- Nearly two-thirds of professionals surveyed used social media, with LinkedIn and Facebook being most popular. Younger professionals and females were more likely to use social media. - While social media allows for efficient communication, professionals had concerns about information confidentiality and controlling messages once posted. - Companies are beginning to develop social media policies but are uncertain how to regulate different platforms. Control of information and separating personal and professional communications were key goals. - Social media use is expected to continue growing as younger consumers and employees drive adoption, but traditional communication methods will still be needed to reach all audiences.

2. Forward
Five years ago most businesspeople didn’t know what a blog is, and today, it’s impossible to escape the influences of social
media with sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter demanding more and more of our attention. How we are communicating
with each other is changing.
This survey shows exactly what we are seeing in the business community at large: companies are embracing social media and
improving the way they communicate with customers and stakeholders. This has taken the form of everything from monitoring
of public opinion in cyberspace, to attempts at viral advertising, to more traditional public relations responses.
What we are also seeing is people talking to people again. There is no corporate speak, no canned messages; only individuals
responding to concerns and questions of others. The social media landscape is full of examples.
Frank Eliason completely changed how Comcast interacts with customers through their Twitter account @ComcastCares.
Scott Monty at Ford is building buzz through campaigns like The Fiesta Project on YouTube. And folks like Christi Day at
Southwest are responding in near real-time to potential PR disasters like when a company pilot
removed actor/director Kevin Smith for being too big to fit in one seat.
In professional services like law and accounting, firms, large and small are selling
precisely that: people. This should make the medium of social media a natural
Todd Sattersten is
extension of the marketing and sales activities. But this survey clearly shows the
an author and speaker. He nuanced concerns of professionals—whether it’s compliance with legal privacy
has been involved with social issues or magnitude of time needed to monitor the variety of channels clients
media since 2003 and was one of use.
the first individuals paid to blog, when
Consumer-driven companies seem like they are ahead of their business-to-
800-CEO-READ hired him in 2004 to business counterparts, but their earlier arrival to the party was driven by one
start a weblog for their company. Todd simple reason: that’s where their customers are. Professional services are
used social media extensively in the going to be forced to deal with all the thorny issues of social media as the
promotion of The 100 Best Business same migration takes place in their customer base and Millenials who primarily
Books of All Time in 2009 with communicate through texting and Facebook want companies to meet them
myfavoritebizbook.com as a great where they are.
example of engaging readers and ~ Todd Sattersten
allow them to share their
favorite books.
2

3. Introduction
In April, 2010, McGrath Marketing Associates and Clear Verve Marketing, LLC
launched a study on the social media habits of attorneys and accountants in
Southeastern Wisconsin.
The study was conducted online between April 26, 2010 and May 30, 2010. The survey
was promoted through partnerships with the Wisconsin Institute of Certified Public
Accountants (WICPA), the Association of Accounting Marketing Southeastern Wisconsin
Chapter, the Law Marketing Association Southeastern Wisconsin Subgroup, The
Wisconsin Law Journal, and through media releases.
Over 600 professionals between the ages of 21 and 60 participated in the survey
representing 144 different firms ranging in size from fewer than 50 employees to firms
with over 1000 employees.
Participants were asked demographic questions to qualify them by age and
profession. The survey was structured to provide different questions to
professionals currently participating in social media and those that were not.
Results are presented as answers to a series of questions. This allows
613 financial professionals answers from multiple survey questions to be grouped together for
greater understanding.
participated in the survey.
Participants were equally
divided between males
(51 percent) and females
(49 percent).
3

4. Who participated in the survey?
• 613 financial professionals participated in the survey. The participants were
equally divided between males (51 percent) and females (49 percent).
• The participants ranged in age from 21 through over 60 years. The majority of
participants (52 percent) were middle-aged, between 31 and 49 years.
• Nearly all described their profession as accounting (84 percent). A small number
(5 percent) described their profession as marketing or communications.
• Participants named 144 companies as an employer. Baker Tilley was most
frequently named by participants, with 14 indentifying it as his/her employer.
• Over one in four said they employed at large companies employing 1000 or more.
Nearly 6 percent described themselves as a sole proprietor. Approximately 25
percent described their employer as having fewer than 50 employees.
• When asked who they had responsibility for directly communicating with,
nearly 75 percent said they communicated directly with customers; about
half said they were responsible for communicating with vendors; and nearly
half said they communicated directly with job applicants. Fewer said they
communicated directly with their company’s sales channel.
4

5. Who uses social media?
• Nearly two-thirds said they used social media such as Facebook or LinkedIn.
• Females were significantly more likely to say they used social media (72 percent of
females compared to 62 percent of males).
• Younger participants were more likely to say they used social media. The usage
rates ranged from approximately 94 percent of those aged 21 through 25, to 34
percent of those aged 60 years and over.
• The majority (52 percent) said they use social media for select communications
but generally rely on phone calls, texting, or e-mails. Only one in four said they
used social media moderately or for the majority of their communications. Males
were more likely to describe themselves as infrequent social media users (32
percent of males compared to 23 percent of females).
• Of those who said they use social media, approximately 80 percent said they
use LinkedIn and nearly three in four said they used Facebook. Far fewer said
they use Twitter (13 percent) or blogs (11 percent).
• Again there are gender differences. Significantly more females use
Facebook (83 percent of females compared to just 61 percent of males).
Conversely, males were likelier to say they use LinkedIn (87 percent of
males compared to 74 percent of females). Nearly equal rates of males
and females said they used Twitter and Blogs.
• Participants aged 40 to 49 were most likely of any age groups to say
they used Facebook and LinkedIn.
5

