Social Media and Online PR Report

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Social Media and Online PR Report 2010
September 2010
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Contents
1. Executive Summary and Highlights ................................ 1 2. Introduction by bigmouthmedia (survey sponsor) ......... 5 3. About Econsultancy ......................................................... 6 4. About bigmouthmedia ..................................................... 7 5. Methodology and Sample ................................................ 8
5.1. 5.2. Methodology ................................................................................ 8 Respondent profiles .................................................................... 8
5.2.1. 5.2.2. 5.2.3. 5.2.4. 5.2.5. Geography ................................................................................ 9 Annual company turnover ..................................................... 10 Business sector ........................................................................ 11 Business focus (B2B or B2C) .................................................. 11 Type of agency........................................................................ 12
6. Findings ......................................................................... 13
6.1. Social media activity ................................................................... 13
6.1.1. Extent of social media activity ............................................... 13 6.1.2. Senior management interest in social media ........................ 17 6.1.3. Proportion of PR activity which is online .............................. 19
6.2.
Tactics and strategies ................................................................. 21

6.2.1. 6.2.2. 6.2.3. 6.2.4. Online PR tactics employed ................................................... 21 Social media tactics employed ............................................... 24 Business capabilities across social media and online PR ..... 28 Policies and guidelines for social media ................................ 31
6.3.
Websites used for social media ................................................. 33

6.3.1. Websites used as part of social media strategy ..................... 33 6.3.2. Use of Facebook ..................................................................... 35 6.3.3. Use of Twitter ......................................................................... 37
6.4.
Resourcing ................................................................................. 40
6.4.1. Number of people dedicated to social media activity ...........40 6.4.2. Agencies involved in social media and online PR activity .... 42 6.4.3. Satisfaction with agency knowledge ...................................... 44
6.5.
Technology ................................................................................ 45
6.5.1. Use of online reputation and buzz monitoring technologies ........................................................................... 45

6.5.2. Experiences of using paid-for buzz-monitoring solutions .... 47
6.6.
Budgets, effectiveness and measurement ................................. 49

6.6.1. 6.6.2. 6.6.3. 6.6.4. 6.6.5. 6.6.6. 6.6.7. Level of spending on social media marketing ....................... 49 Understanding of social media ROI ...................................... 51 Change in social media spending since last year .................. 52 Expected change in social media spending over next year ... 54 Value gained from social media investment ......................... 56 Measuring value from social media investment ................... 57 Metrics for assessing social media success............................ 59
6.7.
Integration of social media into business ................................. 62

6.7.1. Integrating social media activity with business functions .... 62 6.7.2. Integrating social media with different marketing channels ................................................................................. 64 6.7.3. Sharing insights and comments from social media .............. 65
6.8.
Barriers and challenges ............................................................. 67

6.8.1. 6.8.2. 6.8.3. 6.8.4. 6.8.5. Barriers to effective social media engagement ...................... 67 Problems and challenges relating to social media ................ 70 Social media evolution over the next 12 months ................... 73 Running social media campaigns in multiple countries ....... 75 Challenges associated with running campaigns in multiple countries .................................................................. 77

1.
Executive Summary and Highlights

The Social Media and Online PR Report 2010, sponsored by bigmouthmedia, is based on an online survey of more than 800 respondents in August and September 2010. Respondents included client-side marketers (or PR & communications professionals) and supply-side respondents working either independently or for a range of different types of agency. The research follows a similar survey-based report carried out in 2009, which superseded the Online PR Benchmarking Report in 2008. After the hype of the last several years, the social media industry is showing signs of maturity. It is clear that 2010 has been a year in which companies have tried to become more focused in their social media marketing. Much of the social media activity taking place is concentrated on the use of Twitter and Facebook, with the vast majority of companies (83% and 80% of respondents respectively) using these sites as part of their social media strategy. Companies are harnessing these web properties for a range of business functions including marketing, sales, customer service and product or services development. But since last year, there has been a decline in the proportion of companies using some other social media related websites, tactics and technologies including podcasts, widgets, social bookmarking, social news sites and virtual worlds. Newer areas such as location-based marketing (e.g. Foursquare) and social gaming (e.g. FarmVille) are now being hyped in the media, although the data shows that very few companies have so far actually become involved. Investment in social media Even though 83% of companies (compared to 86% in 2009) expect social media spending to increase over the next year, the actual amount being spent is still very modest in real terms. More than a quarter of companies (28%) say they are not spending anything on social media marketing while a further 33% are spending less than 5,000 a year. Just as companies are often reluctant to commit budget to social media, they are also neglecting to employ enough people to resource their activity. Some 29% of companies do not have anyone in their organisation dedicated to this area, and a further 32% only have one person devoted to this. For many of those surveyed, this lack of investment is damaging. Around half of responding companies (49%) say that lack of resources is a major barrier to success, and 30% say lack of budget is a significant issue. What is holding back investment? In some cases, social media activity has failed to meet expectations or has been discontinued because of a failure to establish appropriate metrics to measure success. When asked to describe the value their organisations have got from social media investments, almost half of companies (47%) say the jury is still out specifically because they have not been able to measure results. Worryingly, 42% of companies surveyed said they didnt have an ROI figure for any of the money they spent on social media. A further 23% said they could only measure return on investment for a tiny amount of it. It is clear that uncertainty around the value of social media (and the lack of appropropriate metrics to measure success) is holding back investment.
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Lack of integration within business Another issue which has become apparent this year is the difficult many companies are having integrating activities relating to social media with other parts of their business. Although some companies are becoming more sophisticated and joined-up in their approach, many organisations are struggling to harness social media in a way which can benefit business areas such as sales, CRM, market research, human resources and customer services. Additionally, even within marketing departments, most companies are failing to tie in their approach to social media with other markeating channels such as television, paid search and online display advertising. On the plus side, the majority of responding companies are now coordinating social media activity with their email marketing and search engine optimisation. Other key findings: Some 40% of companies say they have experimented with social media but have not done much, while just over a third say they have done an average amount. Just under a fifth of companies (18%) are heavily involved in social media. Around a quarter of company respondents (26%) said their most senior managers were very interested indeed in social media, compared to 19% who said there was very little interest and 2% who said they were not interested at all. Social network profile creation and management is still the most widely used social media tactic, although the proportion of companies who do this has decreased from 65% last year to 56% this year. Direct traffic is still regarded as the most important metric for assessing social media activity. Almost three-quarters of respondents (72%) say this is one of the three most important metrics they use. 45% of responding companies dont have any internal policies or guidelines for the use of social media. More companies than last year say their traditional PR agencies are involved with social media and online PR (23% this year compared with 15% in 2009). Interestingly, on average, companies report that the proportion of their PR activity which is online has decreased from 42% in 2009 to 37% this year. Fewer companies (or their agencies) are carrying out online traditional media relations, reputation monitoring, using press release posting or wire services, or investing in online press office and investor centres. But more companies are carrying out blog relations, using SEO press releases and looking at online crisis and issues management.
Econsultancys third annual report of its kind continues to provide an invaluable yardstick for marketers responsible for online PR and social media strategy. The report shows some maturity and consolidation in this area of marketing as well as the occasional juicy insight. A quarter of companies say they are now good at listening and monitoring, and nearly a fifth are successfully engaging customers in dialogue. There is a marked increase in the number of organisations using social and online channels for crisis communications and issues management as well as a marked growth in SEO PR activity. However, some of the problems highlighted in previous surveys persist, such as the slow integration with other business functions and marketing channels, difficulty in defining value (and what to measure) and very mixed attitudes towards how much should be invested. Michelle Goodall, Econsultancy trainer and independent consultant
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This years Social Media and Online PR Report shows increased confidence from agencies and companies on the social media front. Companies feel as if issues like skillsets and buy- in from the CxO level are less of a barrier than they were a year ago. This is good news for corporate social media. In fact, 28% of respondents to the survey worked exclusively in B2B channels and this further underlines social media as a business tool and not an entertainment fad. Andrew Girdwood, Head of Strategy, bigmouthmedia
The reports shows, as brands, we know and are willing to invest in social media and online PR. For many clients the challenges of ROI and the integration of social into their existing resource, budget and activities, remain as some of the biggest challenges. As marketers, we need to test, refine and learn from social. Customers will talk about our brand regardless and it our opportunity to embrace this and engage customers in a completely new way. Claire Higgins, Head of Marketing at Vtravelled.com, Virgin Atlantic
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Other related Econsultancy reports and content

Reports Value of Social Media Report http://econsultancy.com/reports/value-of-social-media-report Social Media Statistics http://econsultancy.com/reports/social-media-statistics Social Media and Online PR - Digital Marketing Template Files http://econsultancy.com/reports/social-media-and-online-pr-digital-marketing-template-files Online Reputation and Buzz Monitoring Buyers Guide http://econsultancy.com/reports/online-reputation-and-buzz-monitoring-buyer-s-guide Presentations Using social media for marketing and monetisation A Twitter case study on Econsultancy.com http://econsultancy.com/reports/using-social-media-for-marketing-and-monetisation-a-twitter-case-study-oneconsultancycom Whats the value of social media for retailers online? http://econsultancy.com/reports/whats-the-value-of-social-media-for-retailers-online Social Media Marketing and Monetisation http://econsultancy.com/reports/social-media-marketing-and-monetisation Whats the value of email in the age of social media? http://econsultancy.com/reports/cheetahmail-retail-forum-2009-ashley-friedlein Training Online PR and Social Media Training http://econsultancy.com/training/courses/online-pr Online Reputation Management Training http://econsultancy.com/training/courses/online-reputation-management Social Media Advanced training http://econsultancy.com/training/courses/advanced-social-web-training
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2.
Introduction by bigmouthmedia (survey sponsor)

