RELEASE: GREEN BAY CHAMBER and MARKETINGSAVANT CONDUCT LANDMARK SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING SURVEY

Contact: Dana VanDen Heuvel – dana@marketingsavant.com or 888-989-7771

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Green Bay Chamber and MarketingSavant conduct landmark social media marketing survey

GREEN BAY, WI (July 1, 2009) – In May, MarketingSavant and the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce conducted a comprehensive survey on the state of social media marketing in Northeast Wisconsin. The survey reflected the first attempt at a comprehensive public survey to gather usage data and to determine the importance of social media to the business community of Northeast Wisconsin.

The results overwhelmingly pointed to the fact that social media marketing is here to stay in Northeast Wisconsin. One-hundred percent of survey respondents indicated they believe social media has a place in the business world. In addition, 87 percent of respondents claimed awareness of the social media vehicles discussed in the survey and 69 percent of companies are using some form of social media in their organization today.

The adoption of social media by Northeast Wisconsin companies rivals the adoption rates reported in similar surveys of Inc. 500 companies and surpasses that of most Fortune 500 companies. “It’s apparent we’ve moved behind the ‘fad’ or ‘nice-to-have’ stage of social media adoption in the area,” said Dana VanDen Heuvel, MarketingSavant, co-creator of the survey.

Not surprisingly, 89 percent of respondents state they use social media at least sometimes to communicate with others. Nearly 83 percent said they use social media to market their business.

Of the social media marketing tools and technologies available, survey respondents indicated that they were most familiar with text messaging, Facebook and B logs while they were least familiar with online virtual worlds like Second Life.

On the usage front, responding companies indicated highest use of these social media marketing tools in business:

  • Social networking (Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace) – 91.1%
  • Twitter and microblogs – 43.8%

While 48 percent of businesses report they have experienced and implemented no changes to their business as a result of engaging in social media, 89 percent intend to include social media in their future marketing plans.

Of those who indicated they will begin using social media in their businesses, 53 percent indicated they anticipate doing so this year and the remaining 47 percent by the end of 2010.

Why companies plan to use social media commercially varies – respondents perceived the top business benefits of social media to be brand building at 82 percent, its low-cost structure at 81 percent and the ability to communicate directly with customers at 70 percent.

On the opposite end of the spectrum in our survey are those 30 percent who feel that social media’s greatest benefit is the ‘credibility of the crowd’ or ‘third party credibility’ that it brings.

In addition:

  • 70 percent believe it’s beneficial for direct customer communications
  • 65 percent for its reach
  • 61 percent for learning customer preferences
  • 59 percent for market research
  • 57 percent for the speed of feedback/results
  • 54 percent for customer service and 49 percent for lead generation.

Of respondents, one in three reported gaining customers through the use of social media; while one-third also reported that a customer had encouraged them to get involved in social media for the organization.

Employers expressed mixed feelings about “non-company” social media use, which may include commenting on a newspaper article about the company, participating in an industry discussion group, blogging on an industry blog or setting up a Twitter account for corporate use. Twenty-seven percent of companies surveyed reported to have either some general or specific guidelines on social media and nearly one-third reported the organization knows nothing about ongoing social media activity. This exposes an opportunity for organizations to create guidelines, education their teams about social media and deepen corporate involvement in social media governance.

“Companies continue to be challenged with the implications of participating in social media without training, policies or structure,” notes Paul Jadin, president of the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. “It’s much like what we experienced when the Internet first entered the business realm.”

One-hundred twenty people completed the survey, primarily in the business-to-business segment vs. business-to-consumer. Other demographics associated with the respondents:

  • 55 percent of respondents work at firms with fewer than 100 people
  • Respondents reside in Northeast Wisconsin, primarily in the Greater Green Bay area
  • Respondents were split among B2B (36 percent), B2C (28 percent and nonprofits (27 percent).
  • 32 percent of respondents consider themselves beginners in regard to their social media skill level; another 28 percent consider themselves advanced beginners.

In response to the growing interest in using social media marketing for creating and executive marketing strategy, the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce is ramping up for its second social media seminar in August. “As the survey shows, social media marketing is a fast-growing area of business for our membership. Businesses are clamoring for education and information and it’s our responsibility to help them become more viable through the proper use of social media.”

Complete survey results are available at: www.whatthetweet.org/report.

Details on the Chamber’s social media bootcamp event will be forthcoming at titletown.org.

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Established in 1882, the mission of the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce is to promote economic and community development. Chamber programs include Advance, Partners in Education, Leadership Green Bay, Brown County Teen Leadership, Current–the Young Professionals Network, Good Government Council, the International Business Development Consortium and the Small Business Council.

For more information about the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce and its programs, call 437-8704 or visit www.titletown.org.

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About The MarketingSavant Group: The MarketingSavant Group works with innovative organizations to leverage thought leadership marketing, digital and social media and emerging marketing technology to reach and keep their customers. The MarketingSavant Group conducts public and corporate seminars around the world on digital and social media and helps organizations through its unique “Thought Leadership Marketing” philosophy. For more information, visit www.marketingsavant.com.

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