6. Why are some professionals not using
social media?
• Nearly 40 percent said they had concerns about confidentiality of Social Media,
particularly Facebook. Participants in the 40 to 49 age group were most likely to
have confidentiality concerns.
• Others said they were concerned that Social Media communication lacked
professionalism.
• Males were significantly more likely to say that they preferred other communication
venues to social media (72 percent of males compared to 54 percent of females).
• Several noted that their companies were regulated by the SEC and FINRA which
they said limited their freedom to use social media venues.
• Only a small percentage (12 percent) said that their company had a policy
blocking the use of all social media.
Most of the professionals Nearly one-third of those who do not use social media said they
anticipate they will start using Social Media in the future.
who do not use social
• Females were more likely than males to say they would start using social
media stated that they media in the future (42 percent compared to just 27 percent of males).
prefer to use other methods
• Employees in the 31 to 49 year age range were most likely to say they
of communication such as anticipated they would use social media.
phone, texting, or emails.
• Having customers start using social media or having their employer start
encouraging its use would convince them to start using social media.
6

7. How do employees learn of social media?
The large majority of employees (88 percent) said they learned of social media through
friends, family, co-workers, or business associates. Over half said they learned about
social media independently.
• Only 27 percent said they learned about social media by attending a class or
seminar.
• Fewer than 3 percent said they used an instruction manual.
How would professionals like to learn about
using social media?
• Non social media users were evenly distributed among desired learning
methods:
• 35 percent prefer written instruction manuals
Lack of formal training • 37 percent prefer on-line instructions
and not understanding
• 34 percent prefer seminars/classes
how to use social media
professionally may be two
reasons some professionals
have not begun using
social media for work.
7

8. How is social media used?
While women were more likely to use social media, their use was generally limited to
networking or personal communication. Males were less likely to use social media,
however, users were more slightly more likely to use social media communicate with
customers or other business associates.
• When asked what they used social networking for, the participants named personal
communications most frequently (72 percent), followed by professional networking
(71 percent) and personal networking (61 percent).
• Fewer than one in four said they used social media for business communications,
just 16 percent said they used it for advertising or promotion, and 4 percent said
they use it for communication with sales and distribution.
Some participants said their companies encouraged their employees’ use of so-
cial media.
• Employers encourage use of LinkedIn for networking, prospecting, and
recruiting new employees.
• Sole proprietors and employees of smaller companies were more likely
to say that social media played an active role in promotion and business
communications.
8

9. How does social media fit into business
communications?
• Only two percent of those who use social media said they used it to communicate
with all of their customers and business associates. Over 40 percent said they
did not use social media to communicate with any of their customers or business
associates. Over half said they used social media to communicate with just a few
or some of their customers and business associates.
• Females were more likely to say they did not communicate with any customers or
business associates (45 percent of females said they did not communicate with
social media compared with 38 percent of males).
• Participants aged 40 to 49 were most likely to say they used social media to
communicate with some or a few customers and business associates.
Over 40 percent • When asked which customers or business associates they used social media
to communicate with, the participants were most likely to say they would
of participants said use social media with those who they knew were users of the media. They
they did not use social generally described these customers or business associates as young and
media to communicate IT savvy. In order of magnitude, the following are the types of business
associates contacted through social media.
with any of their customers
• Past and current co-workers
or business associates. • Clients
However, participants were • Professional contacts and associations
most likely to say they • Prospects
• Recruiters and job applicants
would use social media • Educational sources
with those who they
knew were users of
the media.
9

10. How are firms approaching social media policies?
Companies appear to be approaching social media policy development very differently. Approximately
30 percent of those who were social media users said their company had a policy regarding use
of social media. In addition, others said that their companies were in the process of developing or
refining their social media policies.
• Employees of companies with at least 1000 employees were most likely to say companies had
established guidelines for social media use.
Although a significant percentage of companies allow, even encourage participation in LinkedIn,
they appear to be uncertain of how to regulate use of other venues such as My Space, Twitter,
Facebook, and blogs. Respondents were apt to say that their companies recognized the power
of Social Media as a communication tool particularly for marketing, sales and promotion,
however, recognize the need to control its content and distribution. An important
goal is keeping employees’ personal communication separate from professional
communication.
• Of those participants who said there was a policy in place, the most frequent
policy description was that social media was limited to business use.
• Companies that allowed limited personal use limited the amount of time
An important goal is employees could access social media or limited access to specific venues,
most frequently Facebook or Twitter. A number said that while LinkedIn
keeping employees’ was allowed, their companies outlawed Facebook in the workplace.
personal communication Some companies limited social media access to select employees or
functional areas.
separate from professional
communication. • Several companies subject use of social media to general corporate
communication policies, social media communications must follow
guidelines established for all external communications.
• Companies said that social media employee communications were not
to represent the company or employees. Information about the company’s
strategic plans and financial status are not appropriate social media content.
10

