Social Media Blueprint (Shane Burford & Jack Day) by Fusion

The Social Media Blueprint An investigation into consumer usage of social media and the implementation of social media into organisational strategy. Jack Day and Shane Burford

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Executive Summary

This report was commissioned to examine the impact social media is having on organisations. It looks specifically at consumer behaviour with social media and to what extent organisations are incorporating it into their marketing strategies.

Social media is a relatively new medium that has grown rapidly in recent years; it now represents almost a billion users worldwide. This exponential growth has uncovered new opportunities for marketers to reach large audiences in developed countries, where social media has significant penetration. It has provided a genuine opportunity for marketers to interact with consumers in creative new ways that were previously impossible.

The research draws attention to the education gap between organisations and their understanding of social media. Findings indicate that 56% of organisations believe that social media is a crucial medium to have an advertising presence, however only 37% of organisations incorporate social media into their existing marketing strategy. Of further interest is that only 19% of organisations use scholarly articles to source information as to how best use social media. Further compounding the issue is that a majority organisations believe social media is an effective channel for reaching new customers (43%), however the majority of users who interact with brands in social media are existing users of the brand (64%), suggesting a disconnect between organizational beliefs and consumer behaviour. Finally, contrary to popular opinion, social media operates in a Jack Day & Shane Burford: 2010

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similar way to traditional advertising. Therefore, an integrated marketing communication strategy, and maintaining a share of voice in line with market share are paramount in developing an effective advertising communication.

The report evaluates these critical issues and provides informed advice regarding social media integration into strategy. It is recommended that an organisation should: •Maintain a share of voice in line with market share •Regulate organisational behaviour to facilitate social media integration •Choose carefully when investing money into social media based on what criteria? •Develop an integrated marketing communication strategy •Use cut-through tactics in creating social media content to increase its effectiveness.

In order to facilitate these recommendations it is advised that businesses create a policy to regulate employee interactions with the medium. It is also advised that organisations monitor the activity of their key competitors to ensure that share of voice is maintained. Finally it is advised that companies who lack appropriate knowledge should seek expert instruction as a means to closing any education gaps. This report provides a blueprint to ensuring successful integration of social media into marketing strategies.

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Table of Contents Introduction ..............................................................................................................7 Methodology ................................................................................................8

Market Analysis ....................................................................................................10 Holistic view of the market .........................................................................10 Size and growth .........................................................................................12 Trends ........................................................................................................13 Costing ......................................................................................................14

Customer analysis ...............................................................................................15 Consumers of social media .........................................................................15 Global perspective ......................................................................................16 Local Perspective ........................................................................................17 Organisations as users of social media .......................................................18 Fortune 500 ...............................................................................................18 Consumers and brands ...............................................................................20

Competitor Analysis ...........................................................................................21 Television ...................................................................................................22 Print ...........................................................................................................23 Radio ..........................................................................................................24 Social Media ...............................................................................................24 Integrated marketing communications .......................................................26

Research ...................................................................................................................26

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Methodology ..............................................................................................26 Focus group ...............................................................................................27 Limitations .............................................................................................27 Findings .................................................................................................28 Consumer quantitative survey ....................................................................29 Limitations .............................................................................................30 Findings .................................................................................................30 Business quantitative survey .......................................................................36 Findings .................................................................................................36

Advantages and disadvantages .....................................................................41 Advantages of social media ........................................................................41 Disadvantages of social media ....................................................................43

Critical issues ........................................................................................................44 Strategies and recommendations .................................................................46 Actions list ..............................................................................................................49 Bibliography ...........................................................................................................53 Appendix ..................................................................................................................57 Appendix 1 ................................................................................................57 Focus group prompt sheet ......................................................................57 Appendix 2 ................................................................................................60 Focus group findings ..............................................................................60 Appendix 3 ................................................................................................63 Consumer survey and findings ................................................................63 Appendix 4 ................................................................................................77

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Organisational implementation survey and findings ................................77

Introduction In less than three years, social media has become the most common Internet based activity. Social media is a medium that allows users to interact, create, share and express. (Qualman, E, 2009) It is the blend of technology and social interaction that best encapsulates the essence of social media (Wikipedia.com, 2010). The most common social networks include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace, Windows Live, Blog’s and Flickr. Qualman notes the potential of these websites as the worlds largest ‘referral system’ and suggests that brands must capitalise on this ‘world-of-mouth’ in order to reduce inefficient marketing. Beyond social interaction, there is an enormous level of passive observation amongst users, which can be difficult to quantify (Qualman, E, 2009). Social media provides a platform for businesses to build and maintain reputations amongst consumers, it allows for direct interaction with brands and if successfully implemented offers brands the chance to reach consumers in new creative ways (Wikipedia.com, 2010).

Despite the opinions of sceptics, it is indisputable that social media is here to stay. Within one year, Facebook alone had 200 million users. As Nuttney states ‘Facebook is the only truly global network’, it has only failed to take on a meaningful scale in countries where government regimes control Internet usage’ (2010). A choice no longer exists as to ‘if’ a brand has a presence on Jack Day & Shane Burford: 2010

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social media but instead the question is how best to incorporate social media into a marketing strategy and to then measure its impact (Qualman, E, 2009).

For individual brands much of social media’s success is dependent on user uptake; if you can engage users with content that achieves ‘cut-through’, the chances of that message being shared ‘virally’ amongst friends becomes so much greater.

With the rapid growth of social media comes the need to understand how consumers use the medium. This will have drastic implications on the ways social media is implemented into strategy. Social media is unlike any other advertising forum and the way in which it is consumed is unlike any other advertising medium. The consumer seeks out content within social media at their leisure (Econsultancy, 2009), therefore we must understand how people are using it to identify opportunities for organisations.

Methodology To better understand social media we are going to take a three-pronged approach to researching it. The first part will be to look at previous work and opinions on the topic. This secondary data analysis will investigate the overall media market, the consumers of social media and what alternatives to social media are available.

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With an understanding of how social media fits comparable to other media options, we will then move to consider how consumers use the medium and the ways in which they interact with brands. Understanding how consumers are using social media will better allow us to uncover what is the most effective method of integrating social media into strategy.

This will be researched initially using a focus group of 16 users of social media. This will give us direction on where to take the research further. Complementary to this will be a quantitative survey based on the findings of the focus groups. From this we will uncover how consumers are using social media at an aggregate level and how best to tailor a strategy around this.

The third prong to our research will be a quantitative study based on how businesses are implementing social media into marketing strategies. For this element of the research an online survey will be distributed to marketing practitioners via a convenience sample. This will shed light on how organisations, at an aggregate level, are using social media and where any education gaps exist.

The results of these three research goals will be an extremely comprehensive and well-researched investigation into what makes social media an effective advertising platform.

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Market Analysis Holistic view of the market Considering the growth of social media, especially in developed societies, it has become a lucrative mass marketing tool. The opportunities social media has in relation to advertising are superior to traditional advertising on the Internet. Clemons (2009) notes that sponsored advertisements are the least trusted form of advertising on the Internet, in particular organisations that operate their own corporate blogs. An interesting observation noted by Clemons, that whilst consumers do not trust commercial advertisements on the Internet they do trust the product recommendations of their peers.

Social media offers more then advertising on the Internet, a major benefit of brands having a presence within social media is the potential for Word-ofMouth recommendations amongst peers. Whilst this form of advertising is hardly a new phenomenon, what is a new development is how the accessibility of the Internet has allowed Word-of-Mouth to stretch beyond ones closest friends to a global audience. Qualman (2010) has termed this transition as

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‘World-of-Mouth’. Becoming a ‘fan’ of a product on Facebook acts as a form of advocacy for that brand. A Nielsen report of 800, 000 Facebook users outlines the impact that this ‘earned’ mention amongst peers can have on those who see it. The occurrence is labelled social advocacy and it is proven to have three major implications; it increases the likelihood that one will see the ad, improves their likelihood to remember the ad and increases their propensity to buy that brand (Gibs, 2010). So is social media the perfect platform for businesses to reach consumers with the intention that brands will be endorsed? Another study suggests that only 11% of social media users actually use the profile pages of brands (Precourt, 2009). The sheer number of conflicting studies does little to offer organisations an explanation as to how social media should be incorporated into a marketing strategy. A key point worth noting comes from a Forrester study in which a ladder (Figure 1) has been developed that outlines the different ‘types’ of users that exist within social networking.

Figure 1: Forrester Ladder of Social Media Users

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Forrester’s NACTAS Q4: Highlights each segment of user in social media and the types of activities they undertake

There are ‘creators’ and ‘critics’ who are the most likely to create and comment on content within social networks. The ladder (figure 1) shows ‘collectors’, ‘joiners’ and ‘spectators’. These types of users have a presence on social media yet contribute little in terms of content (Li, 2007). It is these users who can best be described as ‘passive observers’ although they rarely voice their own opinion they are exposed to their friends attitudes regarding brands and products and thus, Word-of-Mouth takes its effect.

Size and growth The growth of social media in the past 7 years has been rapid, so quick, that by the end of 2009 there were 971 million unique users on social networking sites. That number is expected to increase to almost two billion users by 2015, which equates to 27.7% of the global population. However, the first social networking site launched was sixdegrees.com in 1997. Each new site launched has learnt from those that preceded it. In 2010 social networking has become so wide spread that in North America, Western Europe, several developed Asian and Australasian markets it is becoming a tool for mass marketing.

Although

Facebook is currently the largest online social network it’s sustainable future is Jack Day & Shane Burford: 2010

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not guaranteed. This is due to the difficulty in monetizing its value and the threat of improved competition. Myspace offers the ideal example of how social media can be usurped by new and improved innovations. Nuttneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s report suggests the social media industry will reach its maturity in 2015. By 2015 China will present the largest user base in the world. Growth is largely dependent on Internet access: in regions where Internet usage is common amongst the population social networking is almost mature, as approximately 75% of all Internet users have active social networking accounts (Nuttney, A, 2010).

