Social media research study by Business.com

November 6, 9:09 AMColumbia Internet Marketing ExaminerDavid Hale

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Business.com recently published the findings of their 2009 Social Media Benchmark Study of almost 3,000 professionals across the United States. Some of the major findings included that webinars and podcasts were the learning tools professionals enjoyed the most. Facebook was chosen over Twitter as the best social media platform on which to connect with customers.

The report outlines in depth information on how social media is being used within the business community today.

Some of the major finding in the study were:

• Webinars and podcasts were chosen by business professionals as the top social media tools, with 69% of participants using them to obtain business information.

• Eighty-three percent chose Facebook as the overriding favorite social network, with business to consumer companies having one or more profiles. Twitter scored 45% use by participants. As expected, 77% maintain a presence on both sites.

• Business participants stated there is had been a focus to control access to social networks in the work place. A preponderance of participants believe this should now be rethought due to the business value in such activity.

• Participants using social media for business marketing were 62% viewing corporate and brand profiles on social media sites along with 55% who data mine these sites for business information.

• Those who use these sites the most were marketing professionals and consultants as a source of business information. Ironically, IT professionals use social networking sites the least.

• Companies and their employees are attempting to learn the inner workings of social media sites as the new-age marketing device.

• The average company responding in the study stated they are using seven different social media enterprises; with 65% staffing the initiatives in-house. Seventy-one percent of the companies possess less than two years of experience using social networking as a business tool.

• Developing brand awareness and brand reputation were among the top
social media metrics used to determine campaign success.

To obtain a copy of the study, go to http://www.business.com/info/business-social-media-benchmark-study.

If you haven’t already started the process of developing a business online, you must simply start somewhere. Start with the information you already have. Subscribe to my FREE Ecourse and learn more about marketing online. Learn as you go. But get started. Once you get started, it will be easy to rearrange how you do things, or add in new things, or even delete things you don’t like. But you must get started.

Dr. Dave Hale is the founder and Chief Social Marketer at The Internet Marketing Professor. He also has written over 40 books and how-to course on internet marketing and social media related topics, is a professional speaker, and a professor at Webster University, Columbia, SC and Northcentral University, Prescott Valley, AZ where he teaches business and organizational psychology courses.