1. WHITE PAPER
SOCIAL MEDIA
Reality Check
w w w.socialvolt.com

2. Reality Check
Executive
Overview
2012 Corporate Social
Media Survey
Though those surveyed are generally active in social media, risk – like establishing a social media policy and ensuring that
SocialVolt’s 2012 Corporate Social Media Survey found that most employees adhere to it – should certainly concern security and risk
marketing folks are not currently taking proactive measures to managers within their organizations.
ensure compliance and minimize risk when it comes to social
Although this survey shows that there is a lack of awareness
media – even those from highly regulated industries.
around corporate social media policy and regulations, there is
One-quarter of financial services companies do not have a social promise for the future. Let’s take a closer look.
media policy in place, and 75% do not conduct any training.
Three-quarters do not have a way to provide a detailed audit trail
of social media activities. Perhaps most surprising is that 37.5%
say they don’t have to comply with any federal regulations and
“Most marketing folks
12.5% are unsure.
are not currently taking
Within healthcare organizations, although 28.6% say they
manage social media for multiple brands, 42.9% don’t have
proactive measures
a social media policy in place and 85.7% don’t conduct any to ensure compliance
training. And, a whopping 42.9% are unsure whether they have to
comply with federal regulations. and minimize risk
In this day and age, when a company’s brand can make it or when it comes to
break it online via tweets and Facebook posts, the fact that most
marketers are not taking simple proactive measures to minimize social media – even
those from highly
regulated industries.”
Social Media Reality Check:
SocialVolt’s 2012 Corporate Social Media Survey
.2.

3. Reality Check
Methodology
& Respondent
Profile
This online survey was conducted in April 2012 by SocialVolt Corporate Breakdown
and generated more than 140 qualified responses from U.S.
companies in a variety of industries. Survey respondents repre-
sented senior-level marketing and social media titles at a variety Of the 81.7% of respondents that were from corporations (non-
of industries. The majority of respondents were from corpora- agencies), the majority identified themselves as a Marketing
tions and brands, while 18.3% represented agencies. Companies
Manager (38.3%), Social Media Manager (25.2%) or CMO/VP/
participating included Ameriprise Financial, CareerBuilder, Drury
Director of Marketing (10.4%). Thirty-four point eight percent are
Hotels, Merrill Lynch, Mutual of America and many others. Health-
small or medium-sized businesses, while 30.3% have more than
care/pharmaceuticals and financial services represented the top
two industries, aside from agencies and consultants/profes- 5,000 employees. Three-quarters (74.8%) are privately held. The
sional services. vast majority (92.2%) engage in social media, yet 49% don’t have a
policy in place.
Agency Breakdown
Of the 18.3% of respondents that were from an agency, the major-
ity were from marketing agencies (38.5%); other types of agencies
included interactive (23.1 %), integrated (23.1%), advertising (11.5%)
and public relations (3.8%). Forty-two percent are CEOs/owners.
The majority work with either just B2B or both B2B/B2C clients
(42.3% each). Over three-quarters do manage social media on
behalf of their clients (79.6%), yet 85% don’t have a policy in place.
Social Media Reality Check:
SocialVolt’s 2012 Corporate Social Media Survey
.3.

4. Reality Check
Social Media
Activities
Only eleven percent characterize their social media activity as
“very active” – the majority (63.2%) consider their level to be
“moderate” and 25.6% consider their level to be “active”.
Forty-one percent say they are managing social media for more
than one brand or client, with 68% of those folks managing an
average of two-to-five brands or clients. Seventeen percent
manage social media for more than ten brands or clients.
When asked why they use social media, 89.6% said “to
communicate with customers”; 80% to “promote goods and
services”; 70.4% to “generate new prospects”; 60.8% to “monitor
competitors and listen to conversations”; and 47.2% to “stay on
top of industry trends”.
“Forty-one percent
The majority (57.6%) have two-to-five employees involved in social
manage social media
media activities.
for more than one
brand or client, with
the majority (68%)
managing two-to-five.”
Social Media Reality Check:
SocialVolt’s 2012 Corporate Social Media Survey
.4.

5. Reality Check
Social Media
Compliance Top Risks
& Risk Respondents are most concerned with their company’s reputation
when it comes to social media risks – 56.2% cite “embarrassment
or brand damage” as the most worrying risk. Marketers are
not concerned about the risks of being non-compliant, as
demonstrated by only 3.3% noting concern about employees not
Sixty-two percent either don’t have or don’t know if they have
complying with federal regulations and 1.7% expressing concern
a social media policy in place; 38% say they do have a policy in
about associated financial penalties.
place. Forty percent are unsure of if they have to comply with
federal regulations, while 39.7% say they don’t and 20.7% say
they do. Among highly-regulated industries, 12.5% of financial What corporate social media risk are you MOST worried about?
services companies and 42.9% of healthcare/pharmaceutical
Embarrassment or brand damage 56.2%
companies do not know if they are supposed to be complying
with regulations. Misrepresentation 14.0%
Accidental disclosure of
confidential information 10.7%
Sixty-eight percent do not conduct any social media training. Employees not adhering
to company’s policy 7.4%
Companies with more than 500 employees are more likely to
Hacked accounts/fraudulent posts 6.6%
conduct training than those with fewer than 500 employees –
40% compared to 23.2%, respectively. Employees not complying
with federal regulations 3.3%
Financial penalties 1.7%
Accidental disclosure of IP 0.0%
Top Challenges How challenging are the following corporate social media tasks?
Measuring effectiveness of 3.3%
Measuring the effectiveness of social media social media activities
49.6% 42.1% 5.0%
0
activities is the biggest challenge that those Monitoring competitive posts 26.4% 46.3% 15.7% 11.6%
surveyed are facing, with 91.7% citing it as Posting relevant content/engaging in 26.4% 57.0% 14.0% 2.5%
relevant conversations
either “extremely challenging” or “somewhat
Integrating with our CRM system 21.5% 20.7% 12.4% 45.5%
challenging”. Forty-three percent find “managing
Responding to posts in a timely, 4.1%
social media in accordance with policy (and appropriate manner
19.0% 42.1% 34.7%
proving it)” to be challenging, while 45% find Monitoring all of the company’s 16.5% 52.1% 24.0% 7.4%
social media accounts
“establishing and adhering to a corporate social Managing social media in accordance 7.4% 35.5% 27.3% 29.8%
with policy/regulations (and proving it)
media policy” to be a challenge.
Establishing and adhering to a 7.4% 38.0% 33.9% 20.7%
corporate social media policy
EXTREMELY CHALLENG ING NOT CHALLENG ING SOMEWHAT CHALLENG ING N/A
Social Media Reality Check:
SocialVolt’s 2012 Corporate Social Media Survey
.5.

