Post on 20-Aug-2015
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Key figures
Multi-level study with a quantitative survey of communications professionals (Spring 2012) followed by a Delphi
survey of business, media, and science experts (Summer 2012) in Germany
This report contains the key findings of an online survey of communications managers and PR professionals in
companies, governmental institutions and non-profit organizations (no agencies and consultants)
Questionnaire containing 27 questions, each formulated based on scientific hypotheses
Personal invitation to participate through the mailing list of pressesprecher magazine and the members of the
Bundesverband deutscher Pressesprecher (BdP – German Association of Press officers) in April and May 2012
Sample size: 860 fully completed questionnaires
A joint project of the University of Leipzig, pressesprecher magazine (Berlin) and Fink & Fuchs Public Relations AG
(Wiesbaden)
Topics of the survey
Social media activities
Governance structures (rules, resources)
Organizational responsibilities
STUDY “SOCIAL MEDIA DELPHI 2012”
Budgets and focus of investments
Key performance indicators and evaluation
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SELECTED RESULTS
The general conditions for social media communications in organizations have significantly improved. Currently,
55.5% of surveyed organizations have established advanced governance structures, which is three times as many
as two years ago.
Notable advances were made in the areas of the availability of budgets for social media (+22 percentage points
compared to 2011) and the support of top management (+21 percentage points).
Investments in social media are primarily used for creating and managing content (68.5 percent) as well for
developing communication concepts and overall strategies (54.2 percent).
Of the organizations that have social media guidelines, 30.6 percent are in an early stage of planning and
coordination. 49.9 percent of organizations have guidelines in force without limitations, while 14.2 percent report
that social media guidelines are under revision or have already been revoked.
In about one in three of surveyed organization s, collaboration regarding social media communications is rather
spontaneous and experimental. For 18.5 percent the responsibilities are not explicitly defined. The majority have
a combination of centralized expertise and decentralized responsibility for implementation.
79 percent of organizations that already evaluate social media communications do so sporadically and subjectively.
13 percent utilize individual performance indicators, while only 8 percent apply comprehensive social media
measurement systems.
72.2 percent of surveyed organizations actively apply social media in their communication activities, while 20.3
percent plan to do so or use social media passively.
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SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE RESPONDENTS (860 COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONALS)
Position Organization
Head of PR / corporate communications
30.2% Employed in the PR / communications department of a
• joint-stock company
• private company
• governmental institution, political organization or association
• non-profit organization
14.7%
48.1%
22.7%
14.5%
PR Manager / Spokesperson 40.1%
Social media manager 13.6%
Trainee 1.9% Age
Other 14.2%
Average age (years)
39
Social Media Delphi 2012 / n = 860 communications professionals / Q 27.
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SIZE OF THE SURVEYED ORGANIZATIONS
Social Media Delphi 2012 / n = 860 communications professionals / Q 27.
< 50
employees
50 to 250
employees
250 to 1,000
employees
> 1,000
employees
Joint-stock company 0.7% 1.0% 2.3% 10.6%
Private company 8.3% 12.9% 13.1% 13.8%
Governmental institution, political organization or association
5.6% 4.7% 6.9% 5.6%
Non-profit organization 5.0% 4.4% 2.9% 2.2%
Total 19.6% 23.0% 25.2% 32.2%
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GENERAL CONDITIONS AND GOVERNANCE STRUCTURES FOR SOCIAL MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES AND MANAGEMENT SUPPORT AVAILABLE, LACK OF PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Social Media Delphi 2012 / n = 860 communications professionals / Q 7: Are the following general conditions for social media communications available in your organization? (multiple answers possible).
76%
69%
63%
50%
41%
39%
39%
36%
33%
33%
26%
23%
20%
17%
27%
43%
54%
53%
52%
55%
57%
60%
55%
67%
4%
14%
10%
7%
5%
8%
10%
10%
10%
7%
19%
10%
Technical possibility for accessing social media by staff during working hours
Support of social media by top management
The freedom to independently react and make decisions regarding communication issues
Defined responsibilities and cooperation structures for those responsible for social media
Human resources for social media
Social media guidelines
Budgets/financial resources for social media
Monitoring tools for social media
Formulated targets or a strategy paper for social media
Social media workshops, seminars or trainings
Legal protection from potential risks and education of employees about due courses of action
Kay performance indicators for measuring the success of social media activities
Available Not available No answer
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COMPARISON OF GENERAL CONDITIONS AND STRUCTURES 2011 AND 2012 RISING BUDGETS AND COMMITMENTS; LESS IMPROVEMENT IN THE FIELD OF QUALIFICATIONS
2011 2012 Change in percentage points
Separate budget for social media
17% 39% +22%
Commitment of top management to social media
48% 69% +21%
Strategy paper for goal-oriented proceeding
23% 33% +10%
Key figures for monitoring success
14% 23% +9%
Social media guidelines
31% 39% +8%
Human resources for social media
33% 41% +8%
Technical possibility of accessing social media
69% 76% +7%
Monitoring tools for social media
29% 36% +7%
Social media workshops, seminars or trainings
27% 33% +6%
Social Media Delphi 2012 / n = 860 communications professionals / Q 7 / Figure displays the difference of the percentage points regarding the general conditions and governance structures present in 2011 and 2012 (only for the aspects that were surveyed in both years).
