1) The survey found that while 71% of marketers use social media tools in their marketing efforts, progress can still be made as 48% feel they lag behind others. Measurement remains a challenge as 45% cannot link social media activity to sales. 2) Carrabba's uses social media like Facebook and Twitter to promote its pasta menu. It monitors sentiment and engages customers. Sears also engages customers through social media to better understand them and make changes based on feedback. 3) Guidelines around social media use are important, especially in regulated industries. Some companies encourage all staff while others only allow marketing to post on behalf of the company. Measurement of social media success varies and includes website traffic, engagement,

1. c
MEDIA
S
o i
a
l
Survey
2010
As the social media landscape evolves, marketers are investing
considerably in campaigns that generate meaningful results

2. The social
Marketers have become more
comfortable with social media
tools, but progress can still be
made, finds the 2010 PRWeek/
MSLGROUP Social Media
Survey. Chris Daniels reports
W
hen Carrabba’s Italian Grill first started using
Twitter and Facebook in late 2008, marketing
manager Jamie Miller admits the company
didn’t know what to do with the popular social media
channels. “We were there because we felt we should be
and because other companies were there, but to be honest,
we didn’t know what we were doing. At the time, we
didn’t have any structure behind it,” he says. “Only
slowly did we start to put more strategy and thought
behind our social media communication.”
In addition to monitoring and responding, when neces-
sary, to customer feedback, the Italian restaurant chain
now uses social media primarily to highlight particular
meals depending on promotional time periods, such as
its signature pasta menu items.
“Everything we do naturally communicates that pasta
menu, and we use social media to communicate that in
the online space,” Miller explains.
With the help of its PR AOR MSLGROUP, the
company created a Facebook app in the form of a quiz
called “What’s your pasta personality?” Its Twitter feed
features “tweets from the kitchen,” which include fun
food facts, as well as pasta sauce recommendations.
“MSL provides us with starter content and we hope
that content stimulates a conversation,” says Miller. “Ulti-
mately, we want Carrabba’s to be part of the decision-
making paradigm for consumers when they go out to eat.”
Miller is happy with the company’s progress, but its
first steps into social media illustrate how many marketers Social media tools, such as the ‘What’s your
have approached the channel with trepidation and con- pasta personality?’ Facebook application, play
fusion, if they are even approaching it all. a vital role in Carrabba’s marketing efforts
30/prweekus.com/September 2010

3. connection
According to the second annual PRWeek/MSLGROUP have these wonderful pink shirts for only $50.’ And they’re
Social Media Survey, 71% of the 262 marketers actually like, ‘Great, but I’m not interested.’ And then you make
use social media tools in marketing efforts. Respondents another post: ‘Now the shirts are 10% off.’ Again, not inter-
report using social networks (48%), blogs (34%), digital ested. You can see how absurd it can get, but that is how
video and audio tools (32%), microblogs such as Twitter traditional marketers have typically engaged consumers.”
(26%), discussion forums (25%), social bookmarking sites Sears has found most success “when we’ve tried to
(15%), and mobile-based services (13%). create a conversation, to really get to know our custo-
So, 29% of companies don’t use any social media in their mers,” he adds. Last Christmas, for example, the retailer
marketing, a decrease of eight percentage points versus asked its Facebook community to name their favorite
last year’s survey. And while 79% of respondents con- holiday movie. The question generated a record 400-
sider social media engagement and reacting to customer plus responses in just a few days. (The overwhelming
needs in real time a competitive advantage, far fewer, vote-getter was A Christmas Story.)
64%, think companies that don’t engage risk irrelevancy.
“With all the discussion and news stories about social MARKETING BUDGET
media, you would think this would be a big area of invest- Approximately what is the overall marketing budget for
your company?
ment by now. But social media is still causing a lot of con-
fusion in the marketplace,” says Jim Tsokanos, president of 50
the Americas for MSLGROUP. “Even of the companies
using social media, almost half (48%) believe their company 40
is lagging behind what others are doing. If marketers feel
they are behind the curve, it’s because they feel overwhelmed
by it, don’t get it, or don’t understand how to use it.”
