Fortune 500 Social Media Stats
The Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth recently released their follow-up study to Fortune 500 companies adoption and usage of the most popular social media tools.
I’ve highlighted the statistics I’ve found the most interesting.
Most Relevant Data
Blog
- 22% or 108 companies have a public-facing corporate blog with a post in the past 12 months (up +6%)
- Of the 108 blogs located, 93 (86%) are linked directly to a corporate Twitter account
- 35% or 137 companies have a Twitter account with a post within the past 30 days
- Boeing, Footlocker, FPL Group and Winn-Dixie Stores) had their Tweets protected and required a request to view their profile
- Nine companies: Baker Hughes, CIT Group, Computer Sciences, Delta Air Lines, Ecolab, Manitowoc, Mattel, MeadWestvaco and Union Pacific…with corporate Twitter accounts had not posted within the past 30 days
- 69% or 120 companies consistently responded with @replies or retweets within the past thirty days
Podcasting / Video
- 19% of the 2009 Fortune 500 is podcasting (up +3%)
- 31% are using video on their blog sites (up+10%)
Quick Analysis
Although the numbers are going in the right direction, these are still extremely low. 22% of the world’s largest 500 companies having a blog is nothing to brag about.
For companies of this size, it’s difficult to have one Twitter account that speaks for many many different product lines and brands. But with marketing teams and budgets as large as a Fortune 500 company…they should have some presence. I’ll need to look further into the study to determine if this study included all brands of a company or if they just looked at the company as a whole entity.
There is NO excuse however for 9 companies to have a Twitter profile that has not been updated in 30 days. Someones head should roll for that. Another non-excusable offense is a “locked” or closed account. Even someone with a basic understanding of social media and Twitter should know that a locked account is completely missing the point of the tool.
I’m fascinated with watching these giants try and dabble into the social media space. Slow and steady does not win this race…not here. Those that are innovative will see benefits. Those that wait on the sidelines will not. It really is a simple as that.
For a look at the Full report click HERE
For a look at the Full List of Fortune 500 click HERE
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Scott S. Bishop is editor for Real Time Marketer and a marketing strategist with a specialty in social media. He is an avid blogger and active across the net. He is @thescottbishop on Twitter
