Are Corporations Giving Up on Social Media?

Terms like “blogging,” “tweeting” and “liking” are continuing to gain traction in the lexicon of the marketing industry  –or so it seems.  New research from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth shows that the use of blogs, Twitter and Facebook among the Fortune 500 actually leveled off in 2011, and the results have me wondering: Are the nation’s largest companies giving up on social media?
The study, which focused on public-facing social media use of the F500, found that adoption of blogs, Twitter and Facebook in 2011 appears to have plateaued, with no significant change in the past year.
Here is just a small sampling of the findings:
Blogs. About one-quarter (23 percent) of the 2011 F500 have corporate public-facing blogs with a post in the past 12 months. That’s up from when UMass-Dartmouth first studied corporate blog use in 2008. Back then, only 16 percent of F500 companies had blogs. But, blog adoption rates among F500 companies have been relatively flat ever since, with 22 percent in 2009, and 23 percent in 2010.
Twitter. Well more than half (62 percent) of the 2011 F500 have corporate Twitter accounts with a tweet in the past thirty days –but that’s only an increase of 2 percent from last year. Interestingly, all the top ten companies in the 2011 F500 are tweeting. And, overall, about half (49 percent) of the Twitter accounts belong to the top 200 companies on the list; about one-third (34 percent) belong to those ranked in the bottom 200.

Facebook. Fifty-eight percent of the 2011 F500 have Facebook pages. Last year, the researchers from UMass-Dartmouth found 56 percent were on Facebook.  As with Twitter, about half (48 percent) of the Facebook accounts belong to the top 200 companies on the list, while 35 percent belong to those ranked in the bottom 200.
It’s also worth noting that this year’s research discovered that 31 percent of the 2011 F500 still have neither a Twitter account nor a Facebook presence, at all.
What’s going on?
For starters, keep in mind that UMass-Dartmouth has conducted longitudinal studies on four major sectors of the US economy –the Fortune 500, Inc. 500, charities, and higher education –for the past four years. In every one of those years, the F500 has lagged behind the others in adoption of social media. (For example, last year, 71 percent of the Inc. 500 was on Facebook, as was a whopping 98 percent of the higher ed institutions and 97 percent of the charities studied. Compare that to the 56 percent of F500 companies that had Facebook pages in 2010.)
Perhaps corporate silos are getting in the way? “Ownership” of social media can get sticky, and teams bogged down by border wars and artificial boundaries may find it difficult to innovate. Retrenchment could also be a factor, I suppose. And, I know that integrating social media and proving ROI remain significant challenges for many–although marketing automation technology continues to mature towards sophisticated and elegant solutions.
While I recognize these obstacles, I still must admit that I’m disappointed in these survey results. Why? Because now is not the time for complacency. It’s not the time for companies to lose focus. Empowered consumers are here, and they’re here to stay. We’re just beginning to tap into the potential of strategies like intelligent 1:1 marketing, and that means marketers must continue to find ways to engage with their customers and prospects online in more personalized ways.

As I’ve said before, the time for equivocation has passed. Mobile and social are now strategically important, and the land-grab for digital channels is on. Your customers want engagement. They want you to deliver value. And, they want it online. Let’s hope they find you there, instead of your competitor.