New York, February 23, 2010 - More than three-quarters (79 percent) of the Fortune Global 100 companies are using at least one of the most popular social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and corporate blogs) to actively engage with stakeholders, according to a new study on the usage of social media published today by Burson-Marsteller, a leading global communications firm. This study is the first in Burson-Marsteller’s Evidenced-Based Communications research series, which will focus on providing data to support insights-driven communications programs.
The study found that 65 percent of the Fortune Global 100 had active accounts on Twitter, 54 percent had a Facebook fan page, 50 percent had a YouTube channel, and 33 percent had corporate blogs. Only 20 percent of the major international companies were utilizing all four platforms to engage with stakeholders. Companies based in the United States and Europe were most likely to use Twitter (U.S.: 72 percent, Europe: 71 percent) or Facebook (U.S.: 69 percent, Europe: 52 percent) than they were to have corporate blogs (U.S.: 34 percent, Europe: 25 percent), while companies from Asia-Pacific were more likely to utilize corporate blogs (50 percent) than other forms of social media (Twitter: 40 percent, Facebook: 40 percent).
“Whether it is Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or popular local online communities, people continue to become more involved in social networking and are expanding the types of activities they engage in,” said Burson-Marsteller’s Global CEO Mark Penn. “This analysis shows that they are increasingly being joined by large global companies that are also recognizing the need to participate on social networks.”
The study also found that Fortune Global 100 companies were active users of their social media accounts. The study found that within the last week (during the period of data collection) 82 percent had tweeted and 59 percent had posted content on their Facebook fan page and in the prior month, 68 percent had posted a video on YouTube and 36 percent had posted an entry on a corporate blog.
There is also evidence that stakeholders are listening and engaging. In the study corporate Twitter accounts averaged 1,489 followers, while each Facebook fan page averaged 40,884 fans.
Some companies are interactive and not solely using social media to broadcast corporate messages. Companies using Twitter were following an average of 731 people each, and 38 percent of companies were responding to people’s tweets Thirty-two percent have also “re-tweeted” or reposted user comments during the last week.
To help companies navigate the social media landscape, Burson-Marsteller has developed a tool called the “Social Media Check-up” which looks at how a company’s social media presence is impacting their overall online health and reputation. The Social Media Check-up assesses a company’s participation across the most popular social media platform and compares to the landscape within their competitive set to determine the best way for companies to engage in social media and contribute to their communities of interest.
Other key findings include:
- On average, the Fortune Global100 companies have 4.2 Twitter accounts, 2.1 Facebook fan pages, 1.6 YouTube channels and 4.2 corporate blogs.
- Companies with active accounts have 27 tweets per week, 3.6 Facebook posts per week 10 new YouTube videos per month and 7 blog posts per month.
- Corporate YouTube channels have an average of 452 subscribers each and over 38,000 views per channel.
- To access the complete analysis of these findings click here for the PDF report.
About this Study
Data was collected between November 2009 and January 2010 among the top 100 companies of the 2009 Fortune Global 500 companies. Sample size for countries/regions: U.S. = 29 companies, Europe = 48 companies, Asia-Pacific = 20 companies, Latin America = 3 companies. Because of the low sample size for Latin America, data is only broken out for this region for overall activity rates. “Active” accounts have at least one post in the past 3 months. Outliers have been noted. Data was collected by Burson-Marsteller’s global research team.
About Burson-Marsteller
Burson-Marsteller (www.burson-marsteller.com), established in 1953, is a leading global public relations and communications firm. It provides clients with strategic thinking and program execution across a full range of public relations, public affairs, advertising and web-related services. The firm’s seamless worldwide network consists of 70 offices and 60 affiliate offices, together operating in 85 countries across six continents. Burson-Marsteller is a part of Young & Rubicam Brands, a subsidiary of WPP (NASDAQ: WPPGY), one of the world’s leading communications services networks.