A lot has happened since we sponsored the very first Social Media and Online PR Report with Econsultancy in 2009. The channels emergence as one of the most keenly discussed marketing mediums in business today has continued apace, and as we launch the 2010 report were proud that it is now fulfilling an important role helping businesses to track a complex, rapidly changing and increasingly important promotional conduit. Evidence of a maturing industry... Channel consolidation: winning channels, like Facebook and Twitter, are emerging, with marketers beginning to focus their efforts on them while disregarding minority platforms. Senior executive attention is high, with 41% of senior management more interested in social media issues than other marketing issues. High expectations and big plans, with 86% of companies expecting further social media budget increases in the coming 12 months. ... but still a long way to go: Resourcing poor, with 29% of firms not dedicating any employees to social media. Claims from 49% of companies that a lack of resources is preventing progress. Some 42% of companies are still failing to measure ROI on any of their social spend. These results confirm the bifurcated approach to the channel that we have observed developing over the past 12 months. While on one hand clients ready to wholeheartedly embrace social media are demanding innovative, challenging and radical strategies, other operations are requesting a more judicious, pilot-led approach. At bigmouthmedia our expert team has been able to deliver positive results from both approaches. Of course, as household names such as Dell, Starbucks, Ford, Pepsi, Barclaycard, Nike, Gap and Old Spice continue to demonstrate, there are big opportunities available out there for companies that have opened their minds to social media. Bigmouthmedias big news since the 2009 report is that following our merger with LBi, Europes largest independent digital marketing agency now boasts a proven, 18-strong social media team dedicated to maximising the channels benefits. Led by experienced PR professional Leanne Rinning and expert strategist Eva Keogan, our crew now delivers a full range of services including monitoring and tracking, strategy work, creative development and campaigns, key influencer outreach, and branded channel creation and management. If you want to know more about our approach to social media marketing give us a shout at: hello@bigmouthmedia.com or Twitter: @bigmouthmedia Or via the website: http://www.bigmouthmedia.com/ Enjoy the report! David Hardy Group Marketing Director
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3.
About Econsultancy
Econsultancy is a digital publishing and training group that is used by more than 200,000 internet professionals every month. The company publishes practical and time-saving research to help marketers make better decisions about the digital environment, build business cases, find the best suppliers, look smart in meetings and accelerate their careers. Econsultancy has offices in New York and London, and hosts more than 100 events every year in the US and UK. Many of the world's most famous brands use Econsultancy to educate and train their staff. Some of Econsultancys members include: Google, Yahoo, Dell, BBC, BT, Shell, Vodafone, Virgin Atlantic, Barclays, Deloitte, T-Mobile and Este Lauder. Join Econsultancy today to learn whats happening in digital marketing and what works. Call us to find out more on +44 (0)20 7269 1450 (London) or +1 212 699 3626 (New York). You can also contact us online.
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4.
About bigmouthmedia
A dedicated digital marketing specialist since 1997, bigmouthmedia is one of the worlds leading digital marketing agencies, rated the UKs #1 Search agency for SEO and PPC in the 2010 NMA Marketing Services Guide for the second year running. Over the last 13 years we have successfully built an innovative portfolio of integrated and standalone digital marketing products leveraged to offer our clients maximum ROI, using a combination of digital products and channels to put together award-winning campaigns. We are responsible for the online marketing strategies of many of the worlds best brands, including British Airways, Tesco, eBay, Mexx, BT, Cisco, Fujitsu, Belron, SAS, Chip and Europcar. Employing over 200 staff across a raft of international offices, at bigmouthmedia we have built an international reputation for maximising online returns and exposure for our big brand customers. We have proven our expertise to dramatically improve clients online profile by promoting their brands and products via a variety of mediums including search engine optimisation, paid search, social media optimisation, display advertising, affiliate marketing, online PR, media buying and brand protection. In August 2010 bigmouthmedia merged with LBi to create Europes largest marketing and technology agency. LBi, the largest full service agency of its kind in Europe, employs 1,600 professionals worldwide and provides the full range of digital capabilities, including digital strategy, branded content, service design, media, CRM, technology, managed hosting and support services. The new agency, as well as an impressive global footprint, integrates LBis best in class digital media, marketing, communications, design, branding and technology services with bigmouthmedias leading search engine marketing product portfolio. Social media experts The merger with LBi is also a boost to bigmouthmedias social media team, led by Leanne Rinning, which has run successful social media campaigns for over 50 clients over the last three years. The resulting 18-strong bigmouthmedia-LBi social media team is fronted by high-profile mummy blogger and expert social media strategist and practitioner Eva Keogan. The team not only has experience in delivering all types of activity across the social media spectrum - from overarching strategy work through audit, campaigns, blogger outreach, monitoring and ROI tracking but is also able to deliver all stages of a social media project, including planning, creative, design and build, media and implementation.
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5.
5.1.
Methodology and Sample

Methodology
The Social Media Report and Online PR Report, in association with bigmouthmedia, is based on an online survey1 of more than 800 respondents in August and September 2010. Respondents included: Client-side (in-house or company) marketers and PR / communications professionals Agencies and consultants (including digital agencies, PR agencies and specialist online PR or social media professionals). The findings are shown for client-side (i.e. company respondents) and supply-side (agency respondents) separately. Information about the survey, including the link, was emailed to Econsultancys user base and promoted online via Twitter and other channels. The incentive for taking part was access to a complimentary copy of this report just before its publication on the Econsultancy website. If you have any questions about the research, please email Econsultancys Research Director, Linus Gregoriadis (Linus@econsultancy.com).
5.2.
Respondent profiles
Nearly half of all respondents (43%) are classified as supply-side (agencies and consultants), and 45% are company marketers or in-house PR or communications professionals.
Figure 1: Which of the following most accurately describes your job role?
Response: 868
Econsultancy uses Clicktools for its online surveys

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5.2.1.
Geography
The majority of company respondents (72%) are based in the UK, while most of the remaining companies are based in mainland Europe (10%) or North America (8%). Other continents, regions and countries represented include Africa, Australia, the Middle East, and Asia.
Companies Figure 2: In which country/region are you (personally) based?
Response: 329
Just over two-third of supply-side respondents (62%) are based in the UK, whilst 11% are from Europe. Some 12% are based in North America.
Agencies Figure 3: In which country/region are you (personally) based?
Response: 273
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5.2.2.
Annual company turnover

There is a good representation of organisations across the full spectrum of company size. Just over a third (35%) of responding companies have annual revenues of more than 50 million, and 22% earn more than 150 million. Just under a fifth of companies (17%) are earning less than 1 million annually, and 28% are earning between 1 million and 10 million.
Companies Figure 4: What is your annual company turnover (revenue)?
Response: 328
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5.2.3.
Business sector
Figure 5 shows the breakdown of different sectors. The most strongly represented verticals are financial services, publishing, retail and travel. Other sectors represented include education, healthcare, technology and the public sector.
Figure 5: In which business sector is your organisation?
Response: 326
5.2.4.
Business focus (B2B or B2C)

The chart below shows the split of companies focused on B2B (28%) and B2C (38%). The remainder (34%) focus on both B2B and B2C services.
Figure 6: Is your business focused on B2B or B2C?
Response: 329
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5.2.5.
Type of agency
The chart below shows the range of agencies that supply-wide respondents work for. A third of respondents (33%) work for full-service digital agencies. A further third of respondents are split between those who work for web development agencies (15%), traditional PR agencies (7%), specialist social media agencies (7%) and search agencies (6%).
Agency results Figure 7: If relevant, what type of agency do you work for?
Response: 323
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6.
6.1.
6.1.1.
Findings
Social media activity
Extent of social media activity
The chart below shows to what extent responding organisations are involved with social media. Some 40% of companies say they have experimented with social media but have not done much, while just over a third (36%) say they have done an average amount. Just under a fifth of companies (18%) are heavily involved in social media.
Company results Figure 8: How would you describe the extent of your organisation's social media activity?
Response: 382
The results from 2009 [Figure 9] show that the proportion of respondents who are not doing anything with social media has halved from 10% to 5%2. This years survey included an additional option for those who said we do an average amount. Around a third of respondents (36%) say this applies to them. Forty per cent say they have experimented but not done much. Table 1 shows that the largest companies (more than 150 million turnover) and the smallest companies (less than 1 million) are most likely to be heavily involved in social media. Table 2 shows that companies focused on B2C are more likely to be heavily involved than those which are purely B2B.
The question for this years survey included an extra option (We do an average amount)
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2009 results Figure 9: How would you describe the extent of your organisation's social media activity?
Response: 392
Table 1
Extent of social media activity by annual turnover
<1 million
We are heavily involved in social media We do an average amount We have experimented with social media but not done much We dont do anything 31% 27% 42% 0%
1-10 million
11% 42% 45% 3%
10-50 million
19% 37% 31% 13%
50-150 million
11% 39% 50% 0%
>150 million
24% 29% 40% 6%
Table 2
Extent of social media activity by B2B / B2C
B2B
We are heavily involved in social media We do an average amount We have experimented with social media but not done much We dont do anything 12% 38% 42% 8%
B2C
26% 34% 36% 4%
B2B & B2C

16% 35% 44% 5%
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Just over half of agency respondents (56%) say their clients have experimented with social media but have not done much with this channel, while a third (34%) say their clients have done an average amount. Just 8% of clients are heavily involved in social media, while only 2% say they dont do anything [Figure 10].
Agency results Figure 10: How would you describe the extent of your clients social media activity?
Response: 330
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2009 results Figure 11: How would you describe the extent of your clients social media activity?
Response: 437
Extent of social media activity

Tom Nixon, of Nixon McInnes, made a prediction at a conference this year that has stayed with me. He said that communicating through social media will become part of everyones job description, just like email. The more I learn about social media and how it works, the more I think hes absolutely right. Its not something for experts to own, its for everyone. Anne Smart, Social Media Executive, E.ON UK plc
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6.1.2.
Senior management interest in social media

Respondents were asked how interested senior management are in social media. Just over a quarterof respondents (26%) said their most senior managers were very interested indeed. Some 15% say they are more interested in social media than in other marketing issues, while a third (37%) say senior management gives social media about the same level of attention as other marketing issues. Just 2% of all respondents surveyed say that senior management is not interested in social media at all, though almost a fifth (19%) say they show very little interest. The view from some 43% of agencies surveyed is that client senior management show the same level of interest in social media as for other marketing disciplines. Just over a quarter (26%) say they are more interested in social media than other issues, while 17% say they are very interested indeed. Some 13% say senior level executives show very little interest (12%) or no interest at all (1%) in social media. In last years survey, companies were asked about their personal and organisational attitude to social media. From a personal perspective, some 27% of respondents said they were open-minded but not fully convinced about value to the company, while 44% of respondents said this was true of their organisation.
Company results Figure 12: How interested in social media is your organisation's most senior management (c-level executives)?
Response: 382
Senior management buy-in

It is crucial that there is strong senior management leadership and involvement if your approach to social media is to succeed. Warren Buckley, Managing Director, BT Customer Service
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Agency results Figure 13: Typically, how interested in social media are your clients' most senior managers (c-level executives)?
Response: 331
Senior management interest in social media

