According to The Social Media and Online PR Report, published by Econsultancy in association with bigmouthmedia, 86% of companies plan to spend more money on social media in 2010, and a further 13%
are planning to keep the same level of budget. 54% of companies say, however, that the biggest barrier to better social media engagement is a lack of resources. Only 10% of companies are not engaging
in any social media activity whatsoever.
Phil Gripton, Managing Director of bigmouthmedia, says "These statistics - the most detailed yet available - show that while an increasing number of
companies are embracing social media, many are struggling to effectively manage their engagement and are consequently failing to make the most of a potentially enormous opportunity."
Social Media Activity by Business Force (% of Respondents) |
Business Force | Heavily Involved | Experimented Only | Not Involved |
B2B | 11% | 65 | 23 |
B3C | 8 | 60 | 32 |
B2B and B2C | 9 | 68 | 23 |
Source: Econsultancy & bigmouthmedia, December 2009 |
Only a quarter of companies say that
they have gained "real, tangible value" from social media, whereas 60% say that they have gained "some benefit but nothing concrete".
Social Media Activity by Sector |
Sector | Heavily Involved | Experimented Only | Not Involved |
Financial Services | 24% | 65 | 11 |
Publishing | 12 | 60 | 29 |
Retail | 10 | 63 | 27 |
Travel | 11 | 75 | 14 |
Source: Econsultancy & bigmouthmedia, December 2009 |
Increased brand awareness is seen as major benefit of social
media by 73% of company respondents. Additional important benefits Include: are
- Increased customer engagement (71%)
- Better brand reputation (66%)
- Increased
communication with key influencers (62%)
60% of companies are either creating video content or using video-sharing sites, and 54% of supply-side respondents say that their clients are
using this social media tactic. Online traditional media relations is used by 67% of company respondents. The next most widely used tactics are the use of press release posting sites and wire services
(60%) and online press offices and investor centers (44%).
Michelle Goodall, Econsultancy's social media and online PR consultant, said "... most businesses understand how to listen,
what to measure and where to engage, but are struggling to define the value of engagement... in social spaces."
The full Econsultancy / bigmouthmedia Social Media and Online PR Report is
available for download here.