6. Reality Check
Corporate
Social Media
Solutions
The group is evenly split between those who do have products/
systems in place to manage corporate social media activities
– 50.4% do and 49.6% do not.
Of those who do have a system in place:
•
“Of those who have
32.7% do not have a way to enable staff to author content,
but retain control over passwords and account information
• 48.1% cannot provide a detailed audit trail of social media
activities
a system in place,
• 57.7% cannot provide management or federal examiners with
access to data
48% cannot provide
• 61.5% cannot backup and archive data
a detailed audit trail of
When asked what the top attributes are in a corporate social
media management system, the top five were:
social media activities
1. Schedule and publish posts
and 62% cannot
2. Manage Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn interactions
from one location
backup and archive
3. Monitor conversations across multiple social media
sites and blogs
social media data –
4. Track positive, negative and neutral sentiment this can present a
5. Monitor responses in real-time
huge risk.”
However, when asked to rate how their current system performs
in those same areas, the majority of respondents said that their
systems are in need of improvement.
Social Media Reality Check:
SocialVolt’s 2012 Corporate Social Media Survey
.6.

7. Reality Check
Looking
to the Future
Raising Awareness for Social Media Risk
The number one top priority for the coming year is to “better The majority (65.8%) say that conducting a social media risk
engage/interact with customers using social media”, with 98.2% assessment in 2012 is important. Creating a policy and training
saying it was either very or somewhat important. Regaining control employees will also be important as marketers look to the future
over corporate social media accounts was the least important – 67.6% say that establishing a corporate social media policy is
objective, with 48.1% of respondents claiming it is not important. important and 75.9% plan to train employees and raise awareness
for their corporate social media policies.
Likewise, practicing compliant social media will gain momentum
in 2012 – 69.4% think it’s important to have an audit-ready trail of
social media activities and 59.3% want to ensure that social media
activities comply with federal regulations.
Please rank the following social media objectives in terms of
priority for 2012:
Better engage/interact with 84.3% 13.9% 1.9%
customers using social media
Get one consolidated view of all 45.4% 43.5% 11.1%
corporate social media activity
Train employees and raise awareness for 36.1% 39.8% 24.1%
our corporate social media policy
Establish a corporate social media policy 29.6% 38.0% 32.4%
Minimize breaches and 28.7% 37.0% 34.3%
reduce fraudulent posts
Regain control over our corporate 28.7% 23.1% 48.1%
social media accounts
Ensure social media activities 24.1% 35.2% 40.7%
comply with federal regulations
- readyHave an audit- trail of 22.2% 47.2% 30.6%
social media communications
Conduct a social media risk assessment 16.7% 49.1% 34.3%
VERY IMPORTANT SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT NOT IMPORTANT
Of those who consider it important to comply with federal
regulations, only a fraction (4.4%) anticipate their social media
activities to decrease as a result of those regulations – 42.2% plan
to increase social media activity, while 53.3% anticipate their level
to stay the same.
Social Media Reality Check:
SocialVolt’s 2012 Corporate Social Media Survey
.7.

8. Reality Check
Conclusion
Although this survey shows that the majority of marketing titles are
not currently taking proactive measures to ensure compliance and
minimize risk when it comes to social media, there is hope for the
future.
“Companies and
Companies and agencies – especial those in heavily regulated
industries – need to arm themselves with the proper tools and
information to engage in social media in an intelligent, compliant
way. Marketers need to get on the same page with their agencies – especial
organizations’ risk and compliance officers to ensure that social
media activities are within the constraints of their specific industry those in heavily
regulations – without completely stifling the creative, genuine
nature of the medium. Though this can be a difficult balance to
strike, it can definitely be achieved.
regulated industries –
Step one is simply taking the time to develop a corporate social
need to arm themselves
media policy and making employees aware of it. Even the most
regulated industries can successfully participate in social media
with the proper tools
and information to
if they adhere to internal policies and regulatory guidelines by
building security and control into their social media programs. By
engage in social
making sure a complete and thorough social media policy and
system is in place, every company can start to recognize the value
of compliant social media.
media in an intelligent,
compliant way.”
Please refer to SocialVolt’s recent whitepaper, “Social Media for Regulated
Industries,” for more information on social media’s impact on heavily
regulated industries like financial services, healthcare and pharmaceutical
companies, and best practices for creating a compliant social media policy.
Social Media Reality Check:
SocialVolt’s 2012 Corporate Social Media Survey
.8.