Its great to see the high percentage of senior managers that are interested in social media. I truly believe that to succeed in a social strategy, especially when its on a global scale, it is imperative for senior managers to be a driving force. Luckily I work for a company where our CEO does initiate campaigns and understands the tools we have available to use within a social campaign. He is not looking just to have a Facebook and Twitter account to tick that off the to-do list. He understands how important our blog, video content and bookmarking are to the brand as well - as part of a holistic campaign. Caroline Rolfe, Ecommerce Manager, Links of London
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6.1.3.
Proportion of PR activity which is online

The results below show how much of responding companies PR activity is now online. Drilling down further into these results, Table 3 shows that 37% of company PR activity is now online, compared to 42% in 2009. Interestingly, the proportion of PR online is now the same as 2008.
Company results Figure 14: What percentage of your PR activity is online?
Response: 352
2009 results Figure 15: What percentage of your PR activity is online?
Response: 343
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Table 3
Average of proportion of PR activity taking place online
2010
Companies 37%
2009
42%
2008
37%
The agency results below show that online PR activity for clients is typically between 11% and 30%. Some 82% of agencies say that up to half of client PR activity is now online. On average, agencies say that 28% of their clients PR activity is now typically online.
Agency results Figure 16: On average, what percentage of your clients' PR activity is online?
Response: 302 Methodology note: supply-side respondents were not asked this question last year, hence trend data is not available
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6.2.
6.2.1.
Tactics and strategies

Online PR tactics employed
Two-thirds of responding companies (62%) are using online traditional media relations as part of their PR efforts, while over half (56%) use press release posting sites and wire services. However, looking at the change since 2009 [ Figure 18], fewer organisations are now using these particular tactics. Blog relations is carried out by 45% of responding companies, while 43% say they create online dialogue using user-generated content or social media. A third of respondents (30%) are using online reputation auditing and monitoring within their organisation, a 3% drop since 2009. Only 17% are using online crisis and issues management, though this figure has increased from 13% last year. Organisations should ideally plan before such issues arise, but in most cases, this tactic is not considered by organisations unless they have actually needed to manage a developing online crisis. Significantly fewer companies are now using an online press office or investor centre, and this has fallen by 9% since 2009. Conversely, more companies (an increase of 8%) are using SEO PR releases since last year.
Company results Figure 17: Which of the following online PR tactics does your organisation use?
Response: 359
PR Tactics employed
It amazed me in last years results, its amazed me again. Only 40% of companies use SEO press releases and 56% use press release posting sites. With SEO celebrating its 17th birthday (at least), why are so few companies utilising the most basic form of link development techniques? David Hardy, Group Marketing Director, bigmouthmedia
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Companies Figure 18: Change in company PR tactics used since 2009
Change of tactics
One area worthy of the spotlight in this years survey is the change of tactics. Companies and agencies working for them show a year-on-year drop in time spent on traditional [online] media relations. Whats stepping in to fill the gap? Blogger relations. This comes despite observations that micro-blogging and status updates might have begun to eat away at the importance of blogging. Of course, this change in tactics may also be due to some traditional media content retreating away behind pay walls where it will have less impact on reputation and less search engine optimisation value. The data also show an 8% increase in the use of press releases just for SEO gains and so there is perhaps some evidence to support that theory. Andrew Girdwood, Head of Strategy, bigmouthmedia
SEO press releases

Interesting that SEO press releases are one of the most popular changes in PR tactics client side. I used these to great effect at previous companies, and I am a big advocate of them as I have seen some fantastic results. Ideally, I think every PR team should have someone who can write these and does them as a part of every campaign rather than them being always driven by the ecommerce team. Caroline Rolfe, Ecommerce Manager, Links of London
The agency results below indicate a similar pattern of responses, although blog relations are thought be more significant from the agency perspective. More than half of supply-side respondents (56%) say their clients are using this (compared to 45% of company respondents).
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Agency results Figure 19: Which of the following online PR tactics do your clients typically use?
Response: 303
As with client-side respondents, the agencies also say there has been a drop (of 5%) in the proportion of clients using online traditional media relations. In addition, the proportion of agencies who say their clients use press release posting sites and wire services has fallen by 9% [Figure 20]. There is significant disparity between clients and agencies when it comes to SEO press releases. While the proportion of clients who say they use this tactic has increased by 8%, some 6% fewer agencies say their clients do this compared to last year. Similarly, while fewer companies are now using online reputation monitoring auditing (a drop of 3%), conversely, the proportion of agencies who say their clients use this tactic has increased by 3%.
Agencies Figure 20: Change in client PR tactics used since 2009
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6.2.2.
Social media tactics employed

Figure 21 shows which social media tactics companies are using. More than half (56%) of companies are using social network profile creation and management as part of their social media strategy. It is surprising that this tactic has decreased by 9% since last year [Figure 22], given that social networks continue to grow in popularity. The charts also shows that 55% are creating video content or using video-sharing sites, and just under half of companies (48%) now have a corporate or brand blog. It is interesting to note that under a third of companies (28%) use ratings and reviews on their site. This is surprisingly low, given that this functionality has been shown to have a positive effect on conversion rates and likelihood to purchase. When looking at retailers specifically, this figure increases to 56%. Use of social gaming (6%) and location-based platforms (7%) as social media tactics is still limited, although likely to increase considerably over the next few months.
Companies Figure 21: Which of the following social media tactics does your organisation use?
Response: 354
Figure 22 shows that use of most social media tactics (apart from corporate blogging) has fallen since the 2009 survey. The most dramatic decrease is for the use of social bookmarking sites, which has fallen by 17% since 2009. The use of social news sites has also dropped (by 10%) to 20% in 2010. Many companies are becoming more realistic about what they can achieve from social media, and focused on what is most appropriate for their type of company or brand. In the context of Gartners hype cycle for emerging technologies, 3 the results would suggest that social media is nearing the end of the peak of inflated expectations. Social media has rapidly gained momentum in the last few years, and as new channels emerged, many companies were quick to adopt and experiment with emerging technologies. This part of the hype cycle is typically characterised by unrealistic expectations and over-enthusiasm.
http://bhc3.wordpress.com/2009/07/27/gartner-hype-cycle-2009-whats-peaking-whats-troughing/ http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?id=1085912&ref=g_sitelink
Social Media and Online PR Report 2010 Page 24
Companies have been looking at ways to measure and benchmark success from social media. In some cases, either the channels have failed to meet expectations, or appropriate metrics have not emerged to measure social media in way which is authoritative. This has led some companies to descend into what Gartner terms as the trough of disillusionment. It is important that companies continue to experiment with the channel in order to better understand what works and how social media can be practically applied to create value for the business. They need to consider social media beyond the hype.
Companies Figure 22: Change in company social media tactics used since 2009
Methodology note: Use of location-based platforms, creation of mobile applications, ratings and reviews, and social gaming are new options for the 2010 survey, hence trend data is not available.
Ratings and reviews

It is really interesting to see ratings and reviews quite low on both the client and agency results for tactics that are used. I would expect to see these figures rise within the next 12 months as reviews are one of the best conversion tactics I have seen and, as they become further integrated into peoples Facebook/social profiles, they will become more of an everyday occurrence. Caroline Rolfe, Ecommerce Manager, Links of London
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The agency results below show similar findings, but more agencies (71%) say their clients use corporate or brand blogging as a social media tactic. Some two-thirds (67%) say their clients are using social network profile creation and management.
Agencies Figure 23: Which of the following social media tactics do your clients typically use?
Response: 300
Social media tactics

Its striking to see how much of social media marketing efforts are focused on simply pushing traditional messages through new channels. Social media is about conversations and companies are missing a tremendous opportunity to engage with consumers. Hakan Thyr, International Partnerships Director, Bazaarvoice
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As with the company results, the agency trend data [Figure 24] show dramatic decreases for the use of social bookmarking sites (down by 21%) and social news sites (down by 17%). However, in contrast to the client-side respondents, there has been a slight increase in the proportion of respondents who say their clients use widgets and social network profile creation and management.
Agencies Figure 24: Change in client social media tactics used since 2009
Methodology note: Use of location-based platforms, creation of mobile applications, ratings and reviews, and social gaming are new options for the 2010 survey, hence trend data is not available.
Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies

Technologies at the Peak of Inflated Expectations during 2009 include cloud computing, e-books and Internet TV, while social software and microblogging sites such as Twitter have tipped over the peak and will soon experience disillusionment among enterprise users. Gartner, July 2009 http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?id=1085912
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6.2.3.
Business capabilities across social media and online PR

Respondents were asked how well their organisations (or clients) covered a range of areas relating to social media and online PR. Looking at the results below, it appears that many companies feel they need to improve their social media best practices. Just over a quarter of companies (27%) say they use Twitter well, while 59% say they need to improve. Similarly, only 26% say they are good at listening and monitoring but 58% say they need to get better in this area. Looking at the areas where companies are typically doing less well, 28% of responding companies say they do not identify and engage with key influencers at all, while a quarter (25%) have no content strategy for social media. It would seem that many companies are using social channels but without a content strategy, and without thinking about the value of influence. Having a content strategy in place would enable companies to make the most of social media. By initially identifying their key audiences and influences, they can then shape their content strategy and messaging accordingly. The results from 2009 [Figure 26] show there is little change in the results since the previous years research. Clearly, there is still a long way to go in term of setting a clear strategy for social media and ensuring the organisations reaps the most value from the channels.
Companies Figure 25: How well does your organisation cover the following areas of social media and online PR?
Response: 359
Listening and monitoring online reputation

All companies should focus on listening and monitoring first as this is the bedrock for deciding what then to do. Warren Buckley, Managing Director, BT Customer Service
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Importance of content strategy

I see having a content strategy for social media as one of the key things to enable success in this channel. You have to be flexible and able to respond and react when things change. But a solid foundation of content is key to maintaining the engagement with your customers simply tweeting random stuff to keep pumping out information (instead of structuring your communication as part of your overall strategy) wont work. Social shouldnt be used on its own it should be aligned with your other channels. Caroline Rolfe, Ecommerce Manager, Links of London
2009 results Figure 26: How well does your organisation cover the following areas of social media and online PR?
Note: Some of activities in this chart differ to those covered in the 2010 survey
Response: 358
The supply-side results on the following page show that in all areas the majority of agencies feel their clients could improve their social media and online PR practices. Just under a quarter (24%) feel their clients use Facebook well, while over a fifth (21%) say they use Twitter well. Meanwhile, over a quarter (27%) say their clients do not have a content strategy in place, and just under a third (30%) say they are not identifying and engaging influencers.
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Agencies Figure 27: How well do your clients cover the following areas of social media and online PR?
Response: 303
The supply-side results from the 2009 survey are shown below for comparison. They indicate that there has been little improvement. Slightly more agencies feel that their clients listen and monitor well but, overall, the proportion of agencies who say their clients are performing well has either remained static or fallen slightly. Generally speaking, most agencies feel their clients need to improve their social media strategies, as was the case last year.
2009 results Figure 28: How well do your clients cover the following areas of social media and online PR?
Note: Some of the areas covered in this chart differ to those covered in the 2010 survey
Response: 370
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6.2.4.
Policies and guidelines for social media

