Yorkshire Social Media Survey 2010

Yorkshire Social Media Survey November 2010

E:charlotte@optimumexposure.co.uk T: 0113 225 2500 F: 0845 280 2368 M: 07970 28069
Optimum Exposure is a trading name of Republic of Yorkshire Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales . Registered Number: 6813370.
Registered Ofﬁce: Technology House, 237 Lidgett Lane, Leeds, LS17 6QR

Executive Summary
The survey ran from 1st to 30th November 2010 and was answered by companies within the
Yorkshire Region. The aim of the survey was to understand how different sized companies
in Yorkshire are using social media in their business and what return on investment they
see from the campaigns.
The main difference is how SME versus Large companies are using social media in their
businesses. Smaller and medium businesses (1 – 49 employees) feel that social media has
be responsible for creating or helping create sales or new business. LinkedIn is a more
important business tool to small businesses which is reflected in the fact that more of the
key people within a small business are promoting themselves on LinkedIn compared to a
medium or large organisations. Whereas larger companies (50+ employees) are not
promoting as much on LinkedIn, nor are their key people actively using LinkedIn.
Companies are using tools such as blogs, Twitter and LinkedIn more than video content
(YouTube). Which makes sense as there is more investment required to creating a
professional video compared to setting up a blog.
Companies overall are using social media to boost their PR activity with 75% respondents
said social media had been responsible for creating positive PR about the company and
40% saying social media had helped mitigate any PR problems.
Companies are promoting their social media sites on their websites with 55% respondents
are linking their social profiles online on the home page of their website and 30% saying
they have a dedicated page on their site for 'community' aspects, which sign-post people to
the various sites.
This research paints a picture that Yorkshire companies that are engaged with social media
as a key business tool are finding social media helps create or contribute to finding new
business. Companies are also using social media to boost their PR activities and feel that
social media has helped mitigate PR problems.
Charlotte Britton, MD Optimum Exposure says 'Social Media is becoming a core part of the
marketing mix. Companies that are adopting the technologies and techniques are creating
a competitive advantage for themselves as more people are using sites such as Twitter,
LinkedIn and blogs. Companies need to understand the objectives and metrics for success
before embarking on any activity, so they know what success looks like as the campaign
grows'


Headline Results
• 82% of respondents said they used LinkedIn to promote their business with 67%
saying there key individuals were using LinkedIn to promote their business. 47% of
respondents said they updated their LinkedIn profile weekly.
• 82% of respondent said they used Twitter a part of their business (to find
customers, new business etc) with 57% respondents saying they updated their
Twitter account daily.
• 75% of respondents said they used a blog as part of their business strategy with 40%
saying they updated their blog weekly.
• 50% of respondents are using YouTube as part of their business strategy with 30%
saying they were unsure how often the company updates the account.
• An astounding 37% said they felt social media has been responsible for saving
money in support or customer relations, with 25% saying that they felt it had
certainly contributed towards it.
• 57% respondents said social media had been responsible for or contributing towards
creating new business and sales.
• 75% respondents said social media had been responsible for creating positive PR
about the company and 40% saying social media had helped mitigate any PR
problems.
• 55% respondents are linking their social profiles online on the home page of their
website and 30% saying they have a dedicated page on their site for 'community'
aspects, which sign post people to the various sites.
• 67% of respondents are using tracking within their company and their campaign but
52% are not tracking the industry and anything which might impact their industry
overall.
• 80% of the respondents use social media personally as well as for business and 47%
of them said that their employees don't use social media specifically for business.
• LinkedIn is more important business tool to small businesses which is reflected in
the fact that the more of the key people within a small business are promoting
themselves on LinkedIn compared to a medium or large organisation.
• All companies small, medium or large are committed to ensuring their Twitter
account is updated on a daily basis.
• Smaller businesses are more committed to updating their blog on a weekly basis.
The main reason being would be that smaller companies are usually owner
managed and therefore their credibility is important to the success of the
campaigns, and that they will usually have a direct involvement within the blog.
• Smaller and medium business feel that social media has be responsible for creating
or helping create sales or new business.


Results of the Yorkshire Social Media Survey

Facebook Questions
52% of respondents are using Facebook as part of their business strategy but only 37% of
companies are updating the information on Facebook Fan Page regularly.


LinkedIn Questions
82% of respondents said they used LinkedIn to promote their business with 67% saying
there key individuals were using LinkedIn to promote their business. 47% of respondents
said they updated their LinkedIn profile weekly.


Twitter Questions
82% of respondent said they used Twitter a part of their business (to find customers, new
business etc) with 57% respondents saying they updated their Twitter account daily.


Blog Questions
75% of respondents said they used a blog as part of their business strategy with 40% saying
they updated their blog weekly.


YouTube Questions
50% of respondents are using YouTube as part of their business strategy with 30% saying
they were unsure how often the company updates the account.


Return on Investment Questions
An astounding 37% said they felt social media has been responsible for saving money in
support or customer relations, with 25% saying that they felt it had certainly contributed
towards it.