Trends In 2015 social networks will offer advertisers access to 80% of global consumer expenditure. Other social networking sites have realised the difficulty in competing with giants such as Facebook and instead have offered niche services for smaller markets. Linkedin best represents this and has been able to present itself as a social site that links employees with employers. Mychurch is another example which is a network targeted towards Christians. Certain social sites are more popular in certain countries, however; at an aggregate level Facebook clearly remains the global leader. Certain regions such as the United Kingdom have diversified needs and many social sites can operate successfully in niche markets. More affluent countries have higher usage levels and therefore social media is a more powerful marketing tool in these regions. It should be noted that under-developed countries have low Internet usage levels and therefore those with social media accounts represent a minority in such regions. The US

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market is the most competitive for social networking sites; despite this, Facebook still has an 81% user reach.

Costing Monetising social media has long been a difficult endeavour. While advertisements have proven to be a popular income method for some sites like Facebook, social media has still failed to reach its income potential. Other methods for monetizing the media exist, such as pay-to-use game playing, but these alternatives have little or no relevance to marketers. Therefore advertising is the primary and most useful method of monetizing social media for marketers (Webb & Burgoyne, 2009).

However, one key draw back to this is that people seldom use social media for connecting with brands. Forrester research found that while 59% of social media users use it for sharing and viewing photos and videos, only 11% of consumers use social media for viewing company profiles and just 8% use it for interacting with brands (Precourt, 2009).

This then begs the question, if we are going to spend money on raising awareness for a social media presence, what is the value of someone who interacts with a brand using a social media page? A recent report conducted by Syncapse looked at this. They found on average, fans spend $71.84 more than non-fans. They calculated therefore, that a fans value, on average is $157.18 to

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the brand (2010). However, with Forresters research into how few people interact with brands on social media, we believe that fans of brands could simply be heavy users. This of course means it is logical to assume they would spend more with the brand than non-users. Therefore, the validity of Syncapseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s study is relative to the individual companies view of the importance, or lack thereof, of heavy users. This will be explored in the research conducted within this report.

Customer analysis Consumers of social media Our customer analysis will be two-fold. The first part will look at consumers as customers of social media. This part will look at the growth of the medium, the demographic skews with regard to age and gender and location, and consider the main reasons for adoption of social media. The second part of this analysis will consider organisations who â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;use social media for marketing purposesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; as customers.

For this part we will revisit the growth of the medium year-on-year for business purposes, consider organisational uptake of the new media including spend. The result will be a well-rounded look at how the medium is used by people and businesses.

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Global perspective Figure 2: Growth of social media

Social Network User Growth, 2009-15 by Region: comScore, Business Insights: Highlights what regions the majority of social media users come from

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Social media is a massive medium with incredible marketing significance. In 2009, it was estimated that over 900 million social media users existed worldwide. Not only is it an extremely large platform, but also it is growing. It is expected to reach close to two billion users by 2015 (Figure 2) representing an estimated quarter of the population and reaching 80% of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s consumer expenditure. Consumers of social media vary in demographics based on region, however it can be generalized that in many developed nations including the United Kingdom, Western Europe and the United States, social media is becoming a mass-market advertising method (Nuttney, 2010). In other regions where the Internet is restricted or inaccessible, social media is mainly used by younger, more affluent members of the population.

Local Perspective Figure 3: Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Uptake of Social Media

Social Network overview for Australia: comScore, Business Insights: Breakdown of users in Australia and the most popular social networks

Australia is a developed nation and, as such, social media is a mass-marketing tool. It is estimated in Australia there are over nine million users, representing almost half of the Australian population. While this does not have the reach of

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television or radio, the growth of the medium is exponential. As social media grows, other media alternatives such as television have remained stagnant in usage and are fragmenting. In Australia the largest medium used by consumers is Facebook, used by more than 7 million Australians (Figure 3) making it an excellent mass marketing tool.

Organisations as users of social media This then raises the question of how social media can be integrated into an organisations marketing strategy? As with consumers, social media has grown in its organisational uptake in recent years.

Fortune 500 Barnes and Mattson found in a study of 200 of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Fortune 500â&#x20AC;&#x2122; companies that organisations are using social media more year-on-year, affirming that social media in marketing strategy is growing (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Year-on-Year Growth of Social Media

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Barnes & Mattson (2008): Year-on-Year growth of social media

Furthermore, of the 209 companies researched, 44% said that social media was very important to their marketing strategies (Figure 5). This has risen sharply from just 26% the previous year. With brands increasingly using social media in their marketing mix, it has become more important than ever to use social media to interact with consumers.

Figure 5: Importance of Social Media

Barnes & Mattson (2008): How important is social media technology in your business/ marketing strategy

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Consumers and brands We have looked at consumers as users of social media and have looked at companies as users of social media; now we shall shift our attention to how consumers use brands on social networks. Nielson has recently published a report (Figure 6) that describes what activities consumers most commonly partake in and the year-on-year changes. It has noted similar findings to Barnes and Mattson with usage of social media increasing. Naturally, this means that consumerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interaction with brands has increased too. In 2008 only 23% of users of social media had interacted with a brand. In 2009, however, this had increased to 38%, an increase of 15%. With consumer usage growing, company implementation growing year-on-year and the number of consumers using social media for interacting with brands increasing, it means social media is truly becoming a mass marketing tool desired by both consumers and companies.

Figure 6: Activities on Social Media

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Neilsen (2008): Fastest growing social media activities 2008 to 2009

Competitor Analysis For the purposes of the report, we will limit competitors to other forms of media in which organisations allocate part of their advertising budget. However, rather then suggesting â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; medium is superior to another, the report will identify the capabilities of all mediums and stress the importance of creating a marketing mix that integrates all mediums into marketing communication (also known as an integrated marketing communication).

In order to provide perspective as to how quickly social media has grown amongst consumers, it is worthwhile comparing it to other mediums and the time in which each platform reached 50 million viewers/users. Radio took 38 years, television 13 years, the Internet 4 years and Facebook, just one social media website, added over 200 million unique users in less than one year (Qualman, 2010). Jack Day & Shane Burford: 2010

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Television Television is one of the most popular mediums for advertising. It reaches a wide audience, as 94% of Australians tune into watch television at least once a week and the average household will watch for approximately 3-5 hours per week (ROI.com.au, 2010). Television is a proven platform for maximising the reach of advertisements and it allows organisations to present a controlled dialogue about their brand. Organisations are able to strengthen the distinctive elements of their brand to an audience, utilising sight, sound and motion.

However, it must be noted that television advertising is not cheap: there are production costs as well as the costs associated with airing the commercial. Advertising theory suggests that campaigns are most effective when they reach as many people as possible. This is because when a person sees an advertisement more than once, diminishing returns can be observed (figure 7) so therefore reaching as many unique viewers as possible is best to get the greatest value (Jones, 1995).

Figure 7:

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Diminishing Returns for Multiple Ad views

The X-axis shows the number of views of an advertisement. The Y-axis shows the increased effect of advertising on ones propensity to buy. Note: one exposure is more effective than multiple.

In addition to diminishing returns, ad avoidance also has implications on the cost of the medium; meaning ads must be run more then once to reach everyone.

Print Like television, print is a traditional form of advertising and comes in the form of advertisements in newspapers, magazines, brochures and direct mail. Comparatively, print advertising is far cheaper than television; typically there is a higher readership than circulation and the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of the advertisement is longer then a television commercial. In regard to magazines there is potential for organisations to segment and target consumer groups.

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Disadvantages of print are the costs involved per person, whilst it may be a cheaper alternative than television, in terms of consumers who will see the ad the cost is proportionally high. In addition print lacks the audio element of other mediums such as television, which can increase ad avoidance.

Radio Another traditional medium is radio; advantages are the cost compared to television. Production costs are lowered, as the visual aspect is lost.

Radio

commercials are quick to produce and are easily endorsed by a host.

However, an organisation that advertises on radio struggles to strengthen the distinctive elements of the brand, as there is no visual element. Radio is a passive medium by nature as such there is a large degree of ad avoidance.

Social Media Social media is the newest medium; it provides a platform upon which consumers can interact with a brand. Unlike traditional advertising media in which communication is one-way, social media offers a channel in which twoway communication is possible. As such some brands have used the medium as a customer service channel. The potential for consumer interaction allows for brands to engage with customers regarding product changes, offer feedback regarding promotions and testing markets.

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Social media, in particular sites such as Facebook, have a global reach. Facebook includes a facet that allows users to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;likeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; brands and for friends of the user to notice; this is an endorsement that is not possible through other mediums, it acts as a type of recommendation.

Unlike typical advertisements on the Internet, social media allows consumers to source brands, which removes the occurrence of ad avoidance more common with other forms of advertising.

Disadvantages of social media include the lack of control the brand has over the comments consumers make about it. There is a perception that negative comments can tarnish a brands image and as such a brand must control the message.

Despite the growth, currently only half of Australians have an active social media account, so reach is not as extensive as television or radio. Social media at an aggregate level is actually made up of a vast number of different websites, which creates a highly fragmented platform for organisations. Despite the popularity of Facebook, deciding in what platform to advertise becomes a complication?

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Integrated marketing communications Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) refers to the ability of one organisation to amalgamate all their marketing material into one consistent message.

The sum of the total is worth more then the sum of the parts; in order for organisations to fully capitalise on their marketing expenditure there must be consistency of the brand across all advertising.

Consumers distinguish a brand from the competitors through distinctive elements; therefore those distinctive elements must be prevalent through television commercials, radio ads, print and of course social media. Despite the unbelievably quick rise of social media, it must be treated as another part of a brandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s marketing mix. The logo, colours, taglines, imagery and sounds that exist in other advertising material should be transferred to social media and the end result will strengthen those cues in the consumers mind.

