Soclal medla has arrlved buL companles sLlll arenL sure whaL Lo do wlLh lL llfLyelghL

percenL of companles are currenLly engaged ln soclal neLworks llke lacebook mlcroblogs
llke 1wlLLer and sharlng mulLlmedla on plaLforms such as ?ou1ube buL research from Lhe
Parvard 8uslness 8evlew AnalyLlcs Servlces reporL 1he new ConversaLlon 1aklng Soclal
Medla from 1alk Lo AcLlon 8eporL ul sponsored by SAS flnds LhaL much of Lhe
lnvesLmenL ln soclal ls fuLureorlenLed ln Lhe slldes LhaL follow well dlve lnLo Lhls research
showlng how mosL companles really use soclal medla and whaL Lhe mosL effecLlve users
do dlfferenLly
W AlLhough 79 of Lhe 2100 companles surveyed
are elLher uslng or plannlng Lo use soclal medla
channels a measly 12 of Lhose flrms feel LhaL
Lhey are uslng Lhem effecLlvely 1hese soclal
medla allsLars engage beyond Lhe Llred meLhod
of shouL markeLlng by uslng soclal more ofLen
Lo promoLe Lhelr brand monlLor Lrends among
cusLomers and even research new producL ldeas
W
W A large percenLage of organlzaLlons are sLlll heslLanL Lo
geL serlous abouL soclal 1woLhlrds of users had no
formallzed soclal medla sLraLegy and [usL 7 had
lnLegraLed soclal medla lnLo Lhelr overall markeLlng
sLraLegy Whlle 69 predlcL LhaL Lhelr use of soclal
medla wlll grow 61 admlL Lhe need Lo overcome a
learnlng curve before adopLlng any klnd of soclal medla
sLraLegy !usL 32 vlew lL as an execuLlve prlorlLy and
nearly one ln Len of Lhe execuLlves we surveyed
dlsmlssed Lhe buslness use of soclal medla as a passlng
fad
W
W 1he LoughesL challenges for execuLlves lnvolve
Lylng soclal lnvesLmenLs back Lo Lhe boLLom llne
measurlng lLs effecLlveness llnklng soclal medla
efforLs Lo 8Cl and undersLandlng Lhe concreLe
dlfference soclal efforLs make Lo Lhe buslness
Whlle Lhey undersLand soclal medla can be a
powerful Lool mosL execuLlves sLlll arenL sure
how powerful
W
W !usL 12 of Lhe companles surveyed have hlred sLaff
dedlcaLed Lo soclal medla acLlvlLles lnsLead lLs mosLly
delegaLed Lo exLernal relaLlons sLaff or Lechles Maybe
LhaLs why soclal medla has Lrouble geLLlng a plece of
Lhe budgeL ple !usL 20 of soclalmedlauslng
organlzaLlons have dedlcaLed a porLlon of Lhe budgeL
Lo lL Lhough LhaL rlses Lo 44 among effecLlve users
AL Lhe CSulLe level Lhey donL wanL Lo Lalk abouL
soclal medla because Lhey donL undersLand lL one
execuLlve admlLLed
W
W lven Lhls dlfflculLy ln undersLandlng Lhe
opporLunlLles soclal medla offers and Lhe lack of
clarlLy ln lLs percelved beneflLs mosL flrms now
prefer a sLraLegy of conLrolled experlmenLaLlon
As one execuLlve puL lL Soclal medla ls a blg
ocean and we are pulllng ln a llLLle bay where we
are mosL proLecLed 1he ma[orlLy of Lhese efforLs
(30) are geared Lowards lncreaslng awareness
of Lhe organlzaLlon or brand
W
W 1he besL users undersLand LhaL soclal medla ls a
conversaLlon noL a monologue More effecLlve
companles use soclal medla Lo lnLeracL wlLh cusLomers
by creaLlng onllne cusLomer groups and monlLorlng
Lrends 1hey were Lwlce as llkely Lo use soclal medla Lo
research new producLs And Lhey meL Lhelr cusLomers
where Lhey already were uslng four or more soclal
medla channels lncludlng mulLlmedla sharlng
revlew slLes dlscusslon forums and blogs Pow do you
use soclal medla Lo llsLen Lo and engage wlLh your
cusLomers?
W