57% respondents said social media had been responsible for or contributing towards
creating new business and sales.

75% respondents said social media had been responsible for creating positive PR about the
company and 40% saying social media had helped mitigate any PR problems.


Linking Social Media Presence and Tracking
55% respondents are linking their social profiles online on the home page of their website
and 30% saying they have a dedicated page on their site for 'community' aspects, which
sign post people to the various sites.

Most of the blogs set up are on a separate domain (something like blog.domain.com)
rather then being on the main website (domain.com/blog). Which means that the blogs
are being set up separately rather than integrating into the rest of the website.

67% of respondents are using tracking within their company and their campaign but 52%
are not tracking the industry and anything which might impact their industry overall.


Usage Questions
80% of the respondents use social media personally as well as for business and 47% of
them said that their employees don't use social media specifically for business.


Business Questions
A range of companies completed the survey with SME and large organisations being the main
categories. With 47% of people who answered the survey being the business owner and 22% who
were the MD / CEO / Partner in a business.

Comparing Employee Numbers on Key Questions
Have you used LinkedIn as part of your business (i.e. to find customers, research clients,
online networking, groups etc)?
Have you used LinkedIn as part of your business
Have you used LinkedIn as part of your business Have you used LinkedIn as part of your business
Small Business (1 - 10 Employees)
Medium Businesses (11 - 49 Employees) Large Businesses: 50+ Employees

Yes
No Yes
Yes
No
No

The smaller the business the more important LinkedIn is their overall business strategy in
terms of finding customers, researching customers and online networking


Are your key people promoting your company through LinkedIn?

Are your key people promoting your company through LinkedIn? Are your key people promoting your company through LinkedIn?
Small Business: 1 - 10 Employees Medium Business: 11 - 49 Employees

Yes Yes
No No
Unsure Unsure

Are your key people promoting your company through LinkedIn?
Large Business: 50+ Employees

Yes
No
Unsure

LinkedIn is more important business tool to small businesses which is reflected in the fact
that the more of the key people within a small business are promoting themselves on
LinkedIn compared to a medium or large organisation.


How often do you post messages to your Twitter account?

How often do you post messages to your Twitter account? How often do you post messages to your Twitter account?
Small Business: 1 - 10 Medium: 11 - 49 Employees

Daily
Daily
Weekly
Weekly
Monthly
Monthly Less than Monthly
Less than Monthly Unsure
Unsure

How often do you post messages to your Twitter account?

Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Less than Monthly
Unsure

All companies small, medium or large are committed to ensuring their Twitter account is
updated on a daily basis.


How often do you add posts to your blog?
How often do you add posts to your blog? How often do you add posts to your blog?
Small Business 1 - 10 Employees Medium Business: 11 - 49 Employees

Daily
Weekly Daily
Monthly Weekly
Less than Monthly
Monthly Less than
Unsure Monthly
Unsure

How often do you add posts to your blog?
Large Business: 50+ Emloyees

Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Less than
Monthly
Unsure

Smaller businesses are more committed to updating their blog on a weekly basis. The
main reason being would be that smaller companies are usually owner managed and
therefore their credibility is important to the success of the campaigns, and that they will
usually have a direct involvement within the blog.


Has social media been responsible saving you any money in support or customer relations?
Has social media been responsible saving you any Has social media been responsible saving you any
money in support or customer relations? money in support or customer relations?
Small Business: 1 - 10 Employees Medium Company: 11 - 49 Employees

It Contributed
It Contributed No
No Yes
Yes Unsure

Has social media been responsible saving you any
money in support or customer relations?

It Contributed
No
Yes
Unsure

Smaller companies say that social media has been responsible for saving money in support
or customer relations compared to large companies.


Has social media been responsible for creating or helping to create any
sales or new business?

Has social media been responsible for creating or Has social media been responsible for creating or
helping to create any sales or new business? helping to create any sales or new business?
Small Business: 1 - 10 Employees Medium Business: 11 - 49 Employees

Yes
Yes
No
No
Unsure
Unsure

Has social media been responsible for creating or
helping to create any sales or new business?

Yes
No
Unsure

Smaller and medium business feel that social media has be responsible for creating or
helping create sales or new business. From experience social media will have more of a
direct impact on a small business compared to a large company.


Methodology

The online survey was set up using Wufoo. Companies within Yorkshire were specifically
targeted for answering the survey The survey was sent out via :

• Twitter to @charlottebritto 900+ Followers using the #Yorkshire tag
• RT's by Yorkshire Companies on Twitter
• Email to over 200 business owners and senior business people in Yorkshire
• LinkedIn Message sent to over 100 contacts (which were different to the email
contacts)

We had 40 responses from the survey which were a mixture of business sizes and
positions within the company.

It is recognised that the survey was distributed in an electronic format online, therefore the
individuals who will have answered this will be more fluent in online technology and hence
will be self selecting and will have biased the results.


Yorkshire Social Media Survey 2010

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