30
20
79%
say social media
The power of listening – and acting 10
management
and reacting
The survey shows that just 33% of companies have made in real time to
changes to products or marketing efforts based on the feed- 0
<$50K $50K- $100K- $500K- $1M- $5M- $10M+ customer needs
back gathered from social media. In other words, almost 70% $100K $500K $1M $5M $10M
is a competitive
of companies using social media do no more than listen.
Base: 262
advantage
Rob Harles, VP of social media at Sears Holdings, where
he is responsible for community sites for Sears, Kmart, JOB TITLE
and the Craftsman brand, says that is a missed opportunity. Which of the following best describes your job title?
“I’ve learned over the past three years that the very basic 30
purpose of social media is to get to know your custom-
ers,” he explains. “It’s not just about listening, but actually
doing something about what you’re hearing.” 20
Early on, Sears treated social media channels as a pro-
motional tool, and the number of negative responses
– and the lack of positive ones – showed it wasn’t the 10
kind of dialogue users wanted.
“There is always the inclination to say, ‘This is an inex-
pensive way to advertise,’ but you have to be careful,” warns 0
Harles. “If you’re just trying to get a message across with- Brand GM
manager
Director VP of
(other) mktg.
SVP of
mktg.
CMO President CEO AVP EVP VP Other
out listening it can be damaging. It’s like saying to them, ‘I
Base: 262
September 2010/prweekus.com/31

4. “We hadn’t actually thought beyond that answer, but To ensure campaigns follow legal and regulatory restric-
that night the team worked with our online business unit tions, Boehringer requires all social media communications
and got an offer out on that particular movie. The next to undergo an internal review process. “We’ve formed a
day, it sold out,” says Harles. “It doesn’t always work that social media team within the company that reviews every-
33%
of companies
way, but you can see when the conversation is meaningful
and engaging, it can make a difference.”
Still, 26% of companies have no specific approach to
thing anyone in marketing or PR wants to do with social
media. We didn’t want to create a heterogeneous way of
getting things approved, but a homogenous one,” says
have changed how employees should use social media to share messages Yonsky. “We want to make sure we follow the guidelines,
their products about their organization or brand. And while 72% of that we’ve figured out how to handle it internally, and that
or marketing
efforts based on
respondents say social media should be used to allow everyone in the company is going down the same path.”
feedback they’ve more company employees to function as an extension of
gathered from sales and marketing, only one in four respondents say their Additional uses
social media companies encourage employees to use social media. Managing/monitoring customer feedback and creating
As part of its shift from being a hard- communities are the primary business uses of social media
ware manufacturer to a consumer-led (39% and 26%, respectively). But respondents also report
mobile device services company, in early using it for media relations and market research (both 25%),
2008 Nokia created guidelines for its understanding competitive landscape (24%), reaching key
employees to blog during work hours. influencers (21%), lead generation (18%) product launch-
(It now has almost 1,000 bloggers.) es (17%), monitoring conversations (14%), and product
Laurie Armstrong, director of com- reviews (12%). “The potential for social media is unlim-
munications for Nokia North America, ited,” says MSLGROUP’s Tsokanos. “And while there
says, “We also designed and maintain is a lot of testing and learning going on, a lot of sophis-
the Nokia BlogHub, an internal ticated clients are utilizing social media across the board.”
aggregation site that allows everyone Carrabba’s uses social media to monitor what people say
in Nokia to search, read, and comment about competitors, as well as for market research purposes
on all our various blogs. By the end of around menu changes, says Miller. Nokia uses it as a tool
our first year, internally we had nearly for media relations and influencer outreach. In August,
2 million visits with each visitor for example, it invited mobile enthusiasts and Nokia fans
reading on average of 10 pages.” (including bloggers, media, and pundits) to join Niklas
Externally, Nokia uses its own Savander, EVP and group executive board member of its
devices to create videos on its YouTube social media business council, for a one-hour Twitter Cafe.
“the feedback we’ve Received iS CHANGE IN MARKETING BUDGETS
Has your company's overall marketing budget increased,
decreased, or stayed the same over the past 12 months?
heLPinG ShaPe OUR PROdUctS and
aPPROach tO the MaRketPLace“
Increased
Laurie armstrong, nokia north america Stayed the same
channels about its products and services, which have become
among the 50 most watched clips. Its external blog, Nokia
Conversations (http://conversations.nokia.com/), generates Decreased
more than a million unique visitors per month.
