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Posts Tagged ‘social media research’

Driving word of mouth Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

Today’s edition of the Corporate Communicator, from US PR firm Bon Mot Communications, contains the following piece, which provides a useful summary of a recent study on corporate use of social media: “As the traditional news hole continues to shrink, communicators are turning to new media sources to help get the word out about their organizations’ services, products and causes. However, many business leaders are still skeptical when it comes to the value of coverage on blogs and other social media sites.

“If this challenge sounds familiar, be sure to check out a recent study from the Aberdeen Group, ‘The ROI on Social Media Marketing: Why it Pays to Drive Word of Mouth.’

“According to the study, companies are learning to leverage social media to drive marketing ROI by listening to and learning from current and prospective customers. Aberdeen found that 63% of companies surveyed plan to increase social media marketing budgets in 2009 - some by as much as 25%.

“However, Aberdeen also found that measurement continues to be a sticking point: 59% said it was either difficult or somewhat difficult to measure social media.

“How does your organization stack up? According to the study:

· 39% of surveyed companies have established a method for engaging consumers in online conversation
· 26% instill an organizational focus on social media
· 24% establish a method for defining social media benchmarks and goals
· 21% create a team or committee dedicated to social media ROI
· 18% link results of social media activities to increased revenues and other financial outcomes
· 18% establish a method for driving brand advocacy and customer referrals

“You can purchase a full copy of the report here: http://www.aberdeen.com/summary/report/benchmark/5639-RA-social-media-marketing.asp ”


It’s not just me - no, really, I mean it, it isn’t just me! Friday, March 13th, 2009

Once you start getting involved in the digital or social media business, you tend to lose perspective. You can see all these cool things happening out there, and you’re linking up with all sorts of interesting people via Twitter or LinkedIn or Facebook, and you get this feeling that, for once in your life, you’re riding the crest of a wave (forgive me if my surfing analogy is a bit skewiff, but I grew up in the land-locked American Midwest) and involved in something with enormous social and business potential.

Meanwhile, your family and friends shake their head when you tell them what you do all day and wonder what on earth is the point of linking up with people you don’t know from a bar of soap and exchanging 140-character missives on Twitter that are largely on the topic of Twitter. It’s a good reality check to engage with the ‘real’ people in your life and see that, just maybe, you’re overestimating the effect and potential, and  that most people couldn’t care less about digital communication.

Well, a new report just published by NetPop Research shows that YOU SEE, I WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG - DIGITAL SOCIAL MEDIA IS EXPLODING! Yes, it’s a US report and Australia is further behind this curve, but get a load of these numbers:

  • More than 100 million Americans are regularly posting material to social media sites - that’s one-third of the population
  • Use of social media has doubled in the past two years alone
  • 7 million people, known as ‘power users’, interact with about 250 people a week via digital social networking (yes, that’s more than 30 people a day)

See Mum, I didn’t waste that college tuition by spending my days surfing the Internet!