Research Methodology Our market research has two main parts. The first part broadly considered how consumers use social media. We did this research firstly with a focus group for exploratory purposes. We then did a quantitative study on consumer behaviour

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based on the information uncovered in the focus group. In the second part of the research, we investigated how businesses implement social media into practice. For this part of the research, we did a quantitative survey targeting marketing practitioners.

Focus group Limitations The focus group was conducted with a group of 16 people. Participants were aged between 20 and 30 years of age. There was a clear skew towards people of a younger age demographic, we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see this as a major implication as we only wanted to talk to users of social media. Based on a report by Nuttney regarding the demographics of social media users, there is a positive relationship existing between age and the uptake of social media.

Of the 16 participants, five were male and 11 were female, representing a gender bias. This was seen as a potential issue, however a ComScore study on gender and social media usage found that users of social media did not differ greatly based on gender, with a slight skew toward women using social media more. This skew will also be investigated in our quantitative study on consumer usage.

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Findings A prompt sheet directed the focus group, (see appendix 1) and a concise summary of the findings can be found in appendix 2. From the focus group we identified key areas of interest, which we felt warranted further investigation. Firstly, regarding the demographics of the group, we found people used the medium more hours than at first thought. This could be due to the skew toward younger participants. Most of the participants used the medium more than 10 hours a week. Most participants had a Facebook account while other websites that were used were twitter, MSN, MySpace and one respondent claimed to use Tumblr, a social blogging website.

In relation to brands, all respondents in the focus group said they interacted with a brand to some extent, respondents suggested they would be more likely to notice an organic impression then a paid advertisement.

The overwhelming majority of participants said they had been â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;annoyedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; by a brand spamming them via social media. However, comparatively only a small number of participants said they would block a brand from contacting them as a result.

People said that they were most likely to talk about brands because they were either a high-involvement decision or because they had had a negative experience with the brand.

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The clear majority of the focus group said that they owned the product before they began using the brand in social media. This suggests that users of brands in social media are heavy users of the brand already.

Of the social media campaigns people can recall, most people recalled campaigns that were, fun, humorous, or relevant, suggesting that cut through is still of paramount importance.

Finally, not-for-profit organisations were frequently used in social media. While most people said that they had used one in social media, only a couple of participants said they had donated to the organisation. This suggests that there is an opportunity for not-for-profit companies to raise awareness through social media as it is a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;likableâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; cause, but the medium may not encourage donations.

Consumer quantitative survey The second part of our research was a quantitative study regarding consumer behaviour with relation to social media. This was an extension to the focus group. We sent an online survey out to Facebook users, and by email to university students and friends. This resulted in a skew toward Facebook being the dominant platform of use. But this was not surprising considering the market share of Facebook in Australia. The survey was 18 questions long with skips so that people only were required to fill out relevant questions.

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Limitations There were 222 respondents, with our target respondent being someone who uses social media. The respondents were skewed toward Facebook users; they were younger in age and were heavier users of social media. This was seen as a limitation in our research as they are not an accurate representation of the population but did not render our results invalid as they fitted our target respondent.

Findings Facebook, YouTube and Windows Live were listed as the favourite social media websites. 36% of people said they use social media less than 6 hours a week, 30% said they used it more than 6 hours, but less than 10 hours and 28% said they use it more than 11 hours a week (Figure 8).

Figure 8: Usage of Social Media

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The above graph shows the users of social media divided into heavy, medium and light users

The predominant reasons people use social media is to maintain contact with friends (96%) and for entertainment (74%). However, one key finding was that respondents were not consciously aware of their interaction with brands. Only 13% of people said they used social media to talk about brands; however, 41% of people said they have updated a status, tweeted or blogged about a brand. Indicating that consumers donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t necessarily feel as though they use social media to talk about brands, when clearly, they do. This finding is further strengthened as 82% of people have befriended or followed a brand via social media; again this contrasts the smaller 13% who admitted to interacting with brands on social networks.

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Figure 9: Uses of social media

The above graph shows how people use social media with ‘talking about brands’ not being a good reason for using it.

A possible explanation for this phenomenon is that one’s attitudes will not always influence their behaviour, hence the lack of consistency between respondents initial views and their actual actions.

In relation to the status updates, tweets and blogs regarding brands it was typically in a positive context. 69% of respondents have made/seen positive comments in comparison to 22% who have seen negative comments (figure 10). A major factor as to why organisations are skeptical about social media is the lack of control they have over the message consumers are exposed too. However, this finding highlights that there is an overwhelming positive response compared to negative.

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Figure 10: Comments about brands in social media

The

above

graph

shows

how

people

talk about brands in social media with most consumers talking positively

Other key insights from the survey include the 64% of people who are friends with a brand are already existing users of that product. Also, consumers become fans/follow brands as a means to keep up to date with brand information (56%), because the brand reflects their own personal image (47%) and to receive exclusive offers or discounts (39%). This indicates that social media is a more useful service channel to existing customers rather than a tool that can â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;growâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; a brand.

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One category of notable difference is fashion labels, 56% of respondents claim to have become a fan or followed some sort of fashion label. This percentage is significantly higher than other categories. Fashion labels are arguably regarded as brands that reflect oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s image, a major factor as to why people have befriended brands on social media. In addition, it offers a plausible explanation as to why many consumers interact with fashion labels compared to other categories on social media.

However, it should be noted that 84% of respondents are sensitive to spamming from brands, and 65% said they would take action to stop the spamming. This indicates that there is a definite threshold as to how much product information consumers are willing to absorb before they become â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;annoyedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; by a brands communication.

Of particular significance is the 82% of respondents who stated they were prepared to share advertising content with friends on social media, especially if they thought there friend would enjoy it (figure 11). Of the attributes that make advertising memorable people are more inclined to share the content if it is interesting (53%), relevant (48%) or humorous (44%).

Figure 11: Sharing of brand communications

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The above graph shows that people are prepared to talk about brands in social media.

Heavy users (11+ hours a week) are more likely to interact with a brand and notice advertisements compared to lighter users. In fact this finding holds strong in almost every aspect, as heavy users are more likely to: •

Become a fan/follow a brand

•

Update status about a brand

•

Befriend a brand that reflects image, to get exclusive offers and to keep up to date with brand information.

•

More likely to interact with not-for-profit organisations

•

More likely to share a brand

•

More likely to delete brands for spamming

In relation to generational differences there was a distinct difference between usage amongst Gen X & Y compared to the Baby Boomers. Younger respondents are more likely to use social media more frequently.

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Business quantitative survey The third part of the research was a quantitative study into the behaviour of businesses integrating social media into strategy. The target respondent was marketing practitioners or business people. Its primary objective was to understand how respondents used social media personally and in their businesses. From this survey, we received 304 responses. The findings of this survey go hand-in-hand with the aforementioned survey on consumer usage.

Findings The results of the survey found that most organisations think that social media is important (55%) and urgent (43%) to their business (figure 12), however only 38% of respondents said they had a marketing plan in place that incorporates social media (figure 13). Respondents who said they did not incorporate social media into strategy pointed to a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;lack of expertiseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; as the main reason for not using the medium suggesting an education gap with marketing professionals. Also of interest is that almost half of businesses believe they do not have the technological resources to support a social media strategy, representing a major obstacle to implementing social media into a marketing strategies.

Figure 12: Is social media important to the business?

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The above graph shows that most organisations believe that social media is important

Figure 13: Is social media in the businesses marketing strategy?

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The above graph shows that most organisations do not incorporate social media into their marketing strategy

Social media was seen by organisations as a good tool for driving brand awareness (54%) and generating traffic to the website (65%). In addition 48% of organisations used social media for raising awareness (figure 14). When we asked how this was defined however, we received extremely varied responses suggesting it is not a good measurement because there is no universally accepted definition. Moreover, traditional measures of advertising were right down the bottom for the measurement of social media effectiveness. This included salience (18%) and recall (33%) which are arguably better measures of effectiveness.

Figure 14: Measuring social media

The graph shows how organisations are measuring social media success Jack Day & Shane Burford: 2010

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Furthermore 41% of respondents found that social media was effective in adding value to other marketing activities suggesting that most organisations believe an integrated marketing communication is the most effective method of including social media into advertising communications.

For the above reasons, social media is receiving more budget allocations yearon-year. 36% of respondents said it has taken more than 5% of their marketing budget this year, while 51% of respondents said they plan to use more than 5% of the budget on social media next year (figure 15).

Figure 15: Social media budgets

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The graph shows how organisations are increasing their budgets year-on-year for social media with less organisations giving less than 5% of their budget and a significant amount more offering 5-10% of their budget to the medium

The social media budget was being increased by most organisations and is being used to facilitate research (39% of organisations) and hiring new staff for social media purposes (18%). Larger organisations were more inclined to hire a new staff member for social media than smaller companies. Only 8% of all companies planned to spend the budget on hiring an external advertising agency.

To learn about how to implement social media into strategy, 68% of respondents said they used the Internet while only 19% of people claimed to use scholarly articles (figure 16).

Figure 16: Social media research

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The graph shows how organisations are seeking information about social media

Putting these findings in context we must look at Jones’ Share of Voice-Share of Market theory (1990). Share of Voice describes the necessity for organisations to invest marketing dollars in proportion to their market share. Thanks largely to a degree of brand equity; companies with high market share need not spend as much, as their brand is prevalent in consumer’s minds. Similarly, growing brands need to invest heavily into marketing communication as a means to raising awareness. Therefore the practical relevance is that if your competitors are utilising social media it becomes essential that your organisation implement a similar strategy in order to have a ‘share-of-voice’ in the medium.

