Digital Perspective Blog

Clickz published an article today featuring research from a Hispanic marketing agency (Orci) detailing that seventy-eight percent of Fortune 1000 companies are not employing social media sites to market to Latinos. This means that only twenty-two percent of Fortune 1000 companies are using social media to connect with the Latino community.

What a missed opportunity! Latino’s are a very social community – both online and off. The opportunity to connect in a meaningful way via social media is immense and given some of our own social media research, I was very surprised that big brands are not taking this opportunity to extend their reach. I’m sure part of this has to do with the fact that organizations are still trying to determine where social media lives from an enterprise-wide perspective – I can only imagine the complexity when you start trying to conduct more targeted programs.

Social media can’t be segmented into any one group within a company. Social media impacts every area of a business from sales to marketing to human resources to corporate communications to investor relations to (I could go on but you get it.) More importantly, social media provides the opportunity to engage every potential audience in a way that is targeted and relevant. Companies must evolve to having a socially conversant workforce that is given the resources and flexibility (withing a framework) to participate in social media so that do their jobs effectively.

I’m curious about what my colleagues from our U.S. Hispanic practice have to say.

We have received so many positive comments since we launched our Fortune Global 100 Social Media Study! I really appreciate those of you that took time to write and am enjoying hearing your questions and ideas. I thought it would be a good idea to answer some of the questions in an open forum. Here goes…

Q. What did you find most surprising?

A. Personally, I was surprised by the disparity across social media platforms. A full 79% are using one of the four platforms but only 20% of the companies included are using all four of the platforms considered in the study – Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and corporate blogs. However, only 33% are using corporate blogs versus 65% that are using Twitter. The fact that Twitter has become the platform of choice didn’t surprise me, but the margin certainly did.

Q. How did the rest of the F500 do in the study?

A. Our study only considered the Fortune Global 100 so I can’t answer that.

Q. How did you pick the platforms to include?

A. Social media is a diverse ecosystem made up of all different sorts of community websites and consumer generated media. In some ways, picking the most popular social media platforms rails against our believe that quality trumps quantity in social media. However, we had to start somewhere. I believe it is safe to assume that companies will start with the broadest platforms – those included in our study – before moving on to more niche communities.

Q. Why did you call it social media? Isn’t that term outdated?

A. Well, there are a lot of terms floating around. Some people call it “new media” but I’ve been doing this for more than 15 years now so it is clearly not new. Others call it “emerging media” but I’d argue that it has emerged. If anything it could be considered “evolving media” but as a very smart person told me today, all media is evolving. The reality is that I don’t believe it is the agency’s job to define or name the channel – we should follow our clients’ lead. The industry and clients at large still talk about and ask for social media strategy and tactics – and therefore I’ll continue to use language that they are comfortable with.

Q. How did you handle multiple accounts?

A. The study showed that those that are active in social media have multiple accounts. For example, those who are active on Twitter average 4.2 accounts, although their are outliers with many more. If a company was present and active they were included. We didn’t weight companies based on the number of accounts.

Q. Is there really a dialogue taking place or are companies only pushing their information?

A. We were pleasantly surprised by the fact that there is truly a dialogue taking place. Companies have a significant number of followers or fans and are responding to consumer comments. They are also actively following people who follow them, paving the way for a relationship to develop.

Q. Why does this study matter?

A. This study is important because companies are still grappling with many issues around participating in social media. They are trying to determine which internal department owns it (we’d argue it is a shared responsibility), how to create guidelines, which sites to participate in, and what type of content to share (we’d recommend content that contributes to communities of interest). A study of this magnitude that shows companies how peers are participating is valuable in helping to convenience skeptical executives to consider the possibilities. And plus it was fun to do.

And, my favorite question…

Q. When did you have time to do the research?

I didn’t. Ashley Welde of our Evidence-Based team and Paul Cordasco led the research effort with contributions from colleagues all around the world. Ashley and Paul are quite the dynamic duo and are passionate about evidence-based communications and social media – a perfect combination as far as I’m concerned. Great job guys.

Lastly, some of the best questions I received came from Phil Dobbie of BNET. We recorded a podcast last week that he published today. Enjoy, and thanks.

Pew Internet released a new study today called “Understanding the Participatory News Consumer.” Essentially the study reports that Americans use multiple platforms to get their news. This isn’t news in and of itself, but what I did find a little surprising was where the Internet ranked in the list of sources.

The internet is now the third most-popular news platform, behind local and national television news and ahead of national print newspapers, local print newspapers and radio. Getting news online fits into a broad pattern of news consumption by Americans; six in ten (59%) get news from a combination of online and offline sources on a typical day.