Almost half of responding companies (45%) say they do not have any internal policies or guidelines in place for social media. Only 16% of companies have specific guidelines for specific social networks, though 40% say they have guidelines that cover social media more broadly. As one would expect, the largest companies are most likely to have some kind of guidelines in place [Table 4]. Guidelines for specific web properties or activities may not necessarily be optimal because of the fast changing landscape. But the rules of engagement remain the same, and so a set of general social media guidelines is more sustainable and advisable - in the long term. The equivalent agency results are shown in Figure 30. Over half of agencies surveyed (54%) say their clients do not have any social media guidelines in place, while 38% say their clients have a general set of guidelines. Some 9% of supply-side respondents say their clients have guidelines specific to different social networks.
Company results Figure 29: Does your organisation have policies or guidelines for the use of social media?
Response: 344
Table 4
Guidelines for social media by annual turnover
<1 million
Yes, we have specific guidelines for different social networks / websites Yes, we have broad guidelines to cover social media generally No, we dont have any guidelines 9% 30% 61%
1-10 million
8% 43% 49%
10-50 million
21% 19% 60%
50-150 million
23% 37% 40%
>150 million
16% 49% 34%
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Lack of policies and guidelines for social media

It is concerning that 45% of respondents state that they have no social media policies or guidelines in place. These shouldnt be weighty tomes or unreadable documents but it is important for organisations to provide common-sense support and basic guidance for staff around personal versus professional use of social media and regulatory issues, especially in light of the ASAs new marketing communications digital remit and the new CAP Code. In the ASAs words, this will cover Marketing communications in other non-paid-for space under their control, such as social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Michelle Goodall, Econsultancy trainer and independent consultant
Agency results Figure 30: Typically, do your clients have policies or guidelines for the use of social media?
Response: 289
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6.3. 6.3.1.
Websites used for social media

Websites used as part of social media strategy
Companies were asked about the websites they most frequently use as part of their social media strategy. Twitter and Facebook are the most popular sites, used by 83% and 80% of respondents respectively. More than half of companies are utilising YouTube (58%) and LinkedIn (51%). At the other end of the scale, prominent social media sites that were more frequently used three to five years ago are now declining in popularity. Digg and Delicious are used by some 14% of responding companies, while only 8% use MySpace. Only 4% said their organisation includes Yahoo Answers as part of its marketing activity. Foursquare (a relatively new site that makes use of mobile geolocation services) is used by some 8% of companies, indicating that it is in the early adopter stage of the technology adoption lifecycle4. Indeed, it is far too early to tell whether Foursquare will hit the mainstream or not. As with any new technology, marketers are in the experimental stages with Foursquare, and are still gauging the effectiveness of the platform for marketing. Significantly, Facebook Places has recently been launched in the UK. The respondents who cited other mentioned sites such as Flickr, Slideshare, and Xing. Some respondents mentioned that their organisation had their own community platforms built inhouse. Only one respondent mentioned Ning, indicating that the platform to create social networks has not shown the runaway success that had initially been expected. In general, organisations are not choosing to build their own social networks, because social media works best with a captive audience. By using third-party social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, marketers can tap into existing online communities, rather than having to organically build their audience.
Company results Figure 31: Which websites does your organisation use as part of its social media marketing activity?
Note: There is no trend data available for this question
http://www.mariosalexandrou.com/blog/technology-adoption-life-cycle/
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Response: 382
The equivalent agency responses below show a similar pattern of responses to clients. However, Foursquare is thought to be a lot more popular from the agency perspective, as 12% of agencies say their clients are using this, compared to 8% of responding companies. This may indicate that supply-side respondents are ahead of the curve when it comes to emerging new technologies, compared to client side companies. This data is consistent with earlier findings which showed that agency respondents were more likely than company respondents to say that location-based services were being used a social media tactic.
Agencies Figure 32: Which websites do your clients typically use as part of their social media marketing activity?
Note: There is no trend data available for this question Response: 331
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6.3.2.
Use of Facebook
This year, for the first time, we asked how organisations are using Facebook. More than twothirds of companies (67%) are using Facebook as a marketing channel, while 61% are using the social network for publicising new content. In terms of a customer-centric approach, some 41% of companies are using this social network to monitor what their customers and advocates are saying about them (brand monitoring). A third (37%) are taking this one step further by utilising the channel for gathering customer feedback. It is encouraging that 29% are taking action on this feedback, by reacting to customer services issues and enquiries. A fifth of responding companies (20%) are using Facebook as a sales channel, and this trend is only set to accelerate further, with the rise of f-commerce.5 The agency results in Figure 34 show a similar pattern of findings, and indicate that there is consensus between clients and agencies around how Facebook is being used.
Company results Figure 33: How does your organisation use Facebook?
Response: 271
Use of Facebook
Wake up call! There are some high stakes gambles in social media - take as an example those who invested heavily in Second Life. But Facebook is not one of those gambles. So it's therefore a sign of social media madness that 71% of marketing departments are not responding to customer service issues and enquiries on Facebook and 33% of marketing departments are not using Facebook as a marketing channel. A problem holding many brands back is no doubt resourcing. The natural home for this is within the call centre, packed as many are with digitally savvy under-utilised young people. Add a dash of strategy and some quality training and we have found for several clients this answers the issue. David Hardy, Group Marketing Director, bigmouthmedia
5
http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/5672-goodbye-e-commerce-hello-f-commerce
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Agency results Figure 34: How do your clients use Facebook?
Response: 288
Please note that there is no trend data available for the questions (client-side and agency) about how Facebook is being used.
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6.3.3.
Use of Twitter
The results indicate that almost three-quarters of respondents (72%) use Twitter for publicising new content, while two-thirds (68%) use it as a marketing channel. Companies are typically favouring Twitter over Facebook for brand monitoring and reacting to customer issues. Over half of companies (55%) use Twitter for brand monitoring, compared to 41% who use Facebook for this. However, the same proportion (37%) use Twitter and Facebook for gathering customer feedback, although some 35% react to these issues via Twitter, compared to 29% who do this via Facebook. Looking at the change in results since last years survey [Figure 36], it is apparent that the use of Twitter has increased across the board. Companies are now using Twitter more frequently for all of the different purposes stated below, and 19% fewer organisations say they dont do any of the activities listed. Most notably, the use of Twitter as a marketing channel and for gathering customer feedback has increased by 13% and 12% respectively. Publicising content is also on the up, showing a 10% increase since last years research.
Company results Figure 35: How does your organisation use Twitter?
Response: 286
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Companies Figure 36: Change in use of Twitter since 2009
Use of social media sites

For many, social media is less about listening to customers and gaining insight and more about what can be pushed such as publicising new content and use as a marketing channel. It is encouraging to see an increase in respondents using social media as a customer service channel. This is very much borne out by my experience of training and working with clients to define their social media strategy. Whilst the marketing and communications teams still primarily drive social media, there are a growing number of clients involving customer service representatives at a much earlier stage in social media planning. Michelle Goodall, Econsultancy trainer and independent consultant
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The agency results below show publicising new content (65%) to be the most likely reason for their clients using Twitter. More agency clients are now using Twitter as a marketing channel (58%), while 45% say they are using it for brand monitoring. A third of their clients are using the microblogging site for reacting to customer service issues (33%), and for gathering feedback from customers (31%). As Figure 38 shows, there is greater use of Twitter for a range of reasons, with publicising new content (+15%) and marketing (+7%) being particularly noteworthy.
Agency results Figure 37: How do your clients typically use Twitter?
Response: 289
Agencies Figure 38: Change in use of Twitter since 2009
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6.4.
6.4.1.
Resourcing
Number of people dedicated to social media activity
Some 29% of companies do not have any employees in the organisation who are solely dedicated to social media. This figure only drops to 27% for companies with a turnover of more than 150 million [Table 5]. For companies with no-one devoted to social media, either no-one is involved at all (i.e. as part of other responsibilities) or the responsibility falls to other departments with a broader remit. Almost a third of respondents (32%) say their organisation has a single person in charge of social media, while just under a fifth (17%) have two dedicated members of staff. At the other end of the scale, 8% have more than 5 employees, and 3% have more than 10.
Company results Figure 39: How many people in your organisation are dedicated to social media?
Response: 301
Table 5
Number of people by annual company turnover
<1 million
0 1 2 3 4 5 6-10 More than 10 26% 47% 13% 6% 0% 0% 6% 2%
1-10 million
33% 34% 16% 4% 3% 7% 3% 1%
10-50 million
31% 31% 17% 9% 4% 0% 6% 2%
50-150 million
41% 24% 24% 6% 3% 0% 0% 3%
>150 million
27% 17% 23% 13% 5% 5% 5% 5%
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Number of people dedicated to social media

Managing social media seems now to be creating a career path in many companies. A surprisingly large proportion of companies have two or more people totally dedicated to social media. If you are a CMO and you havent got at least one person totally dedicated to social media then this stat should be cause for real alarm and a measure that you are behind the curve. David Hardy, Group Marketing Director, bigmouthmedia The agency perspective [Figure 40] is shown below, and indicates that 40% of agencies say their clients typically have one dedicated employee, while a third (30%) say their clients do not have anyone solely working on social media. Just under a fifth (19%) say their clients have two dedicated members of staff managing social media.
Agency results Figure 40: On average, how many people do your clients have dedicated to social media?
Response: 301
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6.4.2.
Agencies involved in social media and online PR activity

Companies were asked about the agencies involved in social media and online PR activity. Almost a quarter of companies (23%) are using the services of a traditional PR agency, while 22% are using a digital agency for their social media and online PR activity. However, in contrast, 45% are not using any agencies for social media and online PR, which suggests they are managing the bulk of their activities in-house. Although there has been a slight increase in the proportion of companies who say they dont use any agencies for social media and online PR , those companies who do outsource are using a wider range of agencies. This is welcome news for the agencies, and it is also encouraging to see companies taking a more professional approach to the channel. In particular, there has been a significant increase (+ 8%) in the proportion of companies (now 23%) using their traditional PR agency. In addition, the proportion of companies using a digital agency has doubled to 22% this year, from 11% in 2009.
Companies Figure 41: What types of agencies are involved with your social media and online PR activities?
Response: 351
Agencies involved with social media

In 2008, I interviewed online PR/social media specialists and asked them who should own the online PR/social strategy? The reality is that things have not changed much and that clients should own their strategy and still do - 45% of clients state that none of their agencies are involved in social media and online PR activity. However, this year an increased number of client respondents are outsourcing social media and online PR activity with specialist online PR and social agencies, digital, PR and search agencies gaining on last year. Public relations (23%) and digital agencies (22%) are the apparent winners and specialist online PR consultants and agencies and search agencies have 15% and 14% respectively. This data does not convince me that the PR industry has claimed its role of natural guardian of online customer and stakeholder engagement . Digital agencies have increased their involvement by 11% compared to +8% for PR agencies. It will be interesting to see how this evolves. Michelle Goodall, Econsultancy trainer and independent consultant
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Whos getting involved?