Advantages and disadvantages Advantages of social media 1. Social media has grown exponentially and will be used by almost 2 billion people in 2015 2. Social media has become the most popular Internet activity 3. 75% of internet users have an active social media account 4. Advertising on social media is inexpensive compared traditional media

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5. Social media provides a global peer recommendation network affectionately called world-of-mouth 6. People are more likely to trust the recommendations of their peers than paid advertisements. 7. Consumer advocates in social media can increase likelihood to see the advertisement, likelihood to remember and propensity to buy. 8. Social media has the potential to be used for reach and frequency 9. Social media is a good mass marketing tool 10. Good tool for raising awareness of brands 11. As consumers find the brand with social media an element of ad avoidance is removed 12. Social media is not as fragmented as traditional online â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a few big social media sites 13. Relatively cheap to create and easy to amend once in market 14. Online shopping is a popular category to interact with on social media 15. 56% of people interacted with a fashion label in social media 16. Entertaining advertising can be spread virally in social media 17. Most people would share an advertisement with friends if it was entertaining 18. Social media allows businesses to interact in a two-way conversation with consumers. 19. Social media can be used as a customer service channel 20. Advertising in social media can strengthen a brands distinctive elements

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21. Social media allows users to interact, create and share information including brand communications 22. Paid advertising can be extremely targeted

Disadvantages of social media 1. No empirical generalisations exist as to how consumers are using social media in relation to brands. 2. Cannibalistic media landscape, unknown whether or not Facebook will always be the biggest social network 3. Social media is seldom used for interacting with brands 4. People use social media for staying in touch with friends and for entertainment 5. Comparably, social media does not reach as many Australians as not television or radio 6. Most people who interact with brands in social media already have purchased the brand 7. Fans of brands tend to be heavy users of the product 8. Tendency to reach people multiple times rather than reach unique viewers 9. Businesses lack complete control of any advertising massage shared through social media 10. Most businesses do not have a social media policy in place to regulate employee behavior with the medium

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11. Uptake of social media within organisations is increasing 12. 80% of people do not like being spammed with social media brand communications 13. But only 60% of people said that they would proactively delete brand communications as a result 14. Social media is difficult to monetize 15. Most companies lack the technological resources to support a social media strategy

Critical issues 1. Consumer advocates in social media can increase likelihood to see the advertisement, likelihood to remember and propensity to buy. 2. Social media has the potential to be used for reach and frequency 3. Social media is a good mass marketing tool 4. Social media is a good tool for increasing salience for brands

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5. Most people would share an advertisement with friends if it was entertaining 6. Advertising in social media can strengthen a brands distinctive elements 7. No empirical generalizations exist as to how consumers are using social media in relation to brands. 8. Most people who interact with brands in social media already have purchased the brand 9. Fans of brands tend to be heavy users of the brand 10. Social media is seldom used for interacting with brands 11. Businesses lack complete control of any advertising massage shared through social media 12. Most businesses do not have a social media policy in place to regulate employee behavior with social media 13. Uptake of social media within organisations is increasing 14. Social media can strengthen a brands distinctive elements 15. Most companies lack the technological resources to support a social media strategy 16. Cannibalistic media landscape, unknown whether or not Facebook will always be the biggest social network 17. Social media has grown exponentially and will be used by almost 2 billion people in 2015 18. People are more likely to trust the recommendations of their peers than paid advertisements

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Strategies and recommendations 1.Maintain share of voice in line with competitors a. Monitor competitor activity b. If your key competitors are using social media it is important for you to follow to maintain a share of voice Jack Day & Shane Burford: 2010

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c. If your competitors are not using social media for marketing communications use it as a first player advantage may exist d. Develop a social media campaign in proportion to market share and share of voice

Regulate organisational behaviour a. Develop a social media policy to regulate employee behavior b. Create an organisational culture that facilitates social media integration c. Be prepared to lose some control of marketing communications

Advice on social media investments a. Seek expert advice as required to close any education gaps b. Do not invest in social media as a platform to facilitate growth c. Invest in suitable technological resources d. Use multiple social media sites not just one platform

Develop an integrated marketing communication a. Do not neglect other media choices in favour of social media b. Keep your distinctive elements consistent across platforms to reinforce memory cues

Advice on increasing the effectiveness of social media advertising a. Where possible develop a strategy to facilitate peer recommendations b. Develop advertising communications that achieve cut-through

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Actions list

Strategy 1: Maintain Share-of-Voice in line with competitors Recommendation

Actions - If your competitors have social media accounts then you must create your own accounts

Monitor competitorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s - Create social media accounts that can be activity used to watch your key competitorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s - Monitor their strengths & weaknesses to identify opportunities & threats

- Act swiftly if your competitors have no First player advantage social media presence

Keep social media - Monitor your own market share in content in line with proportion to competitors market share - Use Jones Share-of-Voice Share-ofMarket model to aid budget expenditure

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Strategy 2: Regulate Organisational Behaviour Recommendation

Actions - Decide on what you want your employees to do regarding social media

Develop a social

Create a list of what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour of employees

media policy to regulate employee

- Develop consequences for unacceptable

behaviour

- Train staff so they are aware of the policy and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s advantages

- Create an environment in which staff are encouraged to blog Create an organisational culture

- Ensure suitable websites are available for staff to access

that facilitates social media integration

Consider altering the over-arching business plan to facilitate social media if they conflict

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Be transparent in communications,

especially in regards to negative feedback Be prepared to lose control of your marketing communications

Embrace two-way communication

Let your brand advocates work to your advantage

Strategy 3: Advice on social media investments Recommendation

Actions - Social media consultants can be extremely useful when looking to find answers

Seek expert advice as

Be careful not to place too much

required to close

significance on industry based opinion

education gaps

pieces

Use scholarly articles, preferably empirically tested to aid decision making

Do not invest in social

- Instead use reach based campaigns with

media as a platform

TV, radio and newspaper to grow your

to facilitate growth

brand

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- If your organisation doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the Invest in suitable technological requirements then invest to technological ensure you can implement your social resources media campaign

Use multiple social

Invest in the biggest networks (Facebook,

networks

Twitter, Youtube)

Strategy 4: Develop an Integrated Marketing Communication Recommendation

Actions - Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t absorb the cost of social media at the peril of other mediums

Do not neglect other medium choices in favour of social media

Ensure you continue to invest in the

medium that is the most effective for your brand

Keep distinctive

- Each medium needs to reflect the others,

elements consistent

in relation to logo, colour, sound & taglines

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Strategy 5: Advice on increasing the effectiveness of social media advertising Recommendation

Actions -

Create content that your users can comment on

Facilitate peer recommendations

-Encourage two-way communication & treat your brand pages as customer service

channels Commission humorous, creative &

Develop advertising

interesting advertising

that achieves cutthrough

- Allow your users to share your content with their friends

Bibliography

Banaie, N. 2009, ‘The age of 365-day continuous Two-way Consumer Conversations’ Admap, Is 508, London

Clemons, E. 2009, ‘Why Advertising is failing on the Internet’, accessed from http://techcrunch.com/2009/03/22/why-advertising-is-failing-on-the-internet/, on 20/8/2010

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Dholakia, U & Durham, E. 2010, ‘One Café Chain’s Facebook Experiment’, Harvard Business Review

Econsultancy. 2009, ‘Social Media and Online PR Report’, Econsultancy London

Euromonitor. 2010, ‘Web 2.0 and Consumers – July 2010’ Euromonitor Report

Ferguson, P, Eee. 2000, ‘World Wide Web as a functional alternative to Television’ Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media. Vol 44 Is 2

Gibs, J & Bruich, S. 2010, ‘Advertising Effectiveness: Understanding the Value of a Social Impression’, The Nielsen Company.

Hathi, S. 2008. ‘CEO’s Stand Divided On Social Media’, , Journal of Strategic Communication Management, Vol 12, Is 1. New York

Hathi, S. 2007. ‘Study Reveals Social Media Use’, Journal of Strategic Communication Management, Vol 11, Is 3. New York

Iwata, J. 2010. ‘Now is the Time for Marketing to Embrace Change’ Marketing Management, London

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Jones, J. 1990. ‘Ad spending: maintaining market share’. Harvard Business review I, 68. Vol 1

Jones, J. 1995, ‘Advertising Effects Under A Microscope’, NTC Publications LTD

Li, Charlene. 2007, ‘Forrester’s new Social Technographics Report’, accessed from: http://forrester.typepad.com/groundswell/2007/04/forresters_new_.html, on 20/9/2010.

Mangold, G and Faulds, D. 2009. ‘Social Media: The New Hybrid Element of the Promotion Mix’ Business Horizons, Indiana

Murdough, C. 2009. ‘Social Media Measurement: It’s Not Impossible’. Journal Of Interactive Marketing, Vol. 10 Is 1. Boston

Nielson. 2010. ‘Advertising Effectiveness: Understanding the Value of a Social Media Impression’ Nielson Report, New York

Nuttney, A. 2010, ‘The Social Networking Market Opportunity’ Business Insights, Cambridge

Precourt, G. 2009 ‘Digital Media Measurement and Pricing Summit 2009’, Warc Online, London Jack Day & Shane Burford: 2010

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Precourt, G. 2008 ‘Listening to the Future of Social Media’, Warc Online, London

ROI, 2010, accessed from http://www.roi.com.au/, on 20/9/2010

Stuart, D. 2009 ‘Social Media Metrics’ Online Mag, London

Syncapse. 2010 ‘The value of a Facebook fan’ Syncapse, New York

Taylor, S. 2010. ‘What’s Wrong with Social Media Marketing?’ Admap, London

Qualman, E. 2009 ‘Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way we Live and Do Business’ Wiley, New York

Webb, J. Boygoyne, B. 2009 ‘You’ve got a friend: Measuring value of brand friending on social network’, Market Research Society, London

White, R. 2006 ‘Consumers and Media – multi-media, multi-tasking’ Admap, London

Wikipedia, 2010 ‘Social Media’ ‘www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/social_media’

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h t t p : / / w w w. r o i . c o m . a u / i n d e x . p h p / g e n e r a l _ m a r k e t i n g / tv_advertising_v_s_internet_advertising.html accessed on 21/08/2010

Appendix Appendix 1 Focus group prompt sheet Introduction Jack Day & Shane Burford: 2010

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•

We are doing research for Fusion Media around social media

•

How it can be implemented by businesses as a way to raise awareness

•

We want to know how you use social media

•

What is social media? it is where technology blends with social interaction.

