According to a 2012 study conducted by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), Ipsos ASI and Bloomberg, there is a skills gap in business use of social media. While the majority of businesses are using social media, only 6% say their social media skills and competencies are optimal. A full 50% claim to be either below their industry average or feel they are ‘fundamentally ill-equipped.’
Why does this skills gap matter? Check out these statistics:
95% of online Americans expect a brand to have a social media presence and 89% expect the brand to engage with them on social media (Cone) but the number of companies actually responding and engaging is far less than that.
The updated Social Media Revolution video shows that social media has become part of the fabric of our lives.
- Social media has become the number one activity online
- Facebook has over a billion active monthly users
- Half of them use Facebook every day
- Every second two new members join LinkedIn
- 72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute of the day
- YouTube has become the second largest search engine after Google
- 50% of people value a brand’s Facebook page more than their website
- 87% have liked a brand on Facebook
- Mentions of brands on Twitter grew 113% in 2012
- Those who tweet about brands tend to have more followers
- 53% of people recommend products in their tweets
Educating the C-suite
Forbes reports that companies that outperform their peers were 30% more likely to identify openness – characterized by greater use of social media platforms – as a key factor in their success. So social media has become an integral part of a successful business operation today. But with so few companies feeling that they are on top of the new social platforms this statement from Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics, is more relevant than ever:
“The question is no longer should you be doing social media, it’s are you doing it right?”
Getting an effective social media program implemented takes buy-in from the top, yet the latest report from Weber Shandwick shows only 18 percent of the world’s largest companies’ CEOs have their own social network pages and only 71% of firms respond to – a paltry two percent increase from the previous report released in 2010.
A brand that has no understanding or buy-in at the C-suite level will struggle to get their employees trained, active and effective in social media, so that they can produce the content that resonates and engages their audiences and use the social platforms strategically to achieve business goals.
If your company plans to improve their performance in 2013, getting social media right should be a priority. Social media training and coaching for both executives and employees will improve your performance and your bottom line.
