Study Shows Companies Have A Long Way To Go In Social Media Use

The results of a survey recently carried out by InSites consulting show some interesting trends in use of social media within companies. As expected, Facebook comes out on top for social media use, with 68 per cent of companies surveyed having a Facebook Page, 56 per cent with a Twitter account and 47 per cent with a LinkedIn Page.

But as well as looking at which channels companies are using, the survey looks deeper into how companies are actually using social media within their organisations. And while the adoption rate may be high, this is often at odds with how social media is actually used.

14 per cent have fully integrated social media

Despite 67 per cent of the companies surveyed owning a Facebook Page for example, just 14 per cent claim that they have fully integrated social media within their business practice. The interest in social media is certainly there, as 47 per cent claim they are in ‘experimental’ phase (though there are no definitions given to these phases).

What this shows us is that there is still a long way to go before the full potential of social media is realised – both for the opportunities it provides in marketing, as well as overall business practice. It’s one thing for a company to own a Facebook Page, but quite another for a company to use social technologies at different levels of the business to affect the very ways in which the business is managed or run. Currently it seems, the interest in social media far outweighs the actual implementation.

Facebook wins for b2b marketers

What’s interesting in this study, is that even for b2b marketers, Facebook is still the social network of choice. Though the difference is small, it is still there: 60 per cent opted for Facebook versus 58 per cent for LinkedIn. It would seem that although this might not be the most obvious channel for b2b marketing, in social media it’s still very much about chasing the eyeballs:

Lack of ROI is the biggest barrier

When looking at what prevented companies from fully integrating social media within the organisation, proven ROI is still the biggest barrier. 48 per cent claimed that the lack of clear financial benefits was the most compelling reason for not integrating social media. But interestingly, 39 per cent claimed that it was lack of support from top management that prevented them from fully exploring social media in the organisation.

As you would expect with any big organisational change, you need to buy in from the top. However, with social media this is often the most difficult task as the biggest proponents for use of social media will often come from the bottom up within a company. People ‘on the ground’ see first hand how it can improve their day to day jobs and the ways in which they communicate with customers, but translating this into management speak is providing a clear barrier to adoption.

You can see the survey findings in full in the presentation here.