Social Networking doing the business
In the Sunday Telegraph today (11th July 2010), Emma Barnett writes about a survey published by Regus http://issuu.com/chris_at_regus/docs/social_success_ which found that…
…40pc of businesses around the world have successfully used social networks to win new customers. However, that falls to 33pc when applied to the UK market.
Much of the content around marketing and branding using twitter, blogging and other social networks is from US sources. My guess is if you took US figures out of the survey, the percentage would drop lower than 33pc. So in the UK we are not too bad at this new way of networking (the Sunday Telegraph is devoting column inches to this subject, so they think there is interest in the UK).
But not as good as our US friends, who are spreading the word about their businesses, building their personal brand and generally embracing social networking for commercial benefit more than we are in the UK.
We have come to love Facebook in the UK. Maybe we can learn from US business people about LinkedIn, blogging and tweeting to promote business in the way we seem to love promoting our personal lives, holidays, weddings and nights out on Facebook.
Chris Woods 9:00 am on July 12, 2010 Permalink |
Hi Tim,
Thanks for reading the Sunday Telegraph article about the Regus social networking for business survey. The full survey can be viewed on the Issuu website here: http://issuu.com/chris_at_regus/docs/social_success_
You make an interesting point about the US usually being in the lead when it comes to new channels that can be used for new business. However, in the case of our research, it’s not the case. Only 35% of the US business people who responded to our survey said that they’d secured new customers via social media.
The world average of 40% is more to do with the successes of the business communities in India, Mexico and Spain. In each of those three countries, 50% or more reported new customer aquisition via social media.
Best wishes,
Chris
timmee62 10:24 am on July 12, 2010 Permalink |
Chris,
Thanks for your comment. Your survey for Regus is very interesting to read in full; a pity the newspaper didn’t provide a link at the end of the article. What is clear is the “english language centric” bias of some commentaries (mine included). We all must be aware of the world wide possibilities when using social networking for business development.
The industry split is also interesting to see; plenty of scope for those in manufacturing, financial service and healthcare to develop new business using social networking.
Best regards,
Tim.