11. What are the advantages of using
social media?
The efficiency of Social Media for quickly reaching a wide range of people was identified
as the major advantage to its use.
• The majority cited the ease and speed of communicating with a large numbers of
people as social media’s great strength.
• Use of social media was also noted to be very inexpensive, especially when
compared with print and television media.
• A number said that social media’s ability to connect with young consumers was
very advantageous, especially since they were turning their backs on traditional
venues such as land phones, cell phone calls, and web sites.
In addition, the following were identified as social media advantages:
• Ease of use
• Flexible
“[Social Media is a]
• Good for networking
key point of connectivity
for Generation Y; need to • Good for business promotion
be able to relate to your • Good for job recruiting and job hunting
audience in their preferred • Gives cutting edge impression-not stodgy
style and means.”
~ Male 31-39 years
11

12. What are the disadvantages to using social
media for business communications?
The biggest disadvantage to using social media is that it is difficult to control the media
after its release.
• Although a large number said that large breadth of contact was a strong advantage
of social media, they said it was also a disadvantage. They questioned whether
the message could be distorted or changed when viewed by others outside of their
targeted segments.
• Nearly 20 percent said they were concerned about the confidentiality of informa-
tion released on social media.
• The venue is too casual and impersonal, especially when dealing with professional
clients.
• It is time consuming to check all of the social venues for information and
messages.
• Social venues are becoming too cluttered; too many messages with little
“Due to low cost and or no value.
high volume, social
• Not all clients and associates use social media. To reach everyone will
media messages become have to also use conventional media, such as e-mailing and phone calls.
overwhelming to the
• Older generation does not use it.
audience and will
lose impact.”
~ Male 30-39
12

13. What are the future social media trends?
The large majority said that social media applications and venues will increase rapidly.
Some qualified their responses by saying it would increase for select functions including
sales, marketing, and human resources.
• Employee use of social media will become increasingly acceptable as companies
recognize the power of social media. They said the use of Facebook, Twitter, and
YouTube will increase.
• Companies will increase use social media to target select markets including
consumers in their teens, twenties, and thirties.
• A number agreed that the future of social media will depend on employee and
consumer age and industry. Several said that social media applications will
increase as older workers retire. Others said that social media does not suit
conservative industries.
• LinkedIn will become a dominant networking and recruiting tool.
“Soon all corporate
communications will be
broadcast using both
traditional and social media.”
~Male 60+
13

14. Findings
• Current social media venues might never fit the communication needs of all
consumers or businesses. A successful marketer will likely need to include an array
of traditional and social media venues in their communication strategies.
• Control of information released on social media is of vital concern of both
companies and their employees.
• There is not a central source of information as to how to use the different social
media venues. Much of the information is passed among friends or business
associates. Older workers may feel excluded from the various informal sources of
social media information.
• Companies will likely have to provide social media instruction to employees.
Employees will need to understand how to post professionally and how social
media communications differ from those in other mediums.
• Large companies in particular are proceeding cautiously when adopting social
media for business communications. Smaller companies are more aggressive in
using social media, but are less proactive about developing policies around its use.
• Users view social media as dynamic, with new social media outlets frequently being
developed and implemented.
• The relative equality in the number of people who use social media for personal
and business communications indicates a strong need for social media policies at
all firms.
• Use of social media as a promotional tool is likely to increase as use becomes more
common among workers and their potential clients.
14

15. About Us
About Clear Verve Marketing About McGrath Marketing Associates
Clear Verve Marketing, LLC special- Since 1999, clients have relied on
izes in Promise MarketingSM, helping McGrath Marketing Associates to guide
professional service providers, not-for- marketing and product strategies and
profits, community organizations, retailers, uncover opportunity. MMA is a full service
and custom manufacturers promote marketing and research firm offering
their ideas, services and causes to their expertise in consumer and business-
target audiences. The company provides to-business research. The company
marketing planning and support, creative provides qualitative and quantitative
and technical writing, graphic design, research to a diverse spectrum of clients
public relations, social media, and event in the insurance, healthcare, finance,
planning services. and manufacturing industries. McGrath
Marketing specializes in translating
Clear Verve Marketing, LLC research findings into product and market
13309 Watertown Plank Rd. implications and strategies for companies
Elm Grove, WI 53122 ranging in size from small start-ups to
262-796-9001 Fortune 500 firms.
This book is protected under
www.clearverve.com McGrath Marketing Associates
the Creative Commons License.
1650 Shady Lane
You are free to print, share, and
Elm Grove, WI 53122
distribute this work. You must
attribute this work to Clear Verve
262-797-2561
Marketing, LLC and McGrath
www.mcgrathmarketing.com
Marketing Associates. You may
not alter, transform, or build
upon this work.
15