November 7, 2016: Since 2008, the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth’s Center for Marketing Research (CMR) has been studying how large corporations (defined as those belonging to the Fortune 500) use blogging and social media. This year’s report contains many interesting nuggets of information; here are the standouts:
Corporate blogging arrests its two-year decline
Last year, CMR reported an unprecedented – and alarming — two-year decline in corporate blogging levels among the Fortune 500 — from 34 percent in 2013 to a mere 21 percent in 2015. But CMR’s latest data indicates that this decline has bottomed out:
This year 181 (36%) of the Fortune 500 are using their blogs for thought leadership, product promotion and engagement. The range of topics include announcements of new products or services, news reports about the company or the industry and philanthropic involvement through special events. Blogging continues to be a part of the social media strategy for about one third of the Fortune 500 companies.
CMR’s study reveals an interesting correlation: 50 percent of companies in the Top 200 positions of the Fortune 500 maintain active blogs, whereas only 29 percent of the Bottom 200 do:
Source: Center for Marketing Research
While few would contend that a robust outward-facing blog is either a requirement or a determinant of corporate success, it does seem that top-ranked corporations are far more likely to have them than companies of lower rank in Fortune’s list. This positive correlation makes sense, given the power, flexibility, and independence provided by a well-curated, active, domain-based blog.
LinkedIn is ubiquitous among the Fortune 500, but Twitter and Facebook are close behind
CMR found that 97 percent of companies in the Fortune 500 list maintain a LinkedIn presence – not a huge surprise given LinkedIn’s success at positioning itself as a buttoned-down business friendly network over the past decade.
But Facebook and Twitter appear to be slowly closing the gap. In 2016, CMR found that 86 percent of companies in the Fortune 500 list maintain active Twitter feeds (an “active feed” is defined as one in which at least one Tweet has been transmitted within a 30-day period). A nearly equivalent share (84 percent) maintain Facebook pages.
Source: Center for Marketing Research
Facebook’s emergence as a business-friendly network – not just as a network for casual chat and messaging from friends and family – is a relatively new development that bears watching. As we reported back in August, Facebook’s “secret weapon” appears to be its vast scale and sheer ubiquity. And its accelerated rollout of business-friendly features supports the idea that it’s eagerly eyeing LinkedIn’s business audience. (Note: on the day this article was published, Techcrunch.com reported that Facebook is testing recruiting features that can be incorporated into business pages, yet another clear indication that it intends to directly compete with LinkedIn).
CMR’s finding should also prove encouraging to Twitter, whose stock price has been hammered over the past 12 months over low user growth issues and takeover rumors. Whatever the future holds for Twitter’s shareholders, Twitter’s continued embrace by corporate America augers well for the company’s future.
Instagram is Hot!
CMR found that corporate Instagram use increased 15 percent year-over-year, making this network (owned by Facebook) a standout performer, especially among the Fortune 500 Top 10 companies.
Instagram’s use by the F500 shot up 15% this year, increasing from 150 (30%) to 225 (45%) active users. Eight of the top 10 F500 companies are using Instagram, (Walmart, Exxon Mobile, Berkshire Hathaway, McKesson, CVS Health, General Motors, Ford Motor, and AT&T) while two (United Health Group and Apple) are not.
Source: Center for Marketing Research
Instagram’s corporate appeal is clear: it’s a great place to showcase new products, communicate with consumers, and remain top-of-mind with today’s mobile users, which now represent, in many cases, the lion’s share of users. Instagram has — at last count — half a billion mobile users around the world, and its demogaphic skews young. That’s important to corporations – especially those looking to engage today’s young people in long term relationships with their brands. As the study notes:
One third of American teens consider Instagram the most important of their social networking sites. Businesses are adopting this tool and using it in addition to other tools to create a more comprehensive social media strategy. The Fortune 500 are diving in to connect with some of its 300 million active users.
You can read an abstract of the CMR study at its website:
http://www.umassd.edu/cmr/socialmediaresearch/2016fortune500/
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