THE PRACTITIONER

Today we announced the findings of our first annual Georgia Social Media Engagement Scorecard and found that Georgia’s top 25 public and top 25 private companies just aren’t making the social media grade. Now, don’t get us wrong, there are some standouts such as Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola (witness Expedition206.com) representing the B2C crowd, and AGCO and Infor Global Solutions highlighting the best of B2B, but overall the scoring was fairly low.

The study searched for the activity of corporations and their chief executives in social media channels for Georgia’s top public and private companies, as determined by revenue and published in Atlanta Business Chronicle’s December 2009 Book of Lists. We then established the Social Media Engagement (SME) score based on a company’s use of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and a corporate blog. Those five channels represent the tools most commonly associated with social media engagement. Companies received a point for each of the tools they employ, for a maximum score of five. No need for fancy algorithms here, just keep it simple and straight-forward. The goal was to set a baseline; not admonish companies for their lack of engagement.

Highlights of the Georgia Social Media Engagement Scorecard:

• LinkedIn is far and away the most popular social networking service; 96% of all companies have a LinkedIn page, followed by Facebook (42%) and Twitter (38%)
• Only 9 companies received a SME score of 4 or better
• CEOs lack engagement with an average SME score of .26
• 12 companies have a dedicated YouTube channel while only 7 have a blog
• Only 1 CEO contributes to the company blog
• Private B2C companies led the pack scoring a 3.2 on the SME scale while private B2B companies trailed with a mere 1.6
• 33 of the 50 companies on the list are B2B (and social media for B2B companies is a very different animal from B2C)
• 1 company is completely disengaged

So what does this mean? Should these companies be more engaged? That’s a question we receive often from clients and the simple answer is, yes. Effective communication is an interactive dialogue that listens and speaks. What we found through this research is that most of the companies focus on channels they control, those where they broadcast the message.

But are they listening?  Whether or not one acknowledges the opportunities of social media, a company simply cannot overlook the power it wields over a brand. The Internet is becoming increasingly participatory and social, and user-generated content is on the rise.  What’s being said about a company’s products, services, executives, etc. will only increase exponentially in the future, providing significant opportunities for organizations to mine the information and make changes that positively impact the brand.

The Rise of the Social CEO

While we were snooping on the habits of these 50 companies we decided to also take a look at what the CEOs were doing. The data showed CEOs of private companies are more engaged than those of public companies, though almost all of that engagement is through LinkedIn. Thirty-two percent of private CEOs maintain a profile on LinkedIn, compared to only 16 percent of their counterparts in public enterprise. None of them have a public facing Facebook profile or Twitter account.

The C-suite is changing as a new, more digitally connected generation emerges. With access to more information and a shift to conduct their own research and make personal connections, buyers are turning to companies who have a broad online presence. In B2C this lends itself to the creation of more customer facing touchpoints and the consumer need for greater corporate transparency. The rise of the social CEO in B2B circles means more purchasing decisions will be driven through online engagement. We have blogged about the social CEO in the past but recently we read the following that drives the message home even further—research and buying is being conducted online!

Social Media and Sales

In her December 22, 2009 blog post, Customer Engagement: Deepen Relationships with Community Marketing, Laura Ramos, vice president, principal analyst Forrester Research, says, “As social activity between B2B buyers and sellers evolves, the need to transform online interactions from transactional to relational increases, particularly as marketers recognize that digital approaches can reinforce the intimacy and influence essential to building strong customer bonds.”

Additionally, a national survey of 133 chief marketing officers conducted by Bazaarvoice and the CMO Club found that 66 percent of respondents said they would boost their social media budgets this year, with approximately 75 percent saying they would attach sales goals to their social media spend. Eighty-one percent of the CMOs surveyed said they would establish a goal for their social marketing efforts to produce 10 percent of their sales in 2010.

We are not advocating that social media is the right medium for every company, and it certainly may not be appropriate for every CEO. Several factors are involved in the decision to put a company’s resources behind a medium that gives some level of control to the public.  But this year’s study sets a benchmark to base further research and measure how it evolves over the coming years. The data revealed today shows that many companies are getting their feet wet, so to speak, and are trying to figure out how social media works for them. For 2009, we will call it an experimental year. 2010 should bring more concrete activity and our 2011 update will compare the two years to see how companies are adjusting their usage of social media.

So, there you have it. The 2009 Georgia Social Media Engagement Scorecard.

Additional Information:

-       Wunderkind Public Relations’ Georgia Social Media Engagement Scorecard SlideShare

-       Georgia Social Media Engagement Company Index

-       Whitepaper: Is Social Media Right for B2B Companies?

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* The company information researched as part of the Georgia Social Media Engagement Scorecard was provided by the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 2009 Book of Lists. All information was known to be accurate at the time the Book of Lists was published.