Traditional PR agencies have done a good job at getting engaged in social media and online PR. In 2009 only 15% of client side respondents to the survey said their PR agency had an active role in the companys social media campaign. That figure has increased to 23% for this year. The increase of 8% outstrips the increase of search agency involvement in social media which has grown by only 6%. However, the survey also tracked the involvement of specialist online PR agencies and consultants and whereas their involvement has also increased to 15% that only puts them slightly ahead of search agencies at 14%. According to companies, the type of agency which saw the biggest increase in social media involvement are the digital agencies which leapt from being involved 11% of the time to being involved 22% of the time. If that growth rate continues then digital agencies will have eclipsed traditional PR agencies in social media by 2011. Andrew Girdwood, Head of Strategy, bigmouthmedia
Agencies involved with social media

I think we need to be careful with the thought of full service digital agencies being able to take on all social media work. Customer service and complaints in social media require a good product, system and process to ensure rapid resolution. I prefer the combination of agencies and companies working hand in hand. Warren Buckley, Managing Director, BT Customer Service
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6.4.3.
Satisfaction with agency knowledge

The results below indicate that client-side satisfaction levels with their agencies level of knowledge about social media and online PR have generally increased since the last survey. The proportion of companies who say they are very satisfied with their agency has gone up from 13% in 2009 to 18% in 2010. Fewer respondents than last year say they are dissatisfied (20% this year compared to 27% in 2009). This would suggest agencies are improving their offering, which is leading to better overall satisfaction, all good news for the industry.
Company results Figure 42: How satisfied are you with your agencys level of social media and online PR knowledge?
Response: 347
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6.5.
6.5.1.
Technology
Use of online reputation and buzz monitoring technologies
There has been little change in the proportion of companies using online reputation monitoring technology since last year. Over half of companies (54%) are now using some sort of online reputation monitoring technology, with more than a third (38%) using a free tool exclusively. Some 10% use a paid-for tool exclusively, while 6% are using a combination of paid-for and free solutions. The agency findings are shown in Figure 44 and show that there has been little change since 2009. As with the company results, there is a slight increase in the proportion of agencies who say their clients are using a paid-for monitoring solution exclusively.
Company results Figure 43: Do you use an online reputation or buzz monitoring technology to analyse what is being said about your brand?
Response: 353
Use of buzz-monitoring solutions

Isnt it due diligence in 2010 to use free brand monitoring tools such as Google Alerts, Twitter search and Social Mention to analyse what is being said about your organisation or brand? I am not surprised that the use of paid for monitoring tools has risen only slightly (8% in 2009 to 10% in 2010), as the market is still fairly immature and the tools are still developing. This may also be affected by some clients still struggling to place a value on social media activity, thus being reluctant to commit to any significant annual tool overhead. For 46% of respondents to not monitor their brand or organisation online at all using free tools is unforgivable. This could be due to lack of skills, understanding and knowledge as much as time and resource issues. These are highlighted this year as key barriers to the effective use of social media. Michelle Goodall, Econsultancy trainer and independent consultant
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Agency results Figure 44: Do your clients use an online reputation or buzz monitoring technology to analyse what is being said about their brand?
Response: 303
Is free less popular?

There has been a decline in the use of free tools to monitor buzz and reputation in favour of an increase in the use of paid tools to do the same job. This illustrates that social media is important enough to do right. Even in the recent economic climate companies and agencies found budget to monitor online conversations and gauge brand impact. Andrew Girdwood, Head of Strategy, bigmouthmedia
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6.5.2.
Experiences of using paid-for buzz-monitoring solutions

Survey respondents were asked to describe their experiences using paid-for buzz monitoring technology. The majority of respondents said they are in the very early stages of testing various platforms and discovering their capabilities. Paid-for buzz monitoring technology is perceived to provide valuable insights and help companies identify the most successful social media campaigns.
Buzz-monitoring solutions providing valuable insights

[The technology] helps provide an overview of the buzz over a selected time period which then helps us to drill down into a particular time period of interest and helps us to identify if a particular campaign has generated much buzz. We find it invaluable for providing first class customer service and monitoring social media campaigns. Consumers still dont expect companies to be listening to what they are saying online, so they are always pleasantly surprised when you respond to a comment they have made. It also allows us to measure the reach of our social media campaigns and competitions through the number of re-tweets, which is unreliable through free tools such as TweetDeck. Provides new insights. Provided that the reporting is set up intelligently, there is a great deal of value. Available tools typically offer a similar set of reporting functionality, but require the parameters of the reporting to be set correctly to offer any real insight. Services have improved in the last two years and are now more affordable, flexible and user-friendly. No tool is 100% accurate though. They [clients] appreciate being able to see the wood for the trees the big picture of their online perceptions as well as the detail. They also appreciate us extracting insights that can lead to action across business functions: marketing communications, CRM, product/service improvement/development, HR, quality. Company and agency respondents Despite the advantages cited above, most of the respondents have mixed experiences and consider that a hybrid model consisting of monitoring technology and human analysis is the most effective solution. The need for human analysis can sometimes act as a deterrent, as this requires a significant investment or re-allocation of resources. Moreover, several respondents consider that free tools provide the same features and level of functionality as paid ones.
Human analysis is essential

Only relevant if they have human analysis on top of data. It requires a significant investment in human analysis on top of the automated monitoring and reporting. Human interpretation and filtering is essential to obtain any kind of actionable insight. Like traditional monitoring analysis you need clients prepared to spend time understanding the analysis and presenting it to them in a coherent format. We use Radian 6 but I'm seeing specialist sector monitoring tools (e.g. for hotel sector) that may be more appropriate in the future for some clients. Patchy. Significant time investment is required in order to sort through and determine relevance of search results.
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Some vendors are poor with setting up data feeds and reporting. Clients complain they get a firehose of data with no insight - they have to spend their own valuable time sifting through it. There are some great and useful tools out there but no one tool has nailed it yet, all tools need human interpretation to be really effective yet. Company and agency respondents
Most of the respondents cited weak sentiment analysis as the major flaw of monitoring tools.
A major drawback is weak sentiment analysis

Difficulty to track sentiment. A flaw of these tools is the automated sentiment and the inclination of many clients to depend too heavily on fluctuations in automated sentiment. Tools that claim to assess sentiment are wholly unreliable for incisive communications/PR online. We use a mixture of two paid-for [technologies]. Both have their niches but both could make some improvements specifically around sentiment. Company and agency respondents
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6.6.
6.6.1.
Budgets, effectiveness and measurement

Level of spending on social media marketing
The results below indicate that 28% of responding companies are not spending anything on social media marketing, and a further third (33%) of respondents are spending less than 5,000 per year annually. This may be explained partly by the lingering notion that social media is a cheap alternative to other forms of marketing, so it may not attract the budget it needs. Some 17% of companies are spending at least 25,000 a year on this channel.
Company results Figure 45: How much does your organisation spend on social media marketing per year?
Response: 345
Social media spend

By combining together three answers we can build a scenario: calculating social media ROI is nowhere as easy as other online spends at the moment. As a result, and despite the high levels of attention social media is getting from CMOs, this means most companies are spending low budgets on social media (i.e. less than 25k per year) which will only scratch the surface and are unlikely to make any impact. This is a dangerous gamble. If you assume social media is in its infancy stage then experimentation and taking risks are the order of the day. Brands that hold back, waiting to quickly follow competitors into social media, might end up inheriting a cautious SM culture which lasts for years. Competitors will be gaining a lead which may be very difficult to close. And all the good employees in social media will be snapped up or not be interested in working for a laggard company. David Hardy, Group Marketing Director, bigmouthmedia
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From the agency perspective [Figure 46], more than a third of their clients (39%) are spending less than 5,000 per year on social media. However, in sharp contrast to the companies, only 6% of agencies say their clients are not spending anything on social media marketing, although this is not surprising given that the respondents are supply-side. Almost by definition, their clients are spending something. Approximately a third of agencies (37%) say their clients are spending between 5,000 and 25,000 on social media marketing, and of these, 16% are spending over 10,000 annually.
Agency results Figure 46: On average, how much do your clients spend on social media marketing per year?
Response: 355
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6.6.2.
Understanding of social media ROI

Responding companies were asked for how much of the money they spend on social media they have an ROI figure. Some 42% of organisations said that none of the budget spent on social media had an ROI figure associated with it. In general, companies are finding it difficult to attach ROI to money spent on social media. Almost a quarter (23%) of respondents said they could only associate ROI with a tiny amount of the money spent on social media marketing, while 11% said they have a figure for less than half of the budget. At the other end of the scale, 6% of marketers say they have an ROI figure for all of the money spent on social media, and 9% said they have ROI for more than half the budget. The results below are calculated by eliminating those respondents who answered dont know to this question. When including dont know, 43% of companies responded this way. The results illustrate that measurement is still an ongoing problem in social media, with many companies struggling to place a tangible ROI figure on the amount spent.
Company results Figure 47: For how much of the money you spend on social media do you have an ROI figure?
Response: 345
ROI of social media spend

When asked about ROI for money spent on social media, it is worrying that 42% responded with none of it. This should be simple stuff regardless of your social media objectives. By now, marketers should have clear understanding of why they are listening and engaging through social media, know what they are measuring and what value they place on a sales lead, link, positive brand mention, customer service question resolved, a life saved, a donation or pledge or a successful candidate recruited. Michelle Goodall, Econsultancy trainer and independent consultant
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6.6.3.
Change in social media spending since last year