“The feedback we’ve received so far, both internally and
externally, is helping shape our products and our approach
to the marketplace,” Armstrong says.
Base: 262
The importance of creating guidelines in terms of social
media communication is particularly key in highly regulated IMPLEMENTING FEEDBACK
industries such as pharma, where companies must be careful Have you ever made a change to your products or marketing
efforts based on customer feedback from social media sites?
about not just what they say, but also what others say. The
FDA has yet to clearly outline how pharma companies can
communicate using social media, but that hasn’t prevented
many players from developing their own internal policies. Yes
Earlier this year, Boehringer Ingelheim used Facebook
and Twitter to support its largest unbranded campaign
aimed at raising awareness of chronic obstructive pulmonary
disorder, for which it makes several medicines. The com-
pany also procured a YouTube channel for possible future No
distribution of video. “As the generations change, we know
more people will communicate this way,” says John Yonsky,
associate director of online and social media communica-
tions. “We knew we had to get involved.”
Base: 262
32/prweekus.com/September 2010

5. The measurement Sears also leverages social media for influencer engage-
ment. “We know not everyone who comes to our commu-
question nity sites will be totally passionate about it,” says Harles,
“but we hope to be successful with a core group who gene-
Measurement remains a major hurdle rate a lot of our content online and help other customers.”
when it comes to social media, according To help further encourage user contribution, this
to results from the PRWeek/MSLGROUP year Sears will reward online community members
Social Media Survey. Here are some ways with points toward its loyalty program. “If you can
companies are tackling the issue: link not only stuff you buy to the rewards you get, but
also things you contribute as a customer, that has a lot of
Conversation monitoring. Carrabba’s value we’re willing to recognize,” he explains.
Italian Grill uses software that measures
positive versus negative sentiment, in- Measurement challenges
cluding that of competitors. “It also allows For measurement, respondents say the biggest challenge is
us to get an idea of potential trends,” says the inability to link social media activity to sales/revenue
marketing manager Jamie Miller. (45%), followed by the inability to isolate the impact of social
media from other activities (41%), and the lack of appro-
Engagement. Rob Harles, VP of social priate tools (39%). A quarter of respondents don’t even
media at Sears, says the engagement have a system to measure social media tactics.
metric ties its social media activity to ROI. Product safety company Underwriters Laboratories only
“We try to answer these questions,” he launched its first social media campaign in late 2008,
explains. “Do people who are engaged look using Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and blogs to reach moms
differently than folks who aren’t? Are we concerned about creating a safe home environment. It has
having any impact on their behavior?” since unveiled other social media-driven campaigns and
increased its outreach to mommy bloggers.
“Initially, we looked at things like how many fans we had
26%
of companies
on Facebook and the number of people who responded to have no specific
approach to how
blog posts,” says Suzanne Lavin, corporate marketing VP. staff should use
“We found that is not the most effective way to look at it.” social media to
In addition to examining feedback more closely in terms share company
of what is actually being said in those posts, Underwriters messages
SOCIAL MEDIA EDUCATION
How do you stay informed of social media trends?
50
Website traffic. Boehringer Ingelheim 40
(whose Respimat soft mist inhaler is shown
above) has just started using social media 30
to drive awareness of specific medical dis-
20
orders. “We look at the whole spider-web
effect – what other sites are we impacting?” 10
says John Yonsky, the pharma company’s
associate creative director, online and social 0
Internal Vendor- Your children Training Formal social Your spouse Other None of the
media communications. discussions at sponsored provided media training above
your company conferences or by agency provided by
about social webinars partners your company
Base: 262
media
SOCIAL MEDIA APPROACH INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
Which one of the following best describes your company's Which of the following social media tools is your company using in its internal
approach to social media? communications with employees?
50 50
40 40
30 30
20
20
10
10
0
All staff encouraged Only marcomms Staff discouraged There is no specific 0
to use it to share staffers can use it to from using it to share approach to using it to Digital Traditional Blogs Mobile, Microblogs Wikis Other None. Don’t
messages on behalf share messages on messages on behalf share messages on the audio/video social net- location-based (i.e. Twitter) use for internal
of the company the company’s behalf of the company company’s behalf working sites social networks comms to staff
Base: 262 (i.e. Facebook) (i.e. Foursquare) Base: 262
September 2010/prweekus.com/33

6. Laboratories has implemented a measurement system that Nearly half of all respondents (47%) say social media is
evaluates brand awareness and familiarity. funded through their overall marketing budget – a view
So far, the results have been encouraging for social media. shared by most of the companies interviewed for this article.
