The UK's fastest growing technology companies are not so speedy when it comes to engaging customers on social media according to a study.
The EML Wildfire research shows that while usage of social media among the top 50 technology firms increased in 2011, engagement levels have decreased.
Of the travel companies (or companies which work with travel businesses) involved in the study, Skyscanner is praised for its LinkedIn presence which includes recruitment, product information and a newsfeed.
Overall, 98% of the top tech companies have registered with LinkedIn compared to 82% on Twitter and 68% on Facebook.
However, the number of companies using it to post their latest news fell between 2011 and 2012 to 49%. In addition, only 22% use it for recruitment.
When it comes to Facebook, the number of consumer-facing tech firms using it fell to 83% in 2012 from 100% in 2010 and 2011. However, b2b usage increased from 35% to 65%. Only one company was found to be using Facebook for customer service, one company had a active wall and only 38% used it for any sort of customer engagement although the average 'likes' was more than 2,500.
Twitter usage is also down with 24% of companies using it as a tool for engaging with consumers compared to 68% a year ago. Although 82% of companies maintain an active account, 46% use it for one-way marketing messages, 61% tweet industry related items and 85% tweet company news.
It's hard to judge if the results have more to do with the effectiveness of social media and the challenges of tracking return-on-investment and whether the companies involved are using it to the best effect. Further insight on newer (Facebook) metrics in this piece from Betapond's Justin Reid.
Further findings:
- 28% of companies maintain a blog (50% in 2011) but those that do are updating it more regularly
- B2B engagement in social media has increased from 5% in 2010 to 36% now
- 12% of companies use Twitter as a recruitment tool with one using exclusively
- less than 42% have an account with Google+ and of those only 43% are active