•

Some of the social media channels include, facebook, myspace, twitter, youtube, Flickr, Google Buzz and windows live.

Introductory questions (5 minutes) 1. Who here uses social media? (if no, you can leave) 2. Would you consider yourself a a. Heavy user (10+ hours a week,) b. Medium user (5+ hours a week) c. Light user (-5 hours a week) 3. Do you use multiple social media sites? FB, Myspace, twitter?

Interaction with brands (15 minutes) 4. What was the last organization you remember seeing on social media? 5. Do you notice brands when using social media? 6. Do you interact with brands in social media? If yes, a. Fan of a brand b. Video sharing (youtube) c. Paid ads d. Friends fan of brands 7. Why do you interact with brands a. Discounts b. Exclusive offers c. Brand reflects your image – (clothing brands) d. Customer service channel 8. Of the brands you interact with, do you already own a product? a. What brands are these?

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b. Would you consider yourself a heavy user of these brands? 9. How much time would you say you spend interacting with brands a week? a. 10+ minutes b. 5+ minutes c. -5 minutes d. none at all 10. People who do not interact with brands on social media, why? a. Not interested b. Annoyance c. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t spend enough time on social media d. Has it lost its impact 11. There are two main types of having an ad in social media, paid and organic. Would you be more likely to interact with the paid ad or the organic ad?

Usage (5 minutes) 12. Do you use a mobile device to access social media? 13. If so, where do you use it?

Awareness (5 minutes) 14. What is a organization that you remember seeing on social media? 15. How long ago was that? 16. Have you shared information about a brand a. Videos b. Advice c. Bad experiences

Conclusion 17. Do you have anything else you want to add to the topic?

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Appendix 2 Focus group findings 1. Users of social media Everyone in the focus group used social media. The Social Media sites mentioned were, MSN, Twitter (2 people), Facebook, LinkedIN and Tumblr 2. Usage (hours) Most people used social media a lot. 10 people said they would use it more than 10 hours a week, 4 people saying they would use more than 15 hours a week and only two people saying they would use it less than 7 hours a week 3. Usage of brands in social media Everyone in the focus group had used a brand in social media. respondants claimed to notice organic impressions more than any other form of branding. 4. Why did people use brands in social media People used brands in social media because they were fun, humourous, luxury items, and one person because they had a friend who worked for the company he was friends with. 5. Were annoying brands deleted Most people said that they had at some point been annoyed by the updates of brands but only a few participants said they would delete the brand altogether. 6. Which ones do you talk (status update, tweet, blog) about Most respondants said they would talk about brands on social media if they were high involvement decisions or had had a negative experience 7. Not-for-profit organization usage

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Most people said they wanted to appear generous by using not-forprofit brands on social media but only a couple said they would donate to the charity. 8. Were people buyers of the brands in social media Most people had already purchased the product they were friends with in social media suggesting that heavy users of a brand are the main audience of social media campaigns. 9. Mobile usage About half the focus group had used social media on a mobile platform. A lack of ads on the mobile versions was seen by a couple of respondents as a plus. But overwhelmingly the group preferred a internet browser for using social media.

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Appendix 3 Consumer survey and findings

Initial Report Last Modified: 10/25/2010

1. What is your gender? # Answer 1 Male

2 Female Total Statistic

Response

38%

149

62%

240

100%

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

1.62

Variance

0.24

Standard Deviation

0.49

Total Responses

240

2. What age range do you fit into? # Answer

Response

1 15 - 25

177

74%

2 26 - 40

18%

3 41 - 55

240

100%

4 55 +

Total Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

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Mean

1.37

Variance

0.49

Standard Deviation

0.70

Total Responses

240

3. A social media website is any website that you can use to interact with people such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Myspace, Windows Live ect. Do you use social media websites? # Answer

Response

1 Yes

227

95%

2 No

240

100%

Total Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

1.05

Variance

0.05

Standard Deviation

0.23

Total Responses

240

4. How often do you use the following social media websites and rank your usage? # Question

4 Youtube

None Hardly Occasionall I use this I use Response Mean ever y website this s frequently website the most 10 16 79 95 12 212 3.39

1 Facebook

156

220

4.60

8 Windows Live 2 Twitter

205

2.29

142

199

1.55

105

1.60

9 Tumblr

169

199

1.32

5 LinkedIn

167

201

1.29

7 Other

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11 Foursquare 191

203

1.10

6 Flickr

160

201

1.29

3 Myspace

137

201

1.39

Other manhunt DeviantArt gmail/gmail chat non-english ones last.fm Renren Adium (msn chat client for Mac) Skype blogger blogspot blogger xanga Car club sites www.ultimate-guitar.com blogspots Skype lastfm orkut Last.fm Skype yahoo DailyBooth Various forums. Wordpress Statistic Facebo Twitte Myspa Youtu Linked Flick Windo Tumb Foursqu Othe ok r ce be In r ws Live lr are r Min 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Value Max 5 5 4 5 4 5 5 5 4 5 Value Mean 4.60 1.55 1.39 3.39 1.29 1.29 2.29 1.32 1.10 1.60 Varianc e

0.56

1.01

0.39

0.79

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0.51 0.42 1.83

0.73

0.19

1.43

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Standar 0.75 d Deviatio n Total 220 Respon ses

1.00

0.62

0.89

0.71 0.65 1.35

0.86

0.43

1.19

199

201

212

201

199

203

106

201

205

5. How many hours would you spend using social media websites each week? # Answer

Response

1 1 or less

2 2

10%

3 3

4 4

5 5

6 6

7 7

8 8

9 9

10 10

12%

11 11

12 12

13 13

14 14

15 15

16 15 +

16%

220

100%

Total Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

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Mean

8.18

Variance

24.15

Standard Deviation Total Responses

4.91 220

6. Why do you use these websites for? (Mark all appropriate boxes) # Answer

Response

1 Staying in touch with friends 3 Entertainment

211

96%

164

75%

4 Sharing videos & photos

147

67%

2 Networking

121

55%

6 Talking about brands

12%

5 Other

Other Self-promotion Corporate Social Media Marketing sharing ideas, learning other people's ideas Uni /work linked to events eg. 10 yr highschool reunion work and study purposes, staying in touch with family procrastination looking up people course requirements for uni procrastinating - looking Games Event management University Study Discussion & Assistance sheer boredom Blogging Boredem Statistic Min Value

Value 1

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Max Value Total Responses

6 220

7. Whilst using any social website; have you ever interacted with a brand? If so how? (Mark all appropriate boxes) # Answer

Response

163

82%

108

54%

108

54%

43%

40%

31%

29%

27%

25%

22%

21%

20%

1 Become a fan/followed a brand 14 Noticed a friend who has updated a status/ blogged/tweeted about a brand 7 Noticed paid advertisements 4 Noticed a friend interact with a brand 2 Updated your status/ blogged/tweeted about a brand 9 Entered a brand's competition 8 Clicked on a paid advertisement 11 Watched a brands video 3 Commented on a brands page 10 Suggested friends join a brand page 6 Asked advice regarding a purchase 5 Shared content about a brand 12 Other

Other Local business pages Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Total Responses

200

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8. The friends comment about a brand that you noticed, was it? # Answer

Response

1 A positive comment

69%

3 Neutral

31%

2 A negative comment

22%

4 In regards to a high involvement decision (House, Car, Holiday etc) 5 Other

20%

Other i've seen all types of comments about different brands, depending on the friends experience with i'd say all of the above It was a 'Like', not comment. Either way its a positive notification. Both positives and negatives Both negative and positive both positive and negative comments Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Total Responses

108

9. Why have you not interacted with a brand? (Mark all appropriate boxes) # Answer

Response

3 Not Interested

47%

1 Haven't noticed any brands 4 Don't spend enough time on social media 2 Annoyed by the presence of brands

33%

27%

13%

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6 Other

13%

5 Too many brands; they have lost their impact

Other Don't have a reason to/see the benefit to/does not interest me dont like giving too much away about myself Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Total Responses

10. Think of a brand you have seen or interacted with on a social media website. Were you a buyer of the product/brand before you encountered it on social media? # Answer

Response

1 Yes

127

64%

3 No

19%

2 Not Sure

16%

197

100%

Total Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

1.55

Variance

0.64

Standard Deviation

0.80

Total Responses

197

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11. Think of a brand you have seen or interacted with on a social media website that you did not already use. Did you buy the product/brand after you encountered it on social media? # Answer

Response

3 No

43%

1 Yes

31%

2 Not Sure

26%

197

100%

Total Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

2.11

Variance

0.73

Standard Deviation

0.86

Total Responses

197

12. Of the brands you are a fan of or follow, why did you do so? (Mark appropriate boxes) # Answer

Response

111

57%

47%

39%

24%

11%

8 I have not become a fan or followed a brand 9 Not sure

3 Keep up to date with brand information 1 Brand reflects your image 2 Exclusive offers/ Discounts 6 Friends recommendation 4 Customer service channel 5 Other

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Other Good cause Competitor Research entertainment Cool updates ie Red Bull X Ray hahahahahahahaha Like the brand Job opportunities, knowledge on branding in general convinience of internet shopping just like the brand don't follow brands very often Like the brand, want to support it generally to 'review and see what they are doing' work related brand created by a friend Brand I worked for or a friend worked for cause i liked the brand Nostalgia just to show that i like that brand to support friends promoting their services on Facebook Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Total Responses

196

13. What types of brands do you interact with on social media websites? (Mark appropriate boxes) # Answer

Response

3 Fashion Labels

108

56%

5 Entertainment (TV programs, Movies, Radio, Magazines) 1 Stores

106

55%

50%

2 Online Shopping

46%

7 Friends Brands

33%

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6 Not-for-Profit Organisations 4 Luxury Items

