42% of American marketers are still in their infancy when integrating social media.

Out of 10 senior marketers in the US indicate that their company has either not engaged in or has only just started the integration of social media in their company. 42% are in an experimental stage and 16% indicate that social media is fully integrated in their companies. In spite of the low social media integration there is a high social network sites adoption. 66% of the American companies have a Facebook page, 51% a Twitter account and 44% a LinkedIn page. “These results show that many companies have started social media in a tactic way. They rapidly created an account on a popular network, without it being part of a total, company-wide strategy,” says Steven Van Belleghem of the research agency InSites Consulting.

Key conclusions:

• 42% of American companies are still in their infancy when integrating social media in their company. 16% have full integrated the new media.
• 66% of the companies have a Facebook page, 51% a Twitter account and 44% a company LinkedIn page
• Companies from the financial and health industry are lagging behind, whereas Tech & Telco and the Media sector are ahead
• The main barrier to change is the unclear financial return. This survey show there is a positive correlation between the extent of social media integration and the financial results
High social network adoption, low social media integration

Technology, telecom and media companies are way ahead of the others where social media integration is concerned. A quarter of these companies indicate they have integrated social media in their company processes. In the financial and pharmaceutical sectors the picture is clearly different. One out of 3 of these companies are only just starting their social media adventures. “The financial and pharmaceutical companies are part of difficult sectors for the company-wide use of social media. The legal and privacy-related matters are more important in their sectors than in others,” says Steven Van Belleghem.

Uncertainty concerning the financial added value is the main inhibition

Companies who have until today invested little in the integration of social media mainly see the uncertainty concerning the financial return as a barrier. This is the number one barrier, followed by a low fit with the product portfolio and a lack of support by top management. Nonetheless, this survey shows a positive correlation between the extent of social media integration and the company’s financial results. The more a company integrates social media in its commercial processes, the stronger its financial results. Furthermore there is also an increase in impact of other types of marketing communication, and companies who have integrated social media to the fullest, have more successful product launches than companies who do not integrate social media.

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