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GOVERNANCE STRUCTURES FOR SOCIAL MEDIA CURRENTLY, MORE THAN 55 PERCENT HAVE ADVANCED REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS
The index of social media regulation ISMO was calculated as the sum of all structural elements enabling and guiding social
media communications at the respective organizations. Index values range from 0 to 12. Weak regulatory framework:
0 ≤ ISMO ≤ 4; average: 5 ≤ ISMO ≤ 8; strong regulatory framework: 9 ≤ ISMO ≤ 12.
Social Media Delphi 2012 / n = 860 communication professionals / Q 7 / Index construction.
44.5%
37.7%
17.8%
Average regulatory framework
Strong regulatory framework
55.5%
Weak regulatory framework
2010 2011 2012
Weak regulatory framework
83.9% 70.6% 44.5%
Average regulatory framework
13.0% 22.3% 37.7%
Strong regulatory framework
3.1% 7.1% 17.8%
Individual items used for the index calculation were slightly modified.
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53.1%
32.0%
22.9%
18.5%
14.7%
14.2%
11.1%
4.2%
2.9%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
A centralized department is responsible and coordinates all social media activities
The collaboration is spontaneous and experimental
Social media communications is carried out independently by different departments
The responsibilities are not explicitly defined
An interdisciplinary social media team or board is responsible
Individual parts of the organization implement autonomous social media activities under the common name
A specialized team supports primarily with consultation
The collaboration is very regulated
Every employee acts autonomously, independent of hierarchies or departmental boundaries
RESPONSIBILITIES FOR SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS CENTRALIZED DEPARTMENTS COLLABORATE WITH DECENTRALIZED COMMUNICATORS
Social Media Delphi 2012 / n = 621 communication professionals in organizations that already utilize social media / Q 15: In what form does collaboration in social media activities take place in your organization? (multiple answers possible).
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68.5%
54.2%
43.9%
43.0%
30.6%
12.4%
1.8%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Creating and managing content
Developing concepts and overall strategies
Setting up and designing technical channels
Establishing and cultivating contacts on the social web
Monitoring and evaluating success
Training and professional development
Other
FOCUS OF SOCIAL MEDIA SPENDINGS INVESTMENTS ARE MOSTLY USED FOR DEVELOPING CONTENT, CONCEPTS AND STRATEGIES
Social Media Delphi 2012 / n = 332 communications professionals in organizations that have a specific social media budget / Q 10: In which aspects of social media does your organization primarily invest? (multiple answers possible) / Shown are the relative frequencies based on all answers.
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EVALUATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS ONLY ONE IN FIVE ORGANIZATIONS MEASURES SUCCESS SYSTEMATICALLY
Sporadically / subjectively
Individual performance indicators
Measurement systems
Organizations that apply social media evaluation primarily employ sporadic and subjective methods. Specific performance
indicators and measurement systems for social media are not very prevalent yet.
Social Media Delphi 2012 / n = 650 communication professionals of organizations that already evaluate social media / Q 25: How are social media communications evaluated in your organization? (multiple answers possible).
12.8%
7.8%
79.4%
Evaluation of social media communications takes place by ...
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Stephan Fink
Stephan Fink is Spokesman of the Executive Board of Fink & Fuchs
Public Relations AG, Wiesbaden, which he founded after he graduated
with a degree in business, and an Associate Lecturer at the University
of Leipzig.
» Twitter: www.twitter.com/stephanfink, www.twitter.com/finkfuchs
» E-Mail: stephan.fink@ffpr.de
Ansgar Zerfass
Prof. Dr. Ansgar Zerfass is a Professor for Communication Management
at the University of Leipzig and Executive Director of the European
Public Relations Education and Research Association, Brussels.
» Twitter: www.twitter.com/zerfass, www.twitter.com/SocMediaScience
» E-Mail: zerfass@uni-leipzig.de
Anne Linke
Anne Linke is a Research Fellow at the Department of Communication
Management of the University of Leipzig. Her main area of research is
in the field of social media communications.
» Twitter: www.twitter.com/annelinke, www.twitter.com/SocMediaScience
» E-Mail: anne.linke@uni-leipzig.de
AUTOREN IMPRESSUM
Stephan Fink, Ansgar Zerfass, Anne Linke:
Social Media Delphi 2012 – Findings of the Qualitative
Study. Leipzig, Wiesbaden: University of Leipzig /
Fink & Fuchs Public Relations AG.
With special support by Katja Rodenhäuser.
© August 2012 by the authors.
Use of the charts in own presentations and publications is permitted when quoting the source "© University of Leipzig / Fink & Fuchs PR 2012, www.socialmediadelphi.de" for each image.
Illustrations: Title = istockphoto.com /
Tomasz Sowinski.
Digital and printed distribution and publication of this
report by third parties is prohibited.
This document is available free of charge at:
www.socialmediadelphi.de
www.slideshare.net/ffpr
www.slideshare.net/communicationmanagement