28%

23%

8 Services

12%

9 Other

11%

Other Sporting Club ski resorts, beer cars food Friends business Makeup Red Bull HAHA Cuisine dont really interact with brands Self care products SA & Aust news, worldwide news Local businesses Wineries, local business Sports Education, Museums/Attractions Bands and other event and music retailers/ promoters My own brand Music Blogs food, eg vegemite Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Total Responses

193

14. Do you donate to this not-for-profit organisation? # Answer 1 Yes

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Response

48%

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2 No

Total Statistic

52%

100%

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

1.52

Variance

0.25

Standard Deviation

0.50

Total Responses

15. Think of a memorable brand you saw on social media. What made you remember it? (Mark appropriate boxes) # Answer

Response

3 Interesting

53%

2 Relevant

48%

1 Humorous

44%

4 Engaging

32%

5 Other

Other Important Just like the brand. Friends in competitions Most frequent updates on facebook, making it the most prominent in my mind and easy to remember It was the wallet used by Samuel L Jackson in pulp fiction 'Bad Motherf***er. Niche/Nostalgic/collectors item. Visually appealing Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Total Responses

182

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16. Would you share a brand/advertisement that you liked with other people? # Answer

Response

100

52%

30%

2 If I thought they would like it too 1 Yes 3 No

14%

4 Not Sure

191

100%

Total Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

1.92

Variance

0.60

Standard Deviation

0.77

Total Responses

191

17. Have you ever been annoyed by a brand's 'spamming'? # Answer

Response

1 Yes

160

84%

2 No

16%

191

100%

Total Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

1.16

Variance

0.14

Standard Deviation

0.37

Total Responses

191

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18. Have you ever deleted a brand as a friend or stopped following a brand as a result of 'spamming'? # Answer

Response

1 Yes

123

65%

2 No

35%

189

100%

Total Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

1.35

Variance

0.23

Standard Deviation

0.48

Total Responses

189

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Appendix 4 Organisational implementation survey and findings

Initial Report Last Modified: 10/05/2010 Filter By: Report Subgroup

1. How many staff does your organisation employ? # Answer

Response

111

36%

30%

10%

22%

307

100%

1 less than 50 employees 2 Between 50 and 500 employees 3 Between 500 and 1000 employees 4 More than 1000 employees 5 Unsure Total

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# Answer

Response

111

36%

30%

10%

22%

307

100%

Response

111

36%

30%

10%

22%

307

100%

1 less than 50 employees 2 Between 50 and 500 employees 3 Between 500 and 1000 employees 4 More than 1000 employees 5 Unsure Total # Answer

1 less than 50 employees 2 Between 50 and 500 employees 3 Between 500 and 1000 employees 4 More than 1000 employees 5 Unsure Total Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

Variance

Standard Deviation

Total Responses

307

2. What sector does your organisation fall into? # Answer

Response

1 Manufacturing

2 Service

15%

3 Retail

4 Tourism

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5 Education

10%

6 Construction

7 Health

8 Wholesale

9 Hospitality

10 Finance

11 Government

15%

12 Other

24%

312

100%

Total Other jkjkjkjkj community services Sport leisure hospitality research Telecommunications sales and marketing entertainment IT marketing landscape architecture Information Technology Media Research Advertising advertising Manufcturing, Horticulture,hospitality, Service, primary production marketing Environmental media Marketing/Communications Consultancy, PR non for profit Defence wine

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Print & Mail Marketing Real Estate Entertainment Not for profit Communication Retail and Commerical sales Fuel Storage Sports Technology Employment Community Services Legal Not for Profit Automotive Sport Charity Utilities Transport and Logistics Arts recycling Arts Transport Sport Natural Resources Sport advertising Media Disability Employment Service Non-profit Resources - Oil and Gas media Media Not for profit Media Corporate Training Insurance Media media Utilities

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Mining & Metals Defence research Media Legal Agriculture not for profit Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean Variance

7 17

Standard Deviation Total Responses

4 312

3. What is your organisation's turnover (AUD)? # Answer

Response

1 Less than $1m

17%

2 Between $1m and $10m 3 Between $10m and $100m 4 Greater than $100m

20%

26%

5 Unsure

17%

305

100%

Total Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

Variance

Standard Deviation

Total Responses

305

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4. In what region is your head office based? # Answer

Response

1 UK

2 USA

270

89%

3 Australia 4 Europe

5 Asia

6 Other

303

100%

Total Other Australia NZ Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

Variance

Standard Deviation

Total Responses

303

5. Into what age bracket do you personally fit? # Answer

Response

1 Younger than 25

13%

2 Between 25 and 35 3 Between 36 and 45 4 Between 46 and 55 5 Older than 55

33%

28%

19%

304

100%

Total

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Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

Variance

Standard Deviation

Total Responses

304

6. How would you 'best' describe your job role? # Answer

Response

1 Co - ordinator

21%

2 Supervisor

12%

3 Senior manager

30%

4 Director

16%

5 Other

20%

298

100%

Total Other kokok Owner Project Officer Analyst proprietor Marketing Owner/Operator Casual worker Assistant Consultant Marketing Manager Consultant Associate brand manager Marketing Manager Advertising Manager CEO Owner, operator Jack Day & Shane Burford: 2010

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Human Resources Administrator assistant Admin and Marketing Assistant Employee finance and admin Manager graduate / sales & marketing associate Assistant Administration Professional Trainee Owner Admin desk jockey Executive customer service consultant HR Administrator Snr HR Consultant Office Administration middle manager Officer junior employee Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

Variance

Standard Deviation

Total Responses

298

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7. How would you describe benefits of social media to your organisation? (mark all that apply)

# Answer

Response

1 Drives brand awareness

153

55%

3 Increases traffic to our website 8 Reaches new customers

128

46%

126

46%

13 Helps us to connect to our customer base 7 Reaches existing customers 5 Adds value to our other marketing elements 12 Drives positive word of mouth 4 Improves our reputation 9 Reminds people that we are in the category 17 Gives our customers a voice 18 We don't use it, so there are no benefits 6 Increases customer loyalty 10 Good for targeting micro segments 2 Drives sales

124

45%

119

43%

112

41%

109

39%

32%

28%

27%

26%

21%

16%

11 Helps us with staff recruitment

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16 Helps us monitor competitors 15 Offers us a competitive edge 14 Persuades customers to buy our brand Statistic

14%

11%

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Total Responses

276

8. On any average day, how often would you log on and personally use social media?

# Answer

Response

1 Never

19%

2 Only once

33%

3 More than once, fewer than ten 4 Often, more than ten

34%

14%

277

100%

Total Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

Variance

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Standard Deviation

Total Responses

277

9. To what degree do you think social media is a fad? # Answer

Response

1 Completely

2 Somewhat, but not really sure yet 3 Neutral

11%

4 Quite sure it is not a fad, but time will tell 5 Not a fad at all, social media will become a key component in marketing strategy Total

35%

118

44%

271

100%

Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

Variance

Standard Deviation

Total Responses

271

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10. To what degree do you feel a sense of urgency to implement social media strategy?

# Answer

Response

1 No urgency whatsoever

14%

2 Feel small sense of urgency 3 Neutral

23%

20%

4 Feel quite strong sense of urgency 5 Extreme, we need to implement urgently Total

34%

271

100%

Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

Variance

Standard Deviation

Total Responses

271

11. Would you say that what you have implemented so far has been reactive or planned? # Answer

Response

1 Very reactive

12%

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2 Somewhat reactive

30%

3 Unsure

21%

4 Somewhat planned

27%

5 Very much planned Total

10%

259

100%

Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

Variance

Standard Deviation

Total Responses

259

12. How would you describe the importance the organisation places on social media as a marketing tool?

# Answer

Response

1 No importance whatsoever 2 Not very important

10%

23%

3 Neutral

12%

4 Some importance

103

35%

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5 Very important

Total Statistic

21%

297

100%

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

Variance

Standard Deviation

Total Responses

297

13. Is there anything else you would like to add regarding your perception of social media integration? Text Response We are interested in pursuing social media as a means of reducing loneliness amongst our client base (older people at risk of isolation) When I am on the telephone, or sitting in the park or on a bus trip with family or friends I am in a 'social norm' context. I do not want to be interrupted by someone I don't know, with a falsely ingratiating smile, trying to sell me something. When I am in this sort of social context (talking with other people about things that matter; like what happened last night, who slept with who, where I'm going tonight etc) I am not going to take time out to view, read, consider, interact with a lame "experiential" marketing communication from a brand. In fact, I would be irritated by the very fact of their attempted intrusion. There are, as always, small exceptions to the rule. These could be, i) media analogy; poster ads that that I see on the street, or on the bus when I am going about my daily business, on my own or with friends, are fine. They are just there, they fit in to the environmental context. Appearing on someone's Facebook page in a way that is analogous to this is probably fine. ii) If, for instance, there is an ad that is genuinely hilarious (like the recent examples of the Old Spice 'Man' or the Heineken 'Walk-in cupboard') which people see as rewarding entertainment then these will probably be talked about across social networks. But these are exceptions and difficult to plan for. iii) Brands which have their own social network sites and which people can 'choose' to visit are legitimate. I am just not sure they will reach that many people in given geography. It's a big, juicy learning curve. And we are ravenous. Whether or not it's a worthwhile meal will take some time to determine. I believe it is particularly valuable in this sector as "socialising" is a key benefit of attenting events social media is more of a cost to a small business given time spent by staff on it

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It offers us another channel to getting the brand message to market. We liaise with a variety of people through social media, both clients and associates, and in doing so we keep our brand visible. A web presence and direct news feeds are vital for todays organisation. Qualified data feeds and sites that encourage users to visit or site are the most important. Tweets and facebook are not helpful to us yet. We are not keen to push our business interests through social media but can see some opportunities to improve brand recognition. this is an internal chat system- there are no facebook/twitter et al programs in place- infact these are blocked in our internet filter. It's just a substitute for talking to people who would want to communicate with a financial institution via social media? I'm a sole trader. Social media has brought me in work - kind of like online word of mouth. the new front bar I think that it is a good, cheap and easy medium for businesses to get into, especially for smaller businesses who have a limited budget and a young customer base who will frequently be exposed to social media, and more likely to take it in. Even if it is just a fad, the costs of increasing brand awareness can do no harm It is still too early to know what the benefits of S/M are. Some "experts" say it's great, other "experts" say it's not. too many people dont get how important this is. the leaders rarely, if ever, use it. out of sight, out of mind Social media is very important to us; should be integral to all PR agencies. stop calling it social media personally social media should be just that social - marketing through social media I think long term will be negative. Aparently popularity in Sweeden has peeked & fallen it is only a component of the marketing strategy not the whole strategy itself. yet again, i think the excitement of a new medium means FAR too much emphasis is being put on the MEDIUM instead of starting with an IDEA and then working out where best to implement it... There are not enough senior marketing managers with digital experience It's a great branding and mareting tool, especially for non-for-profits like our organisation Don't fully understand it but feel we need to be part of it critical to at least incorporate some small test in any marketing plan I am in a developing market and social media has "gone off" like we never imagined it would 2 years ago. The takeup in phenomenal and while our company has a very targeted global approach to SMI, I think adeuqate and appropriate response to local nuances are going to be what drives the value we get. As a local government - social media is seen as a good mechanism for engaging with what is often a difficult market to engage with. Has been done by organisation personnel, rather than being based on a strategic organisational level

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Many miss the mark with a focus on 'talking' rather than conversation. Not for busineses who don't know their point of difference or don't have anything interesting to say. internet news depending on companies' product type Older workers may be slower in accepting the communication platform as they may not support change easily. Time used to develop strategy and monitor success needs to be accounted for. Significant $ investment is required for significant success. Social media is difficult to quantify in terms on return on investment. It is also unknown what benefits it delivers to businesses and consumers that are not already delivered through other mediums such as a website. It can be too intrusive at times. no my company is not prepared to invest in SM until we can justify a fulltime resource to monitor it and ensure we are in control of the conversation it also has an adverse effect providing ground for untrue or exagerated comments and hard to measure Acceptance is difficult with older Senior Managers that do not understand how social media works or how people use it. It is of little to no relevance as we are in a B2B, industrial sales to people predominantly over 45 and who buy in groups. Social media integration has been specifically embraced to appeal to the demographic my organisation seeks to recruit. it is almost necessary to keep up with it as the target market for education industry is heavily using it. even if it means just having presence in the social media... Too early to say, it's one of our marketing tools We haven't chosen to go down that path due to conflicting issues regarding government funding - but believe it is a great tool to get your brand out there Seem to need to go slow and steady using it for it to have any effect. It is an additional tool rather than replacing other media tools Social Media is only used as a recruitment tool by corporates - on a personal level people use it obviously. I think it depends on the company and its products as to whether or not social media is relevant no Social media y just SOCIAL. Strategy at the end are numbers and results. sound bites no Many organisations block it, consider it evil My govt organisation has yet to realise that, with part of its mission to reach out to community, this media is a strong tool. Being govt, they need to be cautious, though. nil research showing people like social media but don't want to deal with government on it should be noted

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Statistic

Value

Total Responses

14. Does your company have a strategic marketing plan? # Answer

Response

1 Yes

171

66%

2 No

22%

3 Unsure

12%

261

100%

Total Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

Variance

Standard Deviation

Total Responses

261

15. Does the existing strategic plan incorporate social media # Answer

Response

1 Yes

37%

2 No

106

41%

22%

260

100%

3 Unsure Total Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

Variance

Standard Deviation

Total Responses

260

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16. If not, why? Text Response Because the principals are a bit reluctant & don't understand it well enough lack of expertise See more value in directing funds in other areas of marketing at this stage of brand building We don't have S.M.P. so the question is moot. Planning is guessing - may as well just do it and see what happens. organisation does not value social media as a marketing tool not considered important or cost effective too small to be in the plan We are not keen to mix business with pleasure - our key contact points with current and future customers are through more traditional channels - mail , email, telephone. See last comment please. We have a plan, it's called doing things who would want to talk to an FI via social media? our compliance manager would not allow it Very limited awareness of how it could benefit the business & fear from IT dept re: employee access to it see my previous comment. the leaders dont take it seriously Marketing plan not established Plan pre-dates organisational decision to incorporate social media. social media currently used only for sub-projects that don't have their own strategic plan - it's getting into too much detail to include this level in the high level strat plan very small business, all repeat customers and word of mouth not considered appropriate not convinced that it will work for our industry It was not being used by other similar organisations when the plan was written High overhead cost of implementing and running a social media campaign We are focused on what we know, and what has worked for us in the past. Still to determine how Social Media would most benefit our business. Not a core part of the business Being a services company, the benefits of social media are not quite clear Not seen as essential Health is conservative and our strategic managers see social media as risky and a danger Senior management does not take this seriously The industry we are in does not require Social Media Marketing Histortically company has not placed sufficient focus on marketing

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Not relevant to our target audience, would require extra resources to manage it properly We just got left behind......also lack of awareness among senior managers Business to Business transactions It is seen as 'time wasting' by the owner not considered critical to the overall success of the SMP not necessary, my company doed B2B service, not to general public Our marketing manager does not agree that we need it. We have yet to decide what our brand identity actually is and have no structured action plan for the future. Not appropriate for the maritime shipping industry Prefer to spend on traditional media with high reach Government monopoly so not applicable A community legal Service prefers to relate to clients on a face to ace basis. Social media has presented a number of problems for our clients, ie forming pseudo relationships being targets for inappropriate behavious etc.dsharing personal information on the public domain is often ill thought out. i dont know - i guess other areas are seen as more important, our socil media is just for addign value to existing communication stratigies/ processes. we dotn have a huge following/friends no infrastructure to support it No call for its benefits. Simply do not have any plan nor thoughts of using it for the moment. Waste of space refer previous comment There is not a keen sense of urgency about it for our sector at this stage We sell in a B2B, industrial market where buyers are usually in groups, trades-based and buy due to personal relationship to sales reps. waste of time not having a dedicated person for the role Management don't value social media, don't have a firm grasp of what it is and what it can do! We are government funded and so have to be careful what we do It hasn't been on the radar at an organisational level, but at a project level it is being worked into our strategic plans. Noone has considered its relevance to marekting until recently Current Strategic Marketing Plan did not see online/social media as a Marketing tool... Not really relevent for our business goals Do Not have a Marketing Plan Head office are developing a policy on social media first, before it can be implemented at a local level It is SOCIAL MEDIA and we are more into open new markets using proper serious market strategy, we are not selling cookies Unsure

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Our business does not deal directly with consumers, we're a distributer dealing with Retails Privately held company that does not rely on direct to public sales Not really applicable to our industry. In future we are considering using Linked In- as this is more corportae based Not considered appropriate for workplace use Business nature doesn't allow Not sure Not seen as beneficial Not deemed a priority in our industry. Internet access availability for our target market is limited due to remote locations. no planned. Statistic

Value

Total Responses

17. What do you use as success measures in a 'traditional marketing' context? (mark all that apply) # Answer

Response

2 Brand awareness

158

66%

1 Direct traffic to website

150

63%

4 Sales

135

56%

3 Leads

39%

8 Brand recall

35%

5 Profitability

30%

7 Shifts in attitude

27%

10 Salience/memory measures 6 Reach based measures

22%

20%

19%

10%

9 Purchase intent 11 Other

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18. What do you use as success measures in a 'social media' context? (mark all that apply) # Answer

Response

1 Direct traffic to website

132

65%

2 Brand awareness

110

54%

48%

6 Reach based measures (i.e. fans, followers, subscriptions) 8 Online mentions

39%

9 Brand recall

33%

4 Sales

32%

3 Leads

32%

27%

7 Shifts in attitude

23%

11 Salience/memory measures 10 Purchase intent

18%

16%

15%

11%

12 Engagement

13 Buzz volume

5 Profitability 14 Other

19. Why do you use these measures for social media? (mark all that apply) # Answer

Response

1 Easy to gather

43%

2 Inexpensive to gather

39%

3 Easy to understand

40%

4 Aligned to our other marketing strategy

31%

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5 Don't know

Statistic

21%

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Total Responses

209

20. How do you define 'engagement' in context with your social media marketing? (rate each element)

# Question

2 Consumer feeling better about themselves 1 Consumer clicking on a social media channel 13 Other 8 Consumer coming to you for entertainment/ escape 7 Consumer coming to you for specials/offers 9 Consumer connecting with people like them 6 Consumer coming to you for inspiration

Do not Somewhat Definitely Responses Mean define define it define it it this this way this way way 62% 28% 10% 160 1 31%

43%

26%

163

48%

24%

27%

41%

28%

31%

157

30%

32%

37%

158

27%

30%

43%

159

26%

30%

44%

160

Jack Day & Shane Burford: 2010

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11 Consumer joining/ subscribing to a social media channel about you 10 Consumer commenting/rating or contributing feedback back to you 12 Consumer generating/ distributing their own content about you 3 Consumer sharing your content with others 4 Consumer directly interacting with people in your organisation 5 Consumer coming to you for information

16%

35%

49%

161

13%

35%

52%

165

20%

27%

52%

161

11%

30%

59%

167

19%

21%

61%

165

11%

25%

63%

167

Other Internal use of chat system consumers interacting with one another within our social media space Through brand health measures N/A We don't use none Do not use social media not applicible Stati Con Con Con Cons Con Con Cons Consu Con Consu Consu Consu Ot stic sum sum sum ume sum sum umer mer sum mer mer mer her er er er r er er comi coming er comm joinin generat click feeli shar direc comi com ng to to you con enting g/ ing/ ing ng ing tly ng ing you for nect / subscr distribu on a bett your inter to to for enterta ing rating ibing ting soci er cont actin you you speci inment with or to a their al abo ent g for for als/ / peo contri social own med ut with with infor insp offer escape ple buting media content ia the othe peop mati irati s like feedba chann about cha msel rs le in on on the ck el you nnel ves your m back about orga to you you nisat ion Min 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Valu e

Jack Day & Shane Burford: 2010

THE SOCIAL MEDIA BLUEPRINT100

Max 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 Valu e Mea 2 1 2 2 3 2 2 n Vari 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 ance Stan 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 dard Devi atio n Tota 163 160 167 165 167 160 158 l Res pon ses

161

157

159 165

21. How important is customer engagement to your strategic marketing plan? # Answer

Response

1 No importance whatsoever 2 Not very important

3 Neutral

13%

4 Some importance

20%

5 Very important

121

60%

203

100%

Total Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

Variance

Standard Deviation

Total Responses

203

Jack Day & Shane Burford: 2010

THE SOCIAL MEDIA BLUEPRINT101

22. Approximately what proportion of your marketing budget do you allocate to social media?

# Answer

Response

1 Less than 5%

125

65%

2 Between 5% and 10%

19%

3 Between 10% and 30%

14%

191

100%

4 More than 30%

Total Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

Variance

Standard Deviation

Total Responses

191

23. How would you describe the distribution of time/resources you allocate to different social media platforms? (total must sum 100%) # Answer

Jack Day & Shane Burford: 2010

Min Value

Max Average Value Value

Standard Deviation

THE SOCIAL MEDIA BLUEPRINT102

4 Traditional website

100

1 Social networking sites (i.e. Facebook, Myspace) 8 Other

100

2 Business networking sites (i.e. Linkedin) 3 Sharing sites (i.e. Youtube, Flickr, SlideShare) 7 User blogs

100

5 Collaborative websites (i.e Wikipedia, syndicated blogs) 6 Social news websites (i.e. Digg, Reddit, del.icio.us)

Other Twitter advertising twitter Don't know Sampling, promotion, product development twitter unsure Twitter Direct news feeds from new media outlets like Crikey Twitter internal chat- refer to other comments Twitter Twitter Twitter twitter Twitter Twitter twitter twitter N/A we are moving towards a website twitter academic Don't really devote time Na

Jack Day & Shane Burford: 2010

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24. Approximately what proportion of your marketing budget do you anticipate you will allocate to social media next year? # Answer

Response

1 Less than 5%

50%

2 Between 5% and 10%

33%

3 Between 10% and 30%

13%

192

100%

4 More than 30%

Total Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

Variance

Standard Deviation

Total Responses

192

25. Is there anything else you would like to add regarding social media and marketing strategy? Text Response We are using our website but are investigating other social media methods....beyond just what facebook can offer I think this medium probably represents the new mainstream. We need to get on board & use it to aur advantage. we do not have a social media strategy as part of our marketing strategy unfortunately Local Government needs to be aware of generational change in communication. Older genertions are reluctant web users but will seek info and look at coucils web for info and feedback. Specialist programs are a different matter when we want to notify them. No but thanks for asking Both elements are extremely important to our organisation in terms of demonstrsating innovation in our service business Once again, the benefits are not yet clear. A person "liking" my update does not mean they are engaged yet this is often used as a measure of success. More research into the benefits is needed. Jack Day & Shane Burford: 2010

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We have new leadership in our org. with an increased emphasis on ITC and social media so the resources will now be boosted in this area customer research, customer listening, customer engagement, community engagement, facilitation of community We tend to use social media more as a channel for our members / consumers to interact and engage with us. To date, we have rarely used for sales, but more for information sharing back and forward. no no Difficult to find benchmarks to measure performance against. no It supports the key message of a campaign but has questionable reliability in converting interest or 'i likes' to leads no no I have a new business and don't really understand social media and don't really understand the potential/benefits however I think there must be some. I see it as largely irrelevant in B2B, industrial markets where purchases are made on hard specifications, 'lock out contracts' and the strength of the personal relationship between the buyer and my sales reps. For recruitment of the targeted demographic in my organisation, social media is essential to the marketing strategy. no many young people use it to their destruction ; anything posted is a permanent record accessed by anyone in the world Social media is a teenager factor, MASSMEDIA there is always room for improvement Some of the questions were hard to answer as we're in the planning stages of use only. no The organisation doesn't unerstand the benefits so doesn't incorproate it not relevant to this business - we supply product to utilities companies and trading houses Statistic Total Responses

Value 28

26. Is social media (as part of marketing strategy) taking up more time in your organisation than it was a year ago? # Answer

1 No, we do not allocate time to social media

Jack Day & Shane Burford: 2010

Response

22%

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2 Not that much more

12%

3 Unsure

4 A bit more

34%

5 A significant amount more Total

25%

194

100%

Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

Variance

Standard Deviation

Total Responses

194

27. Where do you access information to assist you with your social media strategy? (mark all that apply) # Answer

Response

1 Internet

132

68%

5 Marketing colleagues 4 Own judgment

105

54%

42%

6 We don't

22%

3 Scholarly articles

19%

7 Other

15%

2 Text books

10%

Other Other services, programs, examples seminars Staff. Young staff! consultants unsure

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Advertising Agency Specialist news feeds Conference/training specialists Agencies Mal Chia is a Guru Agency industry, competitor activity, articles agency partners Social Media 'expert' articles other media fundraising forums Marketing Week Conference networking with other organisations We do not have a social media strategy Training and seminars Media Commentary networking events/industry seminars Newspaper Marketing Week word of mouth Advertising agency research Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Total Responses

194

28. What human resources do you currently employ to take care of your social media implementation? (mark all that apply) # Answer

1 More than one full time staff 2 One full time staff

Jack Day & Shane Burford: 2010

Response

18%

23%

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3 Casual staff

18%

4 External agency

16%

5 Student(s)

6 Other

37%

Other .5 FTE incorporated into existing role Part time from several staff volunteers in work time small part of one person none None 15% of 1 FTE none none unsure My spare time!!! 1/4 full time staff part of a full time role. Myself Volunteers Part of one staff members role Shared by staff members less than 1 FTE small portion of one person None as part of their role none part of one full timer None myself Part of a full time staff members time No dedicated staff Not full time None But not dedicated to this area. none Jack Day & Shane Burford: 2010

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n/a Nil none Volunteers N/A none is part of a full time offers role None None self none No-one None we don't Head Office digital department - team of at least 20 stakeholders none nil Shared between existing full time staff none none Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Total Responses

182

29. Do you think your organisation currently has the technology to maintain a social media strategy? # Answer

Response

1 No, we don't

19%

2 To some degree, but could be improved 3 Unsure

26%

4 Our technology is reasonable 5 Yes, our technology is exceptional

35%

13%

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Total

196

Statistic

100%

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

Variance

Standard Deviation

Total Responses

196

30. Does your organisation have a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;social media policyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in terms of how employees should engage with customers via social media platforms? # Answer

Response

1 Yes

30%

2 No

115

59%

11%

194

100%

3 Unsure Total Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Mean

Variance

Standard Deviation

Total Responses

194

31. In rank order, what would you consider to be your biggest barrier to better social media adoption? (simply drag and drop each element into rank order) # Answer 1 Lack of knowledge

24% 18% 16% 16% 11%

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Response s 1% 186

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5 Organisation 18% 13% 11% 5% 22% 10% 17% al culture 2 Lack of time 18% 25% 16% 14% 15% 8% 4%

186

7 Do not 13% 6% 5% 4% 5% 7% 19% 39% consider it relevant to our organisation 3 Budget 9% 10% 26% 15% 18% 13% 5% 5%

186

4 Lack of staff availability 6 Inability to measure 8 Lack of technical expertise 9 Other

186

Total

16% 12% 25% 14% 16%

10%

28% 27% 10%

186

10%

11% 17% 35%

186

95%

186

186 186 186 186 186 186 186 186 186

Other not in control of the message Government policy on using social media lack of understanding unsure newly re-formed orgnaisation Relevance of our product/service in a social media context security concerns budget No allowed by law to advertise products to public We do not wish to engage in social media adoption at the present time other than to establish a website Slow decision making can do more harm than good Statistic Lack of Lack Budge Lack of Organisati Inabilit Do not Lack of Othe knowled of t staff onal y to consider technic r ge time availabil culture measu it al ity re relevant experti to our se organisat ion Min 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Value Max 9 8 9 8 9 9 9 9 9 Value Mean 3 3 4 4 4 6 6 6 9

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Varianc e Standar d Deviatio n Total Respon ses

186

186 186

32. What things are you putting in place in the future to increase the level of your organisations social media activity? (mark all that apply) # Answer

Response

6 Research

38%

3 Staff training

36%

1 Additional budget

34%

8 Organisational culture change 2 Better technology

30%

25%

24%

10 Social media employee policy 9 Hiring an external agency 4 Full time staff

21%

12%

10%

11 Nothing

7 Student help

5 Casual staff

12 Other

Other unsure We want to find out if it is worth it first before we put more resources to it. Social Media Policy Strategy just keep doing the same improve policies

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Raising awareness within organisation minimal restrictions on usage Strategic plans don't know Statistic

Value

Min Value

Max Value

Total Responses

188

33. Is there anything else you would like to add regarding social media resources? Text Response in government the policy restricts a lot of the options, not marketing dept choice Chatter still seems the most noise. We measure what parts of our electronic space get the most attention - web unique visits bookings etc the rest appears to date to be noise. Social media seems to suit small businesses, sole traders and owner operators. It's less expensive to execute than traditional media - I feel I can do it myself. no Ignore it at your peril!! no Exercise caution with external agencies as you need to know brand and pathways to direct people to other areas of the business quickly. no no No If there are students or resources at the uni I would be interested to hear about them. Some social media resources have been blocked in my organisation. The risk of 'inappropriate content' being viewed and 'time wasting' are some reasons espoused to justify this action. ITs a waste of time no This survey is to long inflicting tension between cultures no Statistic Total Responses

Value 17

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Jack Day & Shane Burford: 2010