Nearly three-quarters of responding companies (73%) said they have increased their social media spend in the last year, compared to 64% in 2009. Just under a quarter (24%) of companies said their budget had remained the same, significantly down from the 34% who responded similarly in last years survey. Only 3% said their budget for social media had decreased.
Company results Figure 48: Has the amount of money your organisation spends on social media increased or decreased in the last year?
2010 response: 340 2009 response: 338
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The proportion of agencies who say their clients have increased social media budgets in the last year has slightly dropped from 81% to 79% in 2010. Some 19% of agencies state their clients budgets have remained static in the last year, while just 2% say budgets have decreased.
Agency results Figure 49: Has the amount of money your clients typically spend on social media increased or decreased in the last year?
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6.6.4.
Expected change in social media spending over next year

Some 83% of companies expect investment in social media to increase next year. This compares to 86% in 2009. Only 1% said they expect investment to decrease, while 16% said they expect it to remain the same.
Companies Figure 50: Do you expect investment in social media to increase or decrease over the next year?
Investment in social media

Against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, it is encouraging to see that investment in social media is comparable to 2009, with 83% stating that they expect investment in social media to increase. Fewer than 1% feel that the investment in social media will decrease. The amount an organisation invests in social media marketing varies hugely with 33% stating that they spend less than 5,000. It would be interesting to see next year what percentage of the total marketing, digital and customer service budget is spent on social media versus other channels and to highlight sector specific trends. The responses to the question that addresses the percentage of activity for online versus offline PR perhaps indicates that this again will vary hugely from client to client and sector to sector for the foreseeable future. Michelle Goodall, Econsultancy trainer and independent consultant
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Some 89% of agencies said they expect their clients to increase social media investment over the next year, while 11% said investment would remain the same.
Agencies Figure 51: Do you expect investment in social media to increase or decrease over the next year?
Expected change in investment in social media

Socialability is in the DNA of Virgin and at Virgin Atlantic, we are committed to investing in social. We have recently just recruited a social relations team and continue to invest in our social travel community site, vtravelled.com, which is just about to enter into its 2nd stage of development. Claire Higgins, Head of Marketing at Vtravelled.com, Virgin Atlantic
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6.6.5.
Value gained from social media investment

The results below reinforce the general consensus about social media that it is difficult to measure. This explains why almost half of companies in this survey (47%) say the jury is still out on social media and only 15% of companies say they have gained greater return from social media investment than from other types of marketing. A fifth (20%) say they have gained a similar return, while 17% say they have gained less value from social media than other marketing activity. Slightly more agencies [Figure 53] say their clients have gained greater return from social media than from other marketing disciplines 22% compared to only 15% of companies. A quarter (24%) say they have gained similar value, but a third (34%) say their clients are not able to measure social media.
Company results Figure 52: How would you describe the value your organisation has got from social media investment?
Response: 347
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Agency results Figure 53: How would you describe the value your clients have got from social media investment?
Response: 293
6.6.6.
Measuring value from social media investment

Survey respondents were asked how they have been able to measure the value they got from social media investment. The majority of respondents use a combination of volume, engagement and conversion metrics. Supply-side respondents also use multiple metrics, but find it challenging to help their clients understand the value of social media activity and its impact on the bottomline. As one agency noted, each business uses a different set of tactics that can be linked to their business priorities and objectives. Using similar metrics to those used for other marketing campaigns can provide companies with a comparative measure of effectiveness.
Metrics: volume, engagement and conversion

[We use] a number or metrics, including traffic, membership, engagement, jobs posted and other key site performance indicators. As a fairly young business we mostly measure its success by the amount of visits/questions we receive. Conversions coming from social media activity, increase in brand awareness. Fans, tweets, percentage of traffic to site from referring sites, appeal codes from social media to donate pages. Based on the number of people converting - taking up the sweepstake, entering the competition, redeeming a coupon. All of these activities are conversions, as are the number of retweets, likes etc. for campaign messaging and can form part of an engagement score that can be used to asses different campaign performance. Social media traffic from analytics data, Facebook fans, followers, brand awareness among industry leaders. Comments on blog, targeted traffic to landing page set for social media channels. Social Media is generally used for engagement and information sharing rather than generating revenue. Measurement is often looked at in terms of customer feedback, number of friends/followers/re-tweets/video views and web traffic on our site.
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Variety of engagement metrics, plus direct correlation with sales activity Tone of conversation through social media monitoring, website traffic that can be tagged to social media and in some cases, actual online purchases. Multiple ways but in short it is still challenging to get the client to recognise the relationship between concepts such as social buzz and ROI. There are many different ways to measure the value of the campaign - the important thing is to measure it in a way that makes sense to the client. Use similar measures to those used for other marketing campaigns and you will be able to get a comparative idea of effectiveness. By comparing against other marketing metrics that measure views/awareness, sentiment and action. Company and agency respondents Many respondents are not currently measuring the value they get from their social media investments. They either have just started to build their social media presence, find it difficult to measure it or havent invested in any measurement/monitoring tools. One supply-side respondent also mentioned that some companies do not have a social media strategy and are not using proper metrics, so their perception is that social media brings them less value than any other channel. Therefore, appropriate measurement tools are essential to fully benefit from social media campaigns.
No formal measurement in place

No hard figures other than increased blog traffic and increased visitation/subscriptions to our social profiles, but were building a loyal network of followers and fans who we interact with regularly. Well be able to leverage that network for marketing initiatives down the road. No. The firm has not invested in measuring or monitoring social media. Not able to measure scientifically, but the community is small enough to know that who we talk to in our social media are not creating sales, just managing relationships. Not currently measured, only just started using social media. Not directly, but we managed to get some sales leads. Not really, apart from click through to conversion on specific tracked links. Not with precise data. Not really. We are still working on building our social media presence, so we havent started measuring it, at least not in the UK. Not really measured - but more of a gut feeling, from the relatively low level of interaction we get from social media activities. We haven't! Gut instinct. A guess. We do relationship marketing, its hard to put a value on it. They [clients] are not tracking properly (often at all) through analytics, have no content strategy and no promotional strategy. Therefore they are left unsatisfied by the whole experience. Company and agency respondents
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6.6.7.
Metrics for assessing social media success

Company respondents were asked to indicate the three most important metrics for assessing social media success. Direct website traffic is thought to be the most important metric, with 72% of responding companies saying this was one of the three most important things to measure. Just under a third (31%) measure indirect traffic. Direct traffic may be frequently used because it is the simplest form of measurement to use. However, it is not necessarily the most insightful when it comes to measuring the impact of social media. In addition, in order to understand the value that social media is providing, marketers ideally need to measure using real, tangible business KPIs that can be related to the bottom line.
Company results Figure 54: Which are the most important metrics when assessing social media activity for your organisation?
Response: 345 Methodology note: respondents could check up to three options
Looking at some of the softer metrics being used, brand awareness is favoured by some 35% of respondents compared to brand perception which is used by only 14%. This would suggest that companies are focusing their efforts on making potential customers familiar with their brand, without necessarily influencing their perceptions about the company and its products. It is encouraging that some 29% of companies are now measuring using sales (up from 22% last year), while 18% opt for measurement by looking at leads. It is apparent from Figure 55 that the proportion of company respondents who are measuring using sales has increased by 7%. In addition, measuring based on leads has increased by 1%. The proportion of respondents measuring using both direct and indirect traffic has increased since last year. Direct traffic has risen by 7%, while indirect traffic has increased by 4%. In comparison, use of some softer metrics such brand awareness and perception and customer satisfaction has fallen. Brand awareness has decreased 4%, while the proportion of respondents using customer engagement has fallen by 7%. Some 6% fewer companies than last year are using customer satisfaction and brand perception to measure social media activity.
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Customer engagement is used by a third of organisations (31%), while only 9% are using customer satisfaction or NPS (Net Promoter Score) as a measurement tool. Worryingly, 6% are still not measuring anything.
Companies Figure 55: Change in importance of metrics used since 2009
The agency results [Figure 56] reinforce the findings from the companies. Almost three-quarters (73%) of agencies say their clients use direct traffic to the website to assess social media activity, while just under a quarter (24%) say they use indirect traffic. However, a higher proportion of agencies say their clients uses sales as a metric 39% compared to 29% of companies. On the other hand, slightly fewer agencies (30%) say their clients use brand awareness than the companies themselves (35%). The trending data for agencies [Figure 57] indicate that the proportion of clients using sales has increased by 9%, while fewer clients regard indirect traffic,online brand mentions and customer satisfaction as important metrics.
Sales as a metric
It is encouraging to see the increase of sales being targeted as a metric to measure social media. I would have always advocated that it [social media] should be used for branding, with sales a happy coincidence rather than a driving force behind the campaign. However, with the rise in popularity of location targeted apps and Foursquare, I think well see retailers using location-based targeted offers which should see a rise in attributable sales for the social channel. Caroline Rolfe, Ecommerce Manager, Links of London
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Agency results Figure 56: Which are the most important metrics for your clients when they are assessing social media activity?
Response: 290
Agencies Figure 57: Change in importance of metrics used since 2009
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6.7.
6.7.1.
Integration of social media into business

Integrating social media activity with business functions
The results below show how different business functions are integrated with social media. Many companies are failing to integrate social media and insight with a range of business functions, although there has been fairly widespread integration with marketing and PR / communications. A third (33%) say social media is well integrated with marketing, and 27% say there is a good level of integration with PR and communications. Other parts of the business are getting less benefit from social media activity and insight. Threequarters (74%) of companies say there is no integration with the HR function in the business. Similarly, there appears to be little integration with product development and innovation, as only 5% say this is well integrated, while almost two-thirds (63%) who say there is no integration. Companies could also do better integrating social media and customer data, as currently only 6% say they are doing this well. A third (31%) say there is some integration, and 63% say there is no integration at all. Almost half of respondents (51%) say there is no integration with customer service, although it was seen above that Facebook and Twitter are increasingly used for gathering feedback and reacting to customer issues. This would indicate that although social media is being used for customer-centric strategies, the customer service function in the organisation might not be the department managing this. The remit for using social media to deal with customer issues often falls under the responsibility of other business functions, such as marketing, or PR and communications.
Company results Figure 58: How well do you integrate social media activity and insight with the following functions?
Response: 338
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Integration with business functions

