PalatnikFactor.com

Marketers Get Social with Twitter, Facebook, and Blogs

April 15, 2009 by Pablo Palatnik

Marketing charts released a report titled, “Marketers’ Top Social Media: Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook“. “An overwhelming majority (88%) of marketers in a recent survey say they are now using some form of social media to market their business, though 72% of those using it say they have only been at it a few months or less, according to a social media study by Michael Stelzner, sponsored by the upcoming Social Media Success Summit 2009. ”

Some key finds in this report:

*When asked if they used social media for marketing purposes, the overwhelming majority (88%) indicate they are employing some form of it. In addition, business owners are more likely to use social media marketing (90+%) than employees working for a company that is not their own (81%), and respondents ages 30-39 are most likely to use social media marketing (92.8%), the study found.

*When asked to rate their experience level with using social media marketing for their businesses, 72% of marketers say they have either just started or have been using social media for only a few months.

*Those working for a company are twice as likely as business owners to be committing 20+ hours a week to social media.

*Those ages 30-39 are most likely to be using social media marketing (44.8% spending 10+ hours weekly), followed by 20- to 29-year-olds (40.3% spending 10+ hours weekly) and then 50- to 59- year-olds (38.7% spending 10+ hours weekly).

y a wide margin, Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn and Facebook are the top four social media tools used by marketers, with Twitter in first place.

Key survey findings about specific application use:

*Small-business owners are more likely to use LinkedIn than employees working for a corporation.

*Men are significantly more likely to use YouTube or other video marketing than women (52.4% of all men compared with 31.7% of women).

*For those just getting under way with social media marketing, LinkedIn is ranked as their number-two choice, pushing blogging down one notch.

*Among those who have been using social media for a few months, Facebook is in second place. This group also has more Twitter use.

*Twitter is used by 94% of marketers who have been using social media for years, followed closely by blogs. This group also endorses online video significantly moreso than the other groups.