After it ran a three-month holiday campaign – in which Though 30% of respondents say their social media is man-
85% of the elements consisted of digital tactics – both aware- aged primarily in PR/communications, only 20% believe
ness and familiarity of the brand increased by 10%. “That that is where it will be managed in the future. Thirty-two
kind of combined increase is unheard of because typically percent of respondents expect social media will become
familiarity lags behind awareness,” explains Lavin. “Because primarily managed by a hybrid department that combines
our integrated campaign leaned on social media, it allowed PR/communications and advertising.
us to have a personalized dialogue with these moms.” “As social media has become more and more integrated
According to the survey, the primary ways companies across various disciplines in Nokia, there is not one single
measure the impact of social media are by website traffic budget just for that within marketing,” says Armstrong.
(39%), sales/revenue (32%) and brand awareness and “I manage our entire communications practice in North
favorability (25%). “Measurement has become very America. While a couple of years ago I may have carved
sophisticated,” says MSLGROUP’s Tsokanos. “You can out a separate line item for supplemental social media
now measure share of voice, share of mind, and even activities, it is now quite integrated.”
understand impact on product sales.” Last year, Underwriters Laboratories hired Katy Budd-
45%
say the biggest
Where’s the budget?
The good news is that one in three communication pros
hiraju, a Web content developer, to oversee its social media
activity. “We found the social media interaction we were
having was really effective,” says Lavin. “We wanted to make
challenge in say their overall marketing budget has increased versus a sure we had some resources in place to continue that.”
measurement
is the inability to year ago. However, 44% of respondents have no budget Buddhiraju adds, “Often times when we approach a
link social media allocated for social media whatsoever. Of those that do, subject matter expert to provide and create safety informa-
activity to sales only one in 10 companies report a separate budget tion on a particular topic, it helps if they understand the
and revenues dedicated to social media. social media tools we use when dealing with customers.”
In terms of designating resources to social media, Under-
FUTURE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
writers Laboratories is in the minority. The survey finds that
Which of the following social media efforts will have the most impact on the success most companies redefine existing employee roles to include
of your company or brand over the next 12 months?
social media responsibility (46%), rather than hire new staff
30
(13%) or outsource to external agency partners (5%).
In fact, one-third of respondents (35%) say no staff or
external agency partner is responsible for social media
20
activity. When companies look to hire an external partner,
they think of direct marketing agencies (21%), ad agencies
10
(20%), digital agencies (17%), and then PR firms (16%).
Media buying/planning agencies ranked last at 12%.
“Education is still the biggest obstacle for marketers, and
0
that is where there is a big opportunity for PR firms,” says
Greater use Expanding Increasing Greater use Creating Investing Increasing Other All of the None of
of social Facebook blogger of mobile, exclusive more on use of social above the above MSLGROUP’s Tsokanos. “PR firms are only five percentage
media via presence relations location- content for Twitter gaming
mobile based social YouTube points behind direct agencies. We’re well positioned and
suited in this conversation economy to lead education,
Base: 262
platforms networks
Addressing criticism
According to this year’s PRWeek/ als in our customer care organization we’re handling it and more about
MSLGROUP Social Media Survey, 52% who are active social media partici- ensuring we’re listening, engaging,
of respondents believe social media pants,” she explains. “It’s less about and responding to customers.”
will have more of an impact promoting so people can see how For fashion boutique Maurices,
on managing stakeholder opinion social media enables its sales
in the next year or two. associates to come to the defense
One of the ways companies are of the company when complaints
helping manage opinion is by do arise, notes Lisa Bartlett, AVP
addressing customer complaints of marketing for the company.
via social media. “Our associates who are Facebook
Laurie Armstrong, director of fans can say, ‘I’m sorry you had that
communications for Nokia North experience, but I know if you come
America, says social media is increas- back to the store we’ll make it right,’”
ingly being used by its customer care she says. “They act as ambassadors
division. “We have several individu- Social media helps when complaints arise for us, which is wonderful.”