It is essential to take an integrated view across all online media (social media, web, forums, advertising). The customer does not see them as separate. Warren Buckley, Managing Director, BT Customer Service The agency results are shown in Figure 59. Although a fifth of agencies say their clients integrate marketing (21%) and PR (20%) well with social media insight, many of the other functions within client businesses are not well integrated. In particular, two-thirds of supply-side respondents say there is no integration at all with product development and innovation (65%), or human resources (66%). Additionally, more than half (57%) say there is no integration with CRM or customer data.
Agency results Figure 59: How well do your clients typically integrate social media activity and insight with the following functions?
Response: 281
Integration with business functions

The long-term winners are the companies that can integrate the voice of their customers into core business functions like R&D and merchandizing. Considering the current focus is on Marketing and PR, there is a substantial opportunity for progressive companies to gain a competitive advantage. Hkan Thyr, International Partnerships Director, Bazaarvoice We have a cross-functional social spaces forum which meet once a month, from all areas of the organisation, including HR, IT and PR. We find the opportunity to meet and discuss learnings and challenges. This means we take the responsibility across the organisation to understand how social is affecting all sides of the business, as well as how we interact with our customers. Claire Higgins, Head of Marketing at Vtravelled.com, Virgin Atlantic
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6.7.2.
Integrating social media with different marketing channels

Email marketing (76%) and SEO (59%) are the channels most likely to be integrated with social media. Just over a fifth (23%) say display advertising is well integrated with social media, while 21% of companies say they integrate with print media. A fifth of companies (20%) integrate paid search with social media. Only 7% integrate this with TV and radio. The equivalent agency results reinforce the findings that email and SEO are most likely to be integrated. Some 71% say email marketing is integrated with social media while 60% say SEO is integrated.
Companies Figure 60: Do you integrate social media activity with any of the following channels?
Response: 275
Agencies Figure 61: Do your clients integrate social media activity with any of the following channels?
Response: 252
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6.7.3.
Sharing insights and comments from social media

Survey participants were asked how they share relevant comments and insights from social media within their organisation. Email is the method most commonly used to share the insights generated from social media, with more than half of company respondents (55%) saying they use this tool. Some 40% discuss insights in meetings. However, a third (33%) are not sharing responses at all. In general, collaborative tools such as CoTweet or work-flow tools are not commonly used to discuss insights or comments arising from social media. Figure 63 shows the agency responses, and shows a similar pattern of findings. Slightly fewer agencies say their clients share insights using email (46%).
Companies Figure 62: How do you share relevant comments and insights from social media within your organisation?
Response: 323
Sharing insights from social media

Different divisions routinely discuss their social media campaigns so that marketers from different divisions may hear of possibilities they may not have themselves initiated. Ali T. Kokmen, Marketing Manager, Random House
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Agencies Figure 63: How do your clients share relevant comments and insights from social media within their organisations?
Response: 268
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6.8. 6.8.1.
Barriers and challenges

Barriers to effective social media engagement
Lack of resources remains the biggest problem preventing organisations engaging in social media more effectively, with just under half of responding companies (49%) saying this is a top-three barrier. Lack of understanding is holding back 35% of company marketers, while lack of budget is a barrier for 30% of organisations. Company culture is a significant problem for 29% of companies, and it is worth noting social media may not be effective for all companies or indeed products or services. Companies need to assess their individual needs to understand how to make social media work for them. Figure 65 shows the change since 2009, and shows lack of budget is even more of a problem than last year, as the proportion of companies citing this has increased by 10%. Similarly, company culture is now holding back 6% more marketers. Industry regulation is now more of a problem, and this may due to greater awareness about legal issues, and best practice such as the law regarding astroturfing. The proportion of companies citing industry regulation as a major problem has increased by 3%.
Company results Figure 64: What are the biggest barriers preventing your organisation engaging in social media activity more effectively?
Barriers: conflict of interest between different departments

As social media spans across so many disciplines its become the new area for inter-departmental conflict and like the web years ago, internal customers think it's so easy, it's something you can knock up in an afternoon and tag on to the end of a comms plan. Margaret O'Donnell, Digital Media Manager, British Red Cross
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Companies Figure 65: Change in biggest barriers to effective social media since 2009
Problems and challenges

Online PR and social media can be less professional, less curated than traditional media. Therefore, marketers' comfort level with such venues is variable. Moreover, these venues' ultimate usefulness (in measurable terms such as increased sales, rather than fuzzier metrics like 'awareness') is endlessly debatable. Ali T. Kokmen, Marketing Manager, Random House The biggest barrier from the agency perspective [Figure 56] is the lack of knowledge or understanding, with 49% of supply-side respondents citing this. Lack of resources is a problem for a third of respondents (33%). The change in results since 2009 is shown in Figure 67 and indicates that lack of budget is now more of an issue, as the companies also suggest. Senior management buy-in is less of a problem as this has fallen by 5%, as is the lack of a business case, which has shown a decrease of 4% since 2009.
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Agency results Figure 66: What are the biggest barriers preventing your clients from engaging in social media activity more effectively?
Agencies Figure 67: Change in biggest barriers to effective social media since 2009
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6.8.2.
Problems and challenges relating to social media

Asked to elaborate on challenges, it was clear from survey respondents answers that one of the main problems relating to online PR and/or social media is the lack of senior management or internal buy-in. While this did not emerge as the biggest problem in the quantitative data, it is still a highly problematic area for those companies it does affect. Different perceptions about social media across the organisation and measurement difficulties can cause internal conflicts and frictions between departments. Full, ongoing support from senior management is essential for building effective social media campaigns.
Lack of senior management/internal buy-in

The measurement difficulties have led to a barrier for buy-in from senior execs, along with a lack of knowledge on their part of the potential of social media as a channel. Senior management remain unconvinced of the cost-effectiveness of online PR and social media even though they can see it working they still will not divert resources to it. Nearly always the Chief Executives: they are either too sceptical and make everything a battle - or too keen not to listen to criticism publically (want to take posts down) - or become over-keen and scare people off by responding to every comment and blog post themselves with Im the Chief Executive of XYZ, and my army of staff will make things right for you ... Senior client decision-makers don't think they need to make the time to understand or engage in social media. The measurement difficulties have led to a barrier for buy-in from senior executives, along with a lack of knowledge on their part of the potential of social media as a channel. Company and agency respondents Social media is a long-term commitment that needs not only support, but also long-term planning and development of tactics. Many respondents cite the lack of strategy as a major challenge, as social media is not aligned with their business objectives. The problem is that social media is still viewed as a magic bullet and not as a tactical component of the marketing mix.
Lack of strategy and integration

Were just at the start of our social media journey, so the challenge is that we havent mapped out where wed like to be in a year or three years time. We dont have a global strategy that unites our offices around the world. Aligning all our operations more closely to take better advantage of the opportunities of social media. Senior managers from the various countries have different points of view on social media (as described previously) and top management has chosen a do-it-all approach that lacks real strategy. Results are mixed, to be optimistic. Getting all stakeholders to understand that social media and online PR are an integral part of a strategy, not something extra. There certainly is a misconception that social media is free and that by having a Twitter account or adding share functionality to news stories is a social media strategy. Keeping the conversation going with customers without a real conversation strategy. The content is fine - can
Social Media and Online PR Report 2010 Page 70
keep on coming up with that no problem. Keeping users engaged and communicating over time is a real skill. Connecting social media profiles to our more traditional CRM database. Integrating the various data sources to provide a single complete picture. Company and agency respondents The lack of budget and resources was frequently cited by respondents, with particular emphasis put on human capital. Supply-side respondents say that companies are willing to engage with their customers through social media, but are not prepared to allocate budgets and resources to monitor their campaigns and respond accordingly.
Lack of budget and resources

Huge opportunities with a huge lack of resources (mostly human at this point). Limited budget and unsophisticated staff in BU [business unit]and Corporate PR departments who lack vision in this space prohibit progress. The company operates in various European markets requiring multi-lingual resources - the implications for resourcing the social media team will have a high impact on headcount, changes in individuals objectives and workloads. The internet is 24/7 which means that to properly monitor it and harness its power you need a dedicated resource, something we currently dont have. With an additional member of staff responses could be quicker and dedicated strategies for each of the different channels (blog, Facebook, Twitter etc.) could be built. The belief that social media is free, quick and easy. It is essentially none of those things and creating a valid third space for brands takes talent, time and proper funding. Its mainly time and money investment - plus the client trusting the marketing team. Social media nurturing alone can take 6-12 months for a good effect, 12-24 months for a fantastic effect. Its justifying spend on a promotion tool that doesnt have direct, immediate ROI - particularly on a small budget. Larger budgets can produce a more elaborate campaign mixing social media/PR/advertising online - which are typically more successful based on the creative idea, however, theres not a proven winning formula. Its balancing time/money/creativity/human aspect (people campaigns) - and still coming up with a maybe itll work, lets try it. The challenge is always resource. They [clients] want to be more active, but they are not prepared to commit to updating and then monitoring results. Company and agency respondents Social media activity is an emerging area and respondents say they do not have the necessary expertise to build successful campaigns. Moreover, the vast amounts of resources and types of channels cause an information overload for many companies. The lack of knowledge and skills is sometimes preventing companies from being fully aware of potential benefits and business value.
Lack of knowledge and information overload

Inadequate knowledge and understanding the social media and online PR strategies [is a challenge]. Lack of awareness of potential benefits and not knowing how to use the channels. Lack of technical knowledge and the thought that unless we do it brilliantly we shouldnt be doing it at all.
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Unfortunately no-one thinks they have the time to do it brilliantly. The only problem I have is not having the certain skills and marketing/PR background to take full advantage of social media. Social media is so large it has been difficult to know where to start. Plus, it is still so new that there is not a big pool of experience within the business. Just keeping up with it. It all moves so quickly and it seems like it is a race to be the first, or the most innovative. Keeps us on our toes I guess. Just more knowledge. Social Media is quickly changing. Keeping up is difficult. Understanding Twitter communication #FF etc. is difficult. Social media is so large it has been difficult to know where to start. Plus, it is still so new that there is not a big pool of experience within the business. The crux for us as an agency, often, is the lack of knowledge client side. The old saying of people fearing what they do not know/understand is never truer than with social media. Company and agency respondents Both companies and agencies cite the lack of control as a major challenge, as many organisations still believe that social media can have a negative impact on their brands. Several supply-side respondents also mentioned that senior decision-makers are most reluctant to engage in social media activity.
Lack of control
Early on, we had some renegades who went around the web posting false information about the business to taint our reputation. This was difficult to cope with, but we rode it out. Getting over the fear of not being in control is an issue for some senior decision makers. There is only so many times you can explain to senior people that you cant have total control over social media. Company is fearful of hurting our brand by engaging further in social media. There is still a fear that engaging in the social space will open doors to more criticism and negative response than would otherwise be the case, with some brands adopting an eyes closed, cover pulled over the face and hope it all goes away position. Weve had success proving this wrong, but it can take significant hand-holding. Engaging an open dialogue with customers is still viewed as a risky exercise, and top management is often the most reluctant to these activities. Cases where mistakes have been made and caused uproar and hatred of the brand put our clients off starting to use Twitter. Fear factor - in a deeply conservative company, social media is seen as a teenage toy and is Facebook only. There is little understanding of business networks and use of Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media for business benefit. Company and agency respondents
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6.8.3.
Social media evolution over the next 12 months

