Blogs

The Global Social Media Check-up 2011

#BMGlobalSocial
Contents

Twitter

Methodology
Facebook

Fortune Global 100 Companies’ Use of:

Twitter & Microblogs
Facebook & Social Networks
YouTube & Video Sharing
Corporate Blogs

Implications

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Methodology

• The study’s sample consisted of the companies on the 2010 Fortune Global 100 list.
The sample breaks down as follows:
− 32 U.S. companies
− 47 European companies
− 18 Asia-Pacific companies
− 3 Latin American companies (Because of the small sample size, data from the three Latin American companies are included
in the overall results, but this data is not broken out in the detailed analysis.)

• The study looked at the Fortune Global 100’s activities on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube , corporate blogs
and other local microblogs and social networks around the globe.
• The results of this study are compared to last year’s Burson-Marsteller “Global Social Media Check-up
2010,” which analyzed the social media presence of companies on the 2009 Fortune Global 100 list.
Results from the Global Social Media Check-up 2011 study are charted in blue; results from last year’s
global study are charted in gray.
• While there was a slight shift from last year in the companies on the Fortune Global 100 list, this did not
have a significant impact on results.
• Data was collected between November 2010 and January 2011.
• “Active” accounts were defined as those with at least one post in the past 3 months.
• Outliers have been noted.
• Data was collected by Burson-Marsteller’s global research team.

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The Majority of Fortune Global 100 Companies Use At Least One Social
Media Platform

There was a 6% increase in

Fortune Global 100 companies
participating on at least one
social media platform, driven
primarily by the 34% increase
in Asian companies with social
Global Companies Using At Least One Social Media Platform
media accounts.

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One-Quarter of Global Companies are Active on All Platforms

There was a 25% increase in

the number of companies
using all four social media
platforms studied. This growth
was driven by increases in
Global Companies Using All Four Platforms
Asian companies (32%
increase) and in the U.S.
companies (21% increase).

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Twitter Had Greatest Growth of the Four Social Media Platforms

There was an 18% increase in

Fortune Global 100 companies
using Twitter, followed by
a 14% growth in YouTube
channels and a 13% growth in
companies using Facebook
pages. Twitter is emerging as
Percent of Fortune Global 100 Companies With…
the predominant social media
platform used by corporations,
although corporate Facebook
pages have more “likes” than
Twitter accounts have
“followers.”

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The Number of Accounts Per Company on Each Social Media Platform
Also Increased

Regional/local offices and

functional divisions added
corporate accounts to share their
specific communications with
targeted stakeholders, which
Number of Accounts Per Company on Each Social Network
drove the increase in accounts
per company.

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 Tweet ! Tweet !

Tweet !

BURSON–MARSTELLER EVIDENCE–BASED COMMUNICATIONS 8

The Percent of Companies With Twitter Accounts Grew 18%

The largest growth was in

83%
Asian corporate Twitter of European corporations
have Twitter accounts

accounts (68% year-over-year

increase). The proportion of
U.S. companies with Twitter
accounts remained flat.
Percent of Companies with Twitter or Other Microblog* Accounts

* For the purposes of this study, “Twitter” refers to the actual platform or
other similar microblogging platforms.

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The Companies Participating in Twitter Also Increased Their Number of
Accounts

38%
increase in the number of
accounts per company
on Twitter The average number of
Twitter accounts per
company increased from
4.2 accounts to 5.8 accounts.

Average Number of Twitter Accounts Per Corporation on Twitter

In Detail
The number of accounts per company
increased in the U.S. because of the large
increase in IBM Twitter accounts (from 43
accounts in 2010 to 76 accounts in 2011)
and Walmart (11 accounts  39 accounts).
The same increase was demonstrated by
many Asian companies (i.e., LG: 12
accounts  18 accounts, Sony: 5 accounts
 16 accounts, and Nissan: 2 accounts 
11 accounts.)

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The Use of the “@” Mention Increased Dramatically

Seventy-six percent more

67%
of accounts use
the @ mention

companies use the “@” mention

to reference or direct tweets at
other Twitter accounts. This
suggests a much higher level of
engagement by corporations, as
they use Twitter to converse with Percent of Accounts Using @ Mentions

others and not just push out

their own messages. The highest
growth was among European
companies, with a 148% increase
using the “@” mention.

