Study Shows Growth In Corporate Use Of Social Media Platforms Across Latin America

Perhaps the  corporate leaders in North America who continue to struggle with how to integrate social media into their marketing and service strategies should be looking at what our neighbors south of the border have been up to.  According to a recent report, social media use by Latin American companies is growing by leaps and bounds –and with increasing sophistication.

During its latest “Latin America Social Media Check Up,” Burson-Marsteller looked at the online activities of the top 225 companies in that part of the globe.  Comparing currently gleaned data against the Latin America social media “check up” performed in 2010, the numbers compiled in the newest report are quite impressive. For example:

Facebook And Twitter Are No Longer Leading The Innovation Pack—So What’s Taking Their Place?

Each year, the business and technology-focused publication Fast Company releases a Most Innovative Companies list. The ratings approach the notion of innovation from a variety of different perspectives and angles, but all the companies on the list have one thing in common: They’re making tangible, visionary moves to step into the future, maybe even changing their industries –or the world –while they’re at it.

Some organizations are transforming their internal structures to create efficiencies and better serve their markets. Others are expanding on their offerings to respond to fresh demands no one else is addressing. Some are solving a clear problem in a unique and unanticipated way or solving a problem their users didn’t know they had until they were told … only to become addicted to the solution.

In the midst of all this inspiring innovation, however, there were two glaring omissions this year.

Gen Xers Connect Online As Often As They Socialize In Person

I’ve written before about digital natives, who have no memory of a world without the internet, and how tethered they are to their mobile devices.

Now, a new University of Michigan study has found that many adults in their late thirties are just as likely to engage with family, friends and the people they work with via social media and other forms of virtual communication as they do face-to-face.

As a matter of fact, Generation X adults feel that both their online and offline connections play essential roles in their lives, personally and professionally —a concept sometimes referred to as “social capital.”

The difference between this age group and those in Generations Y and Z, however, is that Gen Xers still feel it’s important to balance their virtual and real world lives.

“This is the first generation of Americans to reach adulthood at the beginning of the Electronic Era,” said Jon D. Miller, who authored this study. “So it’s understandable that they should show a substantial mix of traditional and electronic networking as they build and maintain the social capital that will help to carry them through their lives.”

The survey of more than 3,000 Gen Xers also revealed that: 

Study: Six Out Of Ten Take Facebook Vacations

Whether used for sharing pictures of pets and babies, catching up with family members or researching prospective employees, it goes without saying that Facebook continues to be a dominant player on the social media scene.

However, new research indicates Facebook usage now tends to ebb and flow, rather steadily climb, as it did years ago.

Not that Mark Zuckerberg and company  have anything to worry about for the foreseeable future. After all, nearly 70 percent of all online Americans use a Facebook account.  It’s just that not all users feel the need to check into Facebook on a daily basis. Some feel they only need to check in once a week or once a month —or even less.

In fact, according to a new Pew Internet study, six out of ten people with Facebook accounts admitted to taking voluntary breaks from the site for several weeks or more.  Moreover, one in five who don’t currently have Facebook accounts said they once did.

The Pew researchers decided to take a closer look to find out why 61 percent of users have taken “Facebook vacations.”  Although they broke down the reasons into more specific categories, time—and how people prefer to spend it —emerged as an overarching theme.  For example: 

Study: Social Media Pays Off For Businesses

New research suggests that businesses can see a direct and positive impact on their bottom lines when they make themselves available to customers via social media platforms—especially Facebook.

The University at Buffalo School of Management recently examined data related to individual customers’ participation on a Facebook page and combined it with their actual purchases at a large specialty firm in the Northeastern United States.

The results showed that customers who participate in a firm’s social media visit the business about 5 percent more frequently than those who don’t.

While past studies have shown a belief by many business owners that social media drives sales growth, and that a vast majority of small businesses do network online, there has also been indication that many, if not most, corporate CEOs still don’t fully understand or embrace social media marketing.