Quite honestly I would have expected the Internet to be the top source for news. When I watch television news at this point, whether it be national or local, it is almost for entertainment purposes. Any time I want to dig deep and truly understand the news or an issue I always go to the Internet and usually go to multiple sources. Regardless, the study does support that 92% of Americans use multiple platforms to get their news and that 33% are now getting their news on their mobile phones as well.

Other interesting points from the study include:

• 46% of Americans say they get their news from four to six media platforms on a typical day.
• Only 7% get their news from a single media platform.
• TV is still the top source for news with 78% saying they get news from a local TV station, followed by 73% who say they get news from a national network such as CNN
• The most popular online news subjects are the weather (followed by 81% of internet news users), national events (73%), health and medicine (66%), business and the economy (64%), international events (62%), and science and technology (60%). This is interesting to me because outside of a major storm like the one that just slammed upstate NY, I don’t generally consider weather to be news.
• 75% of online news consumers say they get news forwarded through email or posts on social networking sites and 52% say they share links to news with others via those means.
• 51% of social networking site (e.g. Facebook) users who are also online news consumers say that on a typical day they get news items from people they follow. Another 23% of this cohort follow news organizations or individual journalists on social networking sites.

So, what does this all mean? To start, it means that integration is key. I must sound like a broken record by now, but news, information and conversations move online and offline and online again. Therefore, creating content and reaching audiences traditionally and via online and social media is critical to effectively disseminating messages. For marketers, this study reinforces the need for compelling and creative content. People are multitasking in everything they do, even in something as simple as getting their daily dose of news, so only the most interesting content will cut through the clutter. Given that 75% of those who consume news online say they get it from email links or via social networking sites, cutting through the clutter and creating advocates to spread your message continues to become even more important.

When I was a child I was the remote control for my dad in watching the 6:00 news. We didn’t talk, or eat, or do anything as he recapped the day with the anchor du jour. Times have changed (duh) but I wonder what my daughter will say about my news consumption when she is an adult.

Last year Burson-Marsteller conducted a study of the Fortune 100 in the US to determine if and how they were using social media. It was an interesting study that demonstrated that Twitter was the platform of choice.

Late last year we compiled data based on the Global Fortune 100 companies. The study was released today and shows that 79% of the Global Fortune 100 are using at least 1 of the social media elements considered – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and corporate blogs. The survey identified that 65% are using Twitter, 54% have a Facebook fan page, 50% are on YouTube and only 33% have a corporate blog that we could easily find.

Interestingly, only 20% of the companies studied are using all four platforms to engage stakeholders. This surprised me because the opportunity in social media is to spend time where your stakeholders are and share messages in a way that they are most comfortable. Ideally companies will review different platforms against their business objectives and choose the ones that are best for their needs. However, very rarely will only one platform meet all the needs of a multi-national corporation. The key to social media success is using the various platforms to their best advantage and creating relationships across social media that build credibility for companies and brands.

Another interesting finding of the study is around potential renegade employees. Very often employees create social media pages on behalf of companies, sometimes outside of their professional role and definitely without company guidance. These pages can create messaging confusion and can also send a message about the company if they are abandoned. It is an interesting challenge for companies today about how to allow employees to have a voice, but to do so within a reasonable company framework.

More information along with slides and a PDF are available at the Burson-Marsteller blog.

This study was released along with an exciting new product, our Social Media Check-up. More on that to come!

During 2009, Twitter surpassed blogging as the social media platform of choice – at least among the Fortune 100. A recent analysis compiled by Burson-Marsteller and Proof Digital Media found that largest 100 companies in the terms of revenue as compiled by Fortune Magazine’s annual Fortune 500 were active on three key social media: Twitter, Facebook and Blog. Reuters Media File Blog posted about the study.

The study found that 54% of the Fortune 100 were using Twitter to reach out directly to stakeholders, while 32% were using a blogs and 29% were actively using a Facebook Fan Page to engage. Despite the perception that Twitter is the newest kid on the block among the three platforms, 76% of Fortune 100 companies that were using just one social media channel were using Twitter over Facebook and Blogs.

Perhaps not surprisingly each company that was classified in consumer facing industries such as General Merchandisers (some examples Here and Here), Specialty Retailers (Here and Here) and Telecommunications (Here and Here) are Tweeting. Many companies in each of these categories have multiple Twitter accounts. For example, AT&T, has Twitter an account for Small Biz, Mobile Music, News, and Job Recruitment among others.

