When it comes to implementing a digital marketing strategy that includes an active social media presence, large corporations are often slow-moving, even hesitant adopters.
Yet the importance of large companies using social media can’t be overstated. Not only can a strategic, well-executed social presence lead to increased revenue, new business development opportunities and other ROI-worthy outcomes, research also shows that executives who use social media are viewed as more trustworthy. And the same can probably be said of the companies they lead.
Let’s look at some of the Fortune 500 social media usage statistics:
- 23 percent of Fortune 500 companies have a corporate blog, a number that has remained fairly steady throughout the last 3 years. Even more telling, 37 percent of Inc.’s 500 Fastest Growing Companies have a corporate blog.
- 35 percent of the top 100 Fortune 500 companies have a corporate blog compared to 14 percent of those Fortune 500 companies in the bottom 300-500 of the category. Hmmm, top companies devoting more attention to their corporate blogs than those in the bottom of the pack—no surprise to us.
- 62 percent of Fortune 500 companies have an active corporate Twitter account and have tweeted in the last 30 days.
- The industry with the most Twitter accounts is specialty retail, the industry that also has the most number of blogs. For B2C enterprises, that just makes good sense. But across the board, it’s interesting to note that just about every one of the Fortune 500 companies has a presence on Twitter. There’s probably a reason for that.
- Fortune 500 companies with the highest number of Twitter followers include Google, Whole Foods, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, The Washington Post, Verizon Wireless, Coca-Cola and McDonalds. Want to understand social media best practices? Take a look at some of the engagement that happens in these companies’ Twitter streams (and take a gander at their Facebook pages while you’re at it).
- 58 percent of Fortune 500 companies have a corporate Facebook page, with Insurance, Specialty Retail (apparel, home, appliances, furniture) and Food Production, Services and Drug Store categories leading the way. No surprises there.
Sites like Facebook and Twitter are undeniably important when it comes to establishing a company presence and connecting with consumers – hence the importance for B2C companies to participate in the social media space.
It was surprising to us to see no mention of LinkedIn (which we find to be an integral component of social media strategies for our B2B clients). It would have also been nice to see a breakdown of the differences in B2C social media participation of the Fortune 500 vs. B2B participation. I’ll bet if I dig around a little bit, I can find a study that addresses that … stay tuned.
The drop off in corporate blogging wasn’t surprising. Blogging is all about creating fresh content, providing a resource for customers and prospects, and bringing leads to your website that you can ultimately convert to sales. It’s not rocket science. And it only pays off if you do it. But therein lies the rub – blogging is hard work. And many companies create a corporate blog without any thought about what kind of time and effort will need to be devoted to the effort or any content marketing strategy in place. They get started, realize how hard it is, then their blogging activity either tapers off or stops completely. HubSpot’s State of Inbound Marketing report makes it easy to see all the reasons you—or Fortune 500 companies—need to be blogging.
B2C companies who blog regularly see an 88 percent increase in median monthly leads and B2B companies who blog see a 67 percent increase in median monthly leads. It really is that simple. (Psst, by the way – that’s one of the things we help clients do, build and manage and create content for their blogs).
Were you surprised by any of the stats in the infographic? And do you think that, as a whole, Fortune 500 companies view and approach social media differently than their small business counterparts?
Lead image via CNNMoney
Shelly Kramer is a Principal Analyst and Founding Partner at Futurum Research. A serial entrepreneur with a technology centric focus, she has worked alongside some of the world’s largest brands to embrace disruption and spur innovation, understand and address the realities of the connected customer, and help navigate the process of digital transformation. She brings 20 years’ experience as a brand strategist to her work at Futurum, and has deep experience helping global companies with marketing challenges, GTM strategies, messaging develoment, and driving strategy and digital transformation for B2B brands across multiple verticals. Shelly’s coverage areas include Collaboration/CX/SaaS, platforms, ESG, and Cybersecurity, as well as topics and trends related to the Future of Work, the transformation of the workplace and how people and technology are driving that transformation. A transplanted New Yorker, she has learned to love life in the Midwest, and has firsthand experience that some of the most innovative minds and most successful companies in the world also happen to live in “flyover country.”