those purposes.
Would love to hear your thoughts, Mack. As always, you rock! :)
Becky great comments! I think we are seeing the big companies that were active in social media BEFORE joining Twitter, they are mostly using it as a CSM tool.
But the ones that are using Twitter as their first attempt at social media, they seem to me to be the ones that are using it more as a promotional channel. But I think that's to be somewhat expected. I think when many companies try out social media for the first time, they tend to approach it as being new channels to shove old marketing messages through. Because that's what they are familiar with.
And I agree on small businesses, not all have the resources for an active social media presence, but the ones that are truly passionate about the connections that can be made via social media, seem to be doing very well!
Thanks again Becky for a great comment!
Hi,
Indeed there's a well known computer brand that is selling alot through Twitter.
Kind regards,
José
This is a great way fro them to improve there demographics and expand their overall reach. I think twitter is so popular among these companies because it is easy to use and manage. They can market to a new generation and develop all sorts of ways to show potential customers their product.
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