Survey.com partnered with the Hispanic Public Relations Association (HPRA) and Hispanicize