34/prweekus.com/September 2010

7. strategy, and engagement of social media. We understand When asked what efforts will have the most impact on a
conversations and how to build narrative and story.” company’s success in the next 12 months, 17% say mobile
Lisa Bartlett, AVP of marketing for Maurices, says when platforms, 16% say Facebook presence, 14% say blogger
the fashion boutique first sought help launching its Face- relations, and 12% say location-based mobile services.
book page last fall, it initially thought of an ad agency. “I Carrabba’s, which is testing a number of mobile platforms,
come from an ad agency background, so initially that was recently partnered with Foursquare,
where my head went,” she explains. “Once I did more which allows users to “check in” at res-
research, I felt like a PR firm made more business sense.” taurants and locations via their smart-
Maurices ended up hiring MSLGROUP. “Over the last phones. The patron who checks in the
12 months, we’ve become more comfortable with utilizing most at a particular location is crowned
Facebook and getting into the insights and metrics. So we “Mayor of Carrabba’s,” which earns
have taken over a lot of the postings,” adds Bartlett. “That him or her special discounts and offers.
is a natural progression as a new brand on Facebook.” “Right now, the reward is a compli-
MSLGROUP is now helping Maurices grow membership mentary dessert, but I am also testing
of its Mobile Style Club, an SMS text-message service that $10 off and a free appetizer,” Miller
provides style advice, fashion tips, and promotion alerts. says. “We felt this was a good way to
Sears’ Harles agrees companies must be closely involved recognize the customer who comes
with social media PR. “I wouldn’t exclude any agency pro- in regularly, but is quiet about it.”
vider from engaging with and helping us,” he says, “but if To date, Carrabba’s has had 5,987
your goal is to really connect with customers, make sure the check-ins and 178 mayors. Of its 232
bulk of the heavy lifting is done internally. Real people inside locations, New York and Florida have
the organizations need to be having those conversations.” proven the most competitive for the
mayor title. Moving forward, he says
What’s next?
The survey reveals that in the next two years marketers
expect social media to become even more important to “PR fiRMS aRe weLL SUited tO
fundamental business areas. Of this year’s respondents,
58% say social media will have more of an impact on Lead edUcatiOn, StRateGy, and
aspects such as generating sales/revenue, 55% on managing enGaGeMent Of SOciaL Media“
corporate reputation, and 50% on increasing or main- Jim tsokanos, MSLGROUP
taining market share in the next year or two.”
STAFFING FOR SOCIAL MEDIA
the company plans to release more control of the Four-
Which of the following statements best describes how social square partnership to the managing partners of its individual
media activities are currently staffed at your company?
locations, so they can tailor the promotion to their needs.
So despite a nervous start, social media has opened up
Additional staff have
been hired to manage all kinds of communication opportunities for Carrabba’s,
No staff or external
the company's social
media activities
says Miller. “I’ve become a strong proponent of social
agency partners
media and playing in the online and mobile space,” he adds.
58%
are currently
responsible for
social media activity
“We see it is as an exciting new way of doing old things.” l
Existing marketing the PRWeek/MSLGROUP Social Media Survey was con- believe that in
and communications
staff roles have been ducted by PRWeek and ca walker. e-mail notification was the next two
redefined to include years social media
Responsibility for social
media activities is largely
responsibility for sent to about 5,949 marketers. a total of 262 completed will have more
social media
outsourced to external the survey online between June 1-9, 2010. Results were of an impact on
agency partners
not weighted and are statistically tested at a confidence level generating sales
Base: 262
of 90%. this article only offers a summary of findings. and revenue
EXTERNAL PARTNERS MANAGEMENT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITIES
Which one of the following external agency partners Which of the following best describes where social media activities are primarily
is your company most likely to hire to plan and execute managed within your company now and where they will be managed in the future?
social media activities?
50
40 n Now
Direct marketing agency n Future
Other
30
Media buying/
planning agency
Advertising agency
20
10
PR agency
Digital agency 0
PR/comms By a hybrid Advertising Digital/IT Separate social Other
department that media group
combines advertising
Base: 262 Base: 262
and PR/comms
September 2010/prweekus.com/35