Survey respondents were asked to express their opinions about the evolution of social media over the next 12 months. Most of them consider that social media will become a mainstream activity and adoption rates will significantly increase. As companies gain a better understanding of the social media landscape, effective use of social media will become more competitive: strategic approaches and innovative forms of engagement will represent key differentiators.
Growing importance and increased adoption

It will be as essential to have a presence on all of these sites as it is to have a website. Communicating with people via social media platforms will become part of everyones job - like using email. Adoption rates will increase as clients come up the learning curve. It will become an integral part of business as a whole - it wont be something new or considered a fad, it will simply be one more piece of the puzzle that will need to be effectively managed. Become more mainstream and accepted more in the boardroom rather than being dismissed as a new fad. I believe it will become even more important and rapidly move up the business agenda for the whole company. I expect social to be acknowledged and taken more seriously by all companies. Increase in scope and spread and take-up, become less fly-by-night and more respected as a communication tool. Its prominence will increase and more companies will have dedicated departments for it. We will see an increase in demand for online reputation managers, who will manage the entire portfolio of online and social media activities. Over the next 12 months companies will be separated by those that take a strategic approach, adopt tools and processes and take ownership of social media and those that dont. Results will come from the former and the latter will be forced to begin taking social media more seriously as they lose market share. More organisations will take it on board, but at the same time the experts will become better at it. It will make effective use of social media more competitive between organisations so the playing field will never be truly level. It will become a must for all marketing professionals as consumers and customers desire more content-driven and interactive marketing as opposed to the push strategy delivered through traditional direct or email marketing. The number of companies who engage with social media will dramatically increase, meaning businesses will have to become more creative with the content they post to keep their share of consumers and keep them engaged. Company and agency respondents Most companies consider that social media will become more integrated into their marketing processes and will not be seen as a distinct channel anymore. The most important implication of this is that they will no longer find it difficult to justify a budget, allocate resources and shape policies for social media campaigns. A higher degree of integration with mobile applications and e-commerce functionality is also cited by many respondents.
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More integration
I think it will become more embedded in our marketing communications as understanding of its uses improves. Wont be seen as a distinct channel - just another element of the marketing mix. Will become more integrated into traditional campaign process. Greater integration into customer service and CRM I think it will become more integrated with the other phases of marketing and business and will replace in some cases some other communication tools like newsletters. Tighter integration with purchase focused functionality - i.e. embedded e-commerce Become a more acceptable and expected part of the marketing mix that could justify a marketing budget. Data and integration particularly with new mobile apps - starting to see an interesting wave of AR applications. I think it will become more integrated. At the moment, there is too much do this, do that etc. and too many new tools. I think that new tools will be created that allow you to just simply add something e.g. a press release or article and the video to go with it to a site, then click where in social media you want it to go. Company and agency respondents Location-based services are expected to become a significant component of the social media landscape and drive the growth and adoption of social media. One respondent mentioned privacy concerns in relation to these services and this is noteworthy, as a large number of social media users may disable geo-location features.
Growth of location-based applications/services

It will be heavily about location, location, location. I think more relevance will be placed on location based apps and hopefully with improvements in customer services/ support. Location based services are the obvious one. Very powerful when used in conjunction with location based services, but privacy concerns will see a growing number of users disabling these features. Yes, more location based and more than ever brands will need to jump on the bandwagon or die. Further emphasis on mobile and the emerging geo-location services will continue to evolve social media. In terms of more technical change, location sharing and services tied to that shared data will most likely become more of a mainstream activity. Company and agency respondents
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6.8.4.
Running social media campaigns in multiple countries

Around a quarter of responding companies (26%) are running social media campaigns in multiple countries. Similarly, a fifth of agencies (21%) say their clients are running campaigns in multiple countries.
Company results Figure 68: Do you run social media campaigns across multiple countries?
Response: 382
Running social media campaigns across multiple countries

With the large number of international brands completing this survey, it's surprising that so few (only 26%) social media campaigns are run across multiple countries. It illustrates the cultural challenges involved in running international SM campaigns. But, hang on; good advertising agencies have mastered the art and science of pan-European ATL campaigns so maybe its more to do with the current inexperience and lack of capability of some SM agencies? Without doubt, finding a workable solution to this problem is a major opportunity for clients and agencies alike. David Hardy, Group Marketing Director, bigmouthmedia
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Agencies Figure 69: Do your clients typically run social media campaigns across multiple countries?
Response: 333
Setting up local initiatives globally

As a multinational company it is important to create an appropriate balance of local interest material with overall company aims. [A particular challenge] is encouraging local markets to be involved rather than setting up their own initiatives which may not be in line with overall aims, best practice and branding, or that simply wither and die because they are set up by individuals without the resource to maintain on a regular basis. Simon Bewick, Head of Digital Marketing, Oxford University Press
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6.8.5.
Challenges associated with running campaigns in multiple countries

The free-form answers below help to explain the challenges involved with running international campaigns. Survey respondents were asked to describe the main challenges they face in relation to running social media campaigns across multiple countries. Language barriers, cultural differences, different social media landscapes and co-ordination and control were cited by both companies and agencies as major challenges. Companies need to consider the language factor when creating content and how to facilitate translation human or machine translation. Both methods pose challenges and most respondents consider idiomatic nuances as a significant barrier in their social media communication.
Language barriers
Having ability to interact appropriately in multiple languages. Language issues regarding understanding sentiment and applying insight in different countries and cultures. Monitoring and engagement in multiple languages Communicating the same message across different languages can be lost in translation. Language barriers, extensive time consumption on translation Company and agency respondents In order to create genuine communication and engagement through social media campaigns, companies need to factor in cultural differences for each market and adapt to the different audiences they want to reach. One respondent mentioned that the main challenge is tying in a global brand whilst meeting local needs.
Cultural differences
As with all other international campaigns, its getting cultural nuances right. Different cultural aspects are more important than just translation. The market is very different and people interact differently. They have to be treated as different campaigns. Varying degrees of interest and different perceptions e.g.: Europeans and Americans just think very differently. Things that are funny in the UK are insulting in the US. You must be culturally sensitive, and from a UK perspective, sometimes it feels like taking the fun out for a US audience, but weve done pretty well so far without offending many people. Humour is very different from one country to another. Company and agency respondents
Most of the respondents say it is difficult to engage effectively with multiple audiences across country-specific social media platforms. Companies need to take into consideration varying levels of medium adoption, usage behaviour and technical maturity of each audience.
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Different social media landscapes

Understanding the peculiarities of the social media landscapes in different markets. Different countries require different technology i.e. Twitter isnt heavily used in East Asia. The state of social media/the tools are not same from one country to another... Blogosphere is very mature in France, Spain, US, Italy... it is really late in the UK where social networks and Twitter are ruling. Germans are very cautious about advertising. Managing multicultural and multilingual campaigns require to have people from each nationality if you dont want to take the risk to fail with a concept that wont work from one country to another. Habits and usage are different too: viral exploded in France, US, UK but is super rare in Germany. Understanding that you cant use the same social channel in every country. This fact adds to the complexity and cost of deploying and managing campaigns in Europe. Our customer base is spread over Europe and we find that Northern countries respond very differently to social media than Southern countries. France is a slow mover, Spain more reactive. Italy isnt even on the map except for some active LinkedIn groups. The UK and more Northern countries seem much more advanced in their response. Company and agency respondents Many organisations lack a global social media strategy and do not have the resources to control campaigns at the local level, monitor the results and co-ordinate information across multiple national teams. A co-ordinated effort across the organisation that ensures consistency of communication is viewed by most respondents as a significant challenge when running social media campaigns in multiple countries.
Co-ordination and control

The campaigns are done by local country organizations, so they tend not to do centrally run campaigns. The asset creation may happen centrally, but execution is still fragmented down to a local country level, with very little to no regional or global co-ordination. It is not a sophisticated approach currently, but that is because clients are just dipping their toes in the social media waters and everything is tactical. Advanced customers are just beginning to look at infrastructure, procedures/process and tools to take a more globally streamlined approach to social media as they would other marketing channels. It is difficult to craft common strategies and we do not have the resources to deal with each business unit separately. Consistency of messaging and approach and control over what happens at local level. Each country runs their own campaigns, so it is hard to control and monitor the results. Finding the right person to take initiative and responsibility Company and agency respondents
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Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

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Tactics and strategies ................................................................. 21

Websites used for social media ................................................. 33

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

6.5.2. Experiences of using paid-for buzz-monitoring solutions .... 47

Budgets, effectiveness and measurement ................................. 49

Integration of social media into business ................................. 62

Barriers and challenges ............................................................. 67

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Executive Summary and Highlights

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Other related Econsultancy reports and content

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Introduction by bigmouthmedia (survey sponsor)

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Methodology and Sample

Econsultancy uses Clicktools for its online surveys

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Companies Figure 2: In which country/region are you (personally) based?

Agencies Figure 3: In which country/region are you (personally) based?

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Annual company turnover

Companies Figure 4: What is your annual company turnover (revenue)?

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Figure 5: In which business sector is your organisation?

Business focus (B2B or B2C)

Figure 6: Is your business focused on B2B or B2C?

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

B2B & B2C

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Extent of social media activity

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Senior management interest in social media

Senior management buy-in

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Senior management interest in social media

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Proportion of PR activity which is online

Company results Figure 14: What percentage of your PR activity is online?

2009 results Figure 15: What percentage of your PR activity is online?

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Tactics and strategies

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Companies Figure 18: Change in company PR tactics used since 2009

SEO press releases

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Agencies Figure 20: Change in client PR tactics used since 2009

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Social media tactics employed

Ratings and reviews

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Social media tactics

Social Media and Online PR Report 2010

Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies