Study Reveals: More Marketers Move Toward Engagement on Social Media

Brands are moving from simply being present on social networks to taking a more active role on the sites

Companies and marketers are more comfortable on social networks and have started to engage more authentically and build communities with other users on the sites.

Burson-Marsteller, one of the leading PR companies, looked at the FortuneGlobal 100’s activities on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, corporate blogs and other local microblogs and social networks around the globe for its “Global Social Media Check-Up 2011”. 25% of these companies worldwide are using all four major social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogs – an increase of 25% from 2010 – and 84% are on at least one platform.

Most companies are on Twitter, which saw a major growth compared to 2010, as 77% of companies around the world have Twitter accounts, up from 65% last year. Twitter might be emerging as the predominant social media platform used by corporations, although corporate Facebook pages have more “likes” than Twitter accounts have “followers.”

As most companies get more and more beyond the idea that the only purpose of social media platforms is “to be there”, they are becoming more active on these sites. According to the study, 67% of the companies using Twitter mention other users with the “@” convention, while 57% use retweets to repost a fellow user’s comment. Both figures show a massive increase compared to 2010.

The majority of Twitter accounts focus on providing company news, updates and announcements to stakeholders. More than one-quarter (28%) of corporate accounts are tweeting to consumers about deals or contests specifically related to their products and/or services. However, Twitter still has relatively low penetration among general consumers, but has plenty of room for growth and continued interaction.

On Facebook, companies are also posting more to their own walls than they did in 2010: During the week prior to the study, 84% of companies posted an update to their Facebook wall, an increase of 40% compared to the last year. As companies can allow their visitors to post on their wall on Facebook fan pages, the study shows that globally, about three-quarters (74%) of pages allow for these posts. The U.S. companies led the way in Facebook interactivity, as 89% of pages allow posts from “likers” (fans), and 72% of pages respond to “likers’” wall posts.

The percent of corporations with blogs increased by a negligible amount: from 33% to 36%. While the number of companies with blogs was steady, those who blog increased their use of the platform. The growth in the average number of blogs per company was driven by the 63% increase in the number of blogs hosted by U.S. companies.

As companies become more comfortable and social networks innovate ways to bring users and marketers together, marketers will continue to go beyond simply being present on the social sites and will play an active role in the social media experience.

For more information check Burson-Marsteller’s Blog: Global Social Media Check-Up 2011

Related articles

• Which Social Sites Are Best for Which Marketing Outcomes? [INFOGRAPHIC]