Our analysis found that about 94% of Fortune 100 Twitter accounts distribute company news updates and announcements while fully 67% are at least partially serving a customer service function.

The slides are available on our website…

Burson-Marsteller sister company Penn, Schoen, Berland released the results of a technology survey they conducted on behalf of All Things Digital to understand consumer perceptions of important tech issues. They intereviewed 1,005 consumers earlier this month. Given the challenging times we are facing, understanding views on technology is critical for consumers and corporations alike, and I think this study turned up some interesting results.

Just a few of the results that I found interesting -

• 82% don’t own a smart phone for personal use. I guess this makes sense. I have an iPhone but I rarely use it as I have my work blackberry. The implications for companies around mobile marketing are significant given that people are relying on work-issued technology – how does that impact what they are willing to download and how they use their device? Clearly this is a growth opportunity for the telecomms, but also for marketers.
• It isn’t surprising, but people are using MySpace less and Facebook more. The question is, how will MySpace reinvent itself to regain audience. I’m starting to hear some talk of Facebook users losing interest, but these same people feel that they are so invested that it would be tough to change.
• When it comes to consuming media, 45% have visited the website for a newspaper in the last month. And, 34% say they are willing to pay for some news content.

There is a lot of additional information available in the booklet that PSB produced. If you’d like additional information on the survey and the results, just let me know and I’ll connect you with my colleages at PSB.

According to a new Online Measurement and Strategy Report, “companies are typically failing to adopt a coherent strategy that ties in web analytics data with business objectives – just 18% of surveyed firms do so.” Apparently, organizations are “under-investing in internal analytics staff and failing to implement a coherent measurement strategy which can help them turn their data into something of real value to their business.”

Approximately 700 companies took part in the survey, including 434 client-side companies and 229 supplier-side respondents (constituting agencies, consultancies and analytics vendors).

Although 88% of companies polled said that web analytics are important for measuring traffic to websites, cost and resources were seen as the greatest hindrance to effective data analysis. 48% of organizations do not have any dedicated web analysts.

For anyone who participates online, whether via blogs, social networks and even instant messenger, having some form of a history log is helpful to gain a better understanding of past trends and possibly predict the future. Sure, there are some frustrations with current web analytics offerings, but as we continue to live in an increasing hyper-digital world, effective measurement and targeting will become a necessity.

For more information about Burson-Marsteller’s evidence-based approach and strategic analysis offerings, see our Strategic Development section on www.bm.com.

Ipos MediaCT released an interesting report: The Business Elite Study. It essentially says that more and more C-Suite professionals are using digital media to get their fix of information.  According to Ipos MediaCT, the report “explores the media habits, attitudes, opinions, and business and personal purchasing habits of the highest echelon of America’s business community – the C-Suite.”

Of all the findings ranging from top websites visited to the internet being one of the main sources for business news, two in particular stood out:

• In a month’s time, more than two-thirds of the C-levels surveyed (68%) have downloaded videos or clips from websites or received email newsletters/alerts on their computers.  About half (49%) have streamed or watched broadband videos from websites on their computers. (I wonder what the percentage of c-levels is that have downloaded videos or clips from websites only is)

• They are into blogs too—almost one-third (30%) read blogs and a small number (4%) contribute to blogs.

As the C-levels become more digitally savvy so will their businesses, as well as the conversations they will be having internally and externally.

There are a lot of different studies that measure technology use and impact. At Burson-Marsteller we have our own e-fluentials series which we’ll be talking more about soon as we have some new studies coming out. In the meantime, however, check out the Typology Groups quiz from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. You answer a few questions about the devices you own and the type of activities you participate in online, and then get a ranking on your typology group. The options start from the bottom with those that are “off the network” which Pew indicates is 15% of the population. These are the folks living in caves with no Internet, no mobile phone, and a heavy reliance on traditional media. At the top of the spectrum are “omnivores” which are 8% of the population. These folks are wired to the max and go beyond accessing information online to truly participating and expressing themselves. Of course, there are all sorts of options in between. It would be interesting to have insights on the collective influence of each group on the others, but the quiz itself was interesting too.

What is your typology group, and what does it mean for how you communicate?

Burson-Marsteller’s global CEO, Mark Penn, recently published a book titled Microtrends. The book details the small trends that are generating big change in America. Early buzz from clients and media is very positive. I am fascinated by this thinking, and am especially interested in the implications for digital communications. Given how online communications make the world a smaller place it will be especially interesting to identify personal microtrends. Have a look at the Web site, and send a chapter to a friend.  It will be interesting to discuss which microtrends we all find most interesting.