Twitter or Not - The Business Case for Social Media

Twitter or Not – The Business Case for Social Media
Jake Wengroff
Global Director, Corporate Communications
Frost & Sullivan
October 27, 2009

Pop Quiz: How many tweets have appeared on Twitter?
50 million
100 million
500 million
1 billion
5 billion
ANSWER: 5 billion. On October 19, 2009, Twitter announced that the 5 billionth tweet was sent on its network.

In the Game

More than 300 million active users
50% of active users log on to Facebook in any given day
The fastest growing demographic is those 35 years old and older
Available in 69 languages on the site
About 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States
6 million unique monthly visitors, about the same number of accounts
55 million monthly visits
LinkedIn has over 48 million members in over 200 countries around the world
A new member joins LinkedIn approximately every second, and about

half of its members are outside the U.S.

Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are LinkedIn members

Source: the companies, Wikipedia, HubSpot, Mashable

How does your company use social media?

Brand/corporate positioning
Gain new product and service ideas
Make new connections and grow business
Engage with customers and receive feedback
Internal communications and training

Why We Hate Social Media

“Free” isn’t really free
Time, time, time!
Damage control

(or rather, how about any control in general?)

Who will be the voice?

(and who will be the voice when the voice resigns?)

Source: Frost & Sullivan
Q15.Please rate the following potential risks of Social Networking Sites to your organization?
Perceived Risks of Social Networking Sites

Gatekeeping
Does your company have a social media policy?
What’s the risk if you don’t?

Policies Regarding Social Networking Sites
Q3. Does your organization have written policies regarding use of company computers/networks to access social networking sites?
Q3b. What is your organization’s policy regarding social networking sites?
Q3c. Does your organization allow access to social networking sites, despite having no formal policy in place?

Unlikely Candidates
In the struggle to find people willing to make worthy contributions to social networking sites, look to the group that wants to engage: salespeople.
And yes: salespeople can be positioned as Thought Leaders!

Among Those Who Believe Corporate Social Networking Beneficial (Highly or Moderately)
Note: Proportions less than five percent not shown in above chart.
Q14. Please indicate the value you perceive your organization receives from any of the following benefit(s).
Perceived Value of Social Networking

/Indicates significantly higher/lower than comparison group at the 95% level.
Corporate Roles in Social Networking Communities by Total Sample and Enterprise Size
Among Those Using Web 2.0 Tools for Client Relations
Q9. Which of the following best describes the role(s) for the social networking communities that you use for corporate purposes with regard to client relations? (Multiple mention question)

/Indicates significantly higher/lower than comparison group at the 95% level.
Anticipated Change in Corporate Use of Social Networking by Total Sample and Enterprise Size
Q16. Thinking about the next 12 months, how do you anticipate your organization’s overall usage of social networking will change?

Remarks

Don’t ignore social networking
Keep it organic, genuine, and authentic
Your customers, employees, and investors will feel empowered
Read….learn….engage!

For Additional Information
Jake Wengroff
Global Director
Corporate Communications
(210) 247-3806
jake.wengroff@frost.com
Follow Frost & Sullivan on Twitter
@Frost_Sullivan
@JakeWengroff