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Corporate Outreach on Twitter

The @Samsungservice account

GE’s @ecomagination account
is used primarily for customer service. is used mostly for news and company
Almost every tweet begins with an updates, but it also responds to
@ mention responding stakeholders’ comments and questions
to customers in need of via @ mentions.
technical support.

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Retweeting Also a Tool for Interacting on Twitter

62% 50%
of European corporate

Fortune Global 100 companies of Asian corporate

accounts retweet
accounts retweet

were much more active

retweeters in the past year
(78% increase). Again, this
growth in retweeting was led by
European companies(117%
increase) and Asian companies Percent of Accounts Retweeting

(121%).

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Number of Twitter Followers Increased Radically Across All Regions

5,076
average followers
per account
The average number of followers
per corporate account increased by
241% in the last year. This growth
in popularity was lead by Asian
companies, which averaged an
increase of 328%.
Average Number of Followers Per Account

In Detail
The high average number of followers in
Asia could be because many Asian
corporations are in the electronics,
entertainment and auto industries, which
tend to lend themselves to more active
social media participation due to active
customer bases and the need for customer
service.

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Companies Follow More Accounts

As the number of global

Twitter accounts grew over
154%
increase in number of
accounts each account
follows
the last year, the average
number of accounts each
corporate account follows
rose by 154% globally.
European corporate accounts Average Number of Accounts that Each Corporate Account Follows

showed the most growth

(341%), while Asian corporate
accounts on average follow
the most accounts (2,635).

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 Most Twitter Accounts are Used to Keep Stakeholders Informed

Percent of Accounts with Posts About General News/

Announcements/Updates

The majority of accounts focus

on providing company news,
updates and announcements to
stakeholders. More than one-
quarter (28%) of corporate
accounts are tweeting to
Percent of Accounts with Posts About Promotions/Deals/Contests consumers about deals or contests
specifically related to their
products and/or services.

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News and Promotions via Twitter

@CreditAgricole uses its Twitter

accounts for contests and offers, as @BoeingCorporate uses Twitter
seen above, as well as for “T’Chats” for a variety of purposes, but most
that allow them to interact with importantly for news and updates.
other Twitter users.

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Twitter Accounts are Also Used for Customer Service and Career Information

Percent of Accounts with Customer Service Tweets

Forty percent of corporate

Twitter accounts engage
stakeholders on customer
service issues. Only one in 10
corporate accounts includes
tweets with career information
Percent of Accounts with Career Information and/
Or Jobs Posts in their Tweets
or job listings.

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Corporations Use Twitter to Connect with Stakeholders

@INGDIRECT mixes news and

updates with customer service. The @LGD_recruit account posts news
The account often uses a casual, about job openings, career advice and
humorous tone to better connect also seeks to answer the questions
with other Twitter users. of prospective applicants.

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Eight Out of Ten Companies are Talked About on Twitter

80%
of companies are talked
about on Twitter The number of companies
being talked about on Twitter
increased by 90% over the
last year (driven by a 118%
increase in Asian companies
and a 106% increase in
Percent of Companies Talked About on Twitter European companies). The
sharp rise indicates that a
company is being referenced
by stakeholders’ tweets even
if it is not on Twitter.

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The Percent of Corporations on Facebook Increased by 13 Percent

Asian companies demonstrated

13%
increase in
corporations on
the largest percent increase Facebook

(25%) in Facebook use,

driving a majority of the 61%
global growth. of corporations
have Facebook
pages

Corporations with Facebook (or Similar Social Network) Pages

In Detail
Out of the companies who were on the
Fortune Global 100 both years, there was
an 18% increase in corporate Facebook
pages.

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The Average Number of Facebook Pages Per Company Doubled

Asian companies average

5.8 pages per company U.S. companies showed a
on Facebook
particularly large increase in
number of Facebook pages per
Europe averages
2.8 pages per
company on
company (179%), while the
Facebook
average number of pages per
company in Asia increased
Number of Facebook Pages Per Company on Facebook
by only 18%.

