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The State of Social Media in Marketing

by Louise Green
7 replies
Just came across this recent study from the Society for New Communications Research.

Interesting points:

• 22% (108) of the primary corporations listed in the 2009 Fortune 500 have a public-facing corporate blog. This represents a six percent increase over the 2008 study.
• 86% of these blogs (93) link directly to a corporate twitter account, a 300% increase over the 2008 study. (Note: More Fortune 500 corporations have Twitter accounts, but do not link directly from their blogs.)
• 35% (173) of the Fortune 500 have active Twitter accounts (a post within the past thirty days); and nearly 50% of the top 100 companies (47) have a Twitter account.
• 80% -- four of the top five corporations - Wal-Mart, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and General Electric - consistently post on their Twitter accounts. The number one ranked company, Exxon Mobil, does not have a Twitter account.
• The insurance industry has the most Twitter accounts (13).
• 19% of the 2009 Fortune 500 is podcasting, a three percent increase over the 2008 study
• 31% are incorporating online video into their blog sites, a 10% increase over 2008
Download the report Center for Marketing Research - University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

I found it interesting, some of you might too.
#marketing #media #social #state
  • Profile picture of the author jennypitts
    It is very interesting. And, although I use twitter for some of my marketing, I still do not understand how some of these Fortune 500 companies make use of a twitter account, except of course to drive people to their blog.
    What is surprising is the fact that only 31% use videos in their sites. Considering how popular, online video marketing has become, I would think it would be higher.
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    • Profile picture of the author laird
      Originally Posted by jennypitts View Post

      It is very interesting. And, although I use twitter for some of my marketing, I still do not understand how some of these Fortune 500 companies make use of a twitter account, except of course to drive people to their blog.
      Zappos is a great case study for effective use of Twitter. They have, at last count, over 238 employees that tweet their love of all things Zappos - great deals, great customers, insights, etc. For them, it's a customer-communication and brand-driving vehicle.

      Del
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  • Profile picture of the author Louise Green
    The video thing is a puzzle to me too Jenny, maybe it won't be like that for too much longer, I predict the majority of web content will be video in the future.
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    • Profile picture of the author Nightengale
      I'm not so sure that the MAJORITY of web content will be video. Personally, I disagree with that assessment. But I DO think that video is a HUGE component and it's detrimental to ignore it in your marketing efforts.

      However, I've come to that conclusion very reluctantly. I'm a writer, am much more comfortable with words and prefer hiding behind my computer. I'm a good talker too and I feel quite comfortable on the phone. ("She never shuts up!")

      But me on camera? No way!

      I rather dread the thought of putting myself on camera though. I DO NOT look forward to that. However, I have to realistically look at marketing in our culture and acknowledge the role that television/video plays in it. I personally refuse to pay for cable TV, so I don't have TV at my house. But I know I'm in the minority. (I'm recently engaged and my fiance is insisting he must have cable TV and he's going to order it installed in my house by April 1st. Grrrr!)

      Like a lot of people here, I've spent a lot of time on YouTube watching various videos. (I waste a lot of time that way.) And when I step back and think about it, I realize that when I've seen videos of my favorite gurus/mentors, they've become much more "real" to me and my level of trust goes up.

      So, I'm reluctantly planning on shooting videos of myself to plaster all over the 'Net. I've invested in a Flip camera and a desktop tripod. (Right before I lost my job, thankfully.) I intend to shoot some videos to incorporate into my marketing campaigns, but haven't gotten to that point yet. I'm in the process of putting together a marketing campaign to launch a brand new organization to a niche market, so I have a lot to do and keep me busy.

      Or maybe I'm just procrastinating on a task I'm dreading.

      Michelle
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  • Profile picture of the author Tony Hetherington
    have active Twitter accounts (a post within the past thirty days) - I'm sorry but I don't count a post in the last 30 days as an active twitter account!
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  • Profile picture of the author Louise Green
    Good luck with your video Nighengale, I'm also terrified of appearing on camera.

    I try to picture how the web will look in 100 years, when all of us are gone, of course there's no way we could ever know but I with connection speeds and technology that we can't imagine right now, maybe text will be phased out.. but I'm also sure that people thought the same about books when TV was created.

    I suppose they have to give a time limit as to what they determine an active Twitter account, even if it's not active by the standards of many.. but that's minutiae when looking at the bigger picture of the report.
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  • Profile picture of the author mikefort
    Cheers, I downloaded a copy and found it really interesting. Thanks
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