In Detail
The large increase in the U.S. average
Facebook pages per company is largely
due to outliers Hewlett-Packard and Ford,
with 51 and 23 corporate Facebook pages
respectively.

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Corporate Facebook Pages Demonstrated Large Gains in “Likes”

The number of “likes” per 115%

increase in
Facebook likes
Facebook page increased by
115% globally. Asian companies
had the largest increase (406%), 406%
increase in Facebook
likes on Asian
while European companies companies’ pages

showed relatively no change

over last year’s average. Average Number of “Likes” Per Page

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Companies More Actively Maintaining Facebook Pages

Eighty-four percent of
84%
of pages have posts
in last week
Facebook pages had posts
made by the companies within
40%
increase in
the last week, demonstrating
pages updated
in last week that the majority of pages are
actively updated.
Percent of Pages with Posts in Last Week

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Companies Interact with Stakeholders via Facebook

Percent of Pages that Allowed “Liker” (Fans) Wall Posts

Facebook fan pages allow

administrators to select whether
they would like for their visitors
to be allowed to post on the
page’s wall. Globally, about
three-quarters (74%) of pages
allow for these posts. The U.S. Percent of Pages that Responded to “Likers” (Fans’) Wall Posts

companies led the way in

Facebook interactivity, as 89% of
pages allow posts from “likers”
(fans), and 72% of pages respond
to “likers’” wall posts.

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Companies Use Facebook to Connect in Innovative Ways

Honda’s Facebook page has posts from

BNP Paribas has a Facebook page that is the company itself that get many “likes”
dedicated to a recruitment game that and comments. What really sets it apart,
targets college students. however, is the posts it receives daily from
the company’s fans.

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The Percent of Companies with YouTube Channels

While Asian companies

increased their presence on
YouTube by 26%, there was
a slight decrease in the
percent of U.S. companies
using YouTube.
Percent of Companies with YouTube Channels

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 Companies on YouTube Average 2.7 Channels Each

The average number of

YouTube channels per company
on the video-sharing site grew
mostly because of the 192%
increase among U.S. companies.

Average Number of YouTube Channels Per Company on YouTube

In Detail
The U.S. increase in YouTube channels per
company was driven by IBM with
21 channels, GE with 12 channels and
Ford with 10 channels.

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Asian Companies Average the Greatest Number of Views on YouTube

While each channel averages

hundreds of thousands
of views, Europe’s channels
lag behind those of Asia
and the U.S.

Average Number of Upload Views per YouTube Channel

In Detail
Asian companies include Sony, Toyota,
Hyundai and others in the electronics, auto
and entertainment industries that have a
highly visual marketing component. It’s not a
surprise, then, that these YouTube channels
have more views than others.

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Companies Develop YouTube Pages that Reflect Their Unique Brands

Walmart branded its YouTube channel so it looks like Toyota’s YouTube channel also has a branded page and video
a part of the company’s home page. Its videos are categories. In particular, the “How-Tos & Demos” and
separated into categories that are meant to enhance “Reviews & Specs” sections provide customer service that
and simplify viewers’ experiences. could be useful to viewers.

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RSS

BURSON–MARSTELLER EVIDENCE–BASED COMMUNICATIONS 33

There Was No Dramatic Gain in Corporate Blog Use Globally

The percent of corporations

with blogs increased by a
negligible amount. Asian
companies saw a 12% decrease
in corporations with blogs, as
many blogs became inactive.
The U.S. companies saw the Percent of Companies with Blogs

greatest increase (29%).

European companies remained
consistent, with slightly over
one-quarter (28%) maintaining
blogs.

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Increase in Number of Blogs Among Companies with Blogs

While the number of companies

with blogs was steady, those who
blog increased their use of the
platform. The growth in the
average number of blogs per
company was driven by the 63%
Number of Corporate Blogs Per Company that Blogs
increase in the number of blogs
hosted by U.S. companies.

In Detail
The large increase in the U.S. average is
due to Hewlett-Packard’s 83 blogs and
IBM’s 86 blogs.

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 Companies With Blogs Make Creative Use of the Platform

China Mobile’s blog highlights the company’s thought

IBM is unique in that it has a database containing
leadership and research development. Posts are written by
over 80 blogs penned by employees (“IBMers”). The blogs
various individual members of the China Mobile Research
range in their scope and chosen topic, but they provide
Institute. Over time, the blog has attracted loyal readers who
an informal way for employees to interact with stakeholders.
are interested in its niche themes.

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Implications

Blogs

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 Companies Are Starting To Leverage Social Media as an Interactive Platform

While the number of American and European

companies participating in social media remained
fairly flat over the past year, companies’
interactivity on social media increased
dramatically across all regions.

Companies are starting to get the sense of how to

leverage social media to manage their brands and
engage with stakeholders.

Organizations are dedicating resources to

better monitor and manage social media, and
they are learning from other companies’
successful strategies.

However, the Fortune Global 100 still have a long

way to go. Too many companies are broadcasting
news content and not listening to what
stakeholders are saying about them online.

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The Increase in Number of Social Media Accounts Per Company Allows
Companies to Target Different Stakeholder Groups

The number of accounts in each social

medium grew, as regional/local offices and
functional divisions added corporate
accounts to target their audiences.
Companies will continue to have multiple
social media accounts, so having a hub that
lists the many accounts and channels can
help direct stakeholders to the account that
best meets their interests. However,
companies should integrate their social
media efforts to avoid disparate messaging
and keep brand consistency.

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 Twitter is the Most Widely Used Corporate Social Media Platform, But
Facebook Leads With “Likes” (Followers)

Twitter is the most widely used corporate

social media platform. However, corporate
Facebook pages have exponentially more likes
(an average of 87,979) than Twitter accounts
have followers (5,076).

Twitter and Facebook websites have very

different purposes. Twitter is growing quickly
and is an excellent venue for companies to
interact with stakeholders in real time.
Facebook is effective for building communities
The Fortune
among stakeholders. Global 100 Use Me
the Most!
Companies must think strategically about their
business and communication goals and use
the right social medium for the
appropriate purpose.

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Stakeholders Demonstrate Increased Interest in Hearing from Companies

The interaction between companies and their

stakeholders on social media is driven as
much by consumers as it is by the companies.

Not only has corporate activity increased on

social media, but the number of followers and
“likes” increased substantially on corporate
social media accounts.

When companies deliver relevant content and

listen and interact with stakeholders in a
meaningful way, social media can be mutually
beneficial for companies and customers.

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 Social Media Growth in Asia is Driven by Interest in Reaching Audiences
Both at Home and Abroad

Asian corporations were slower to join social

media because of a perception that consumers
only wanted to interact with peers—and not
companies—on social networks.
However, the sheer growth in the number of users
of these platforms, particularly in audiences abroad,
is changing this perception. Asian companies are
using social media tools to reach Western
stakeholders through Twitter and Facebook and
to reach local audiences on sites such as Cyworld,
Mixi and Sina.
Asian companies are particularly comfortable with
Twitter as they tend to be most focused on building
short-term market share, using the tools for building
awareness and reaching large numbers of people,
as opposed to developing long term stakeholder
engagement and loyalty.
Asian companies will continue to grow their
presence on social media because of the vast
opportunity to connect with stakeholders both
at home and abroad, as well as a keen ability to
identify and emulate best social media practices.

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Contacts

Dallas Lawrence
Charlie Pownall
Managing Director of Digital Public
Affairs Lead Digital Strategist , Asia-Pacific
Proof Integrated Communications T 65 6671 3272
T 202 530 4615 charles.pownall@bm.com
Dallas.Lawrence@bm.com www.twitter.com/cpownall
www.twitter.com/dallaslawrence

Daniel Jörg Cely Carmo

EMEA Digital Practice Lead Lead Digital Strategist, Latin America
T 41 31 356 7362 T 55 11 3094 2256
daniel.joerg@bm.com cely.carmo@bm.com
www.twitter.com/danieljoerg http://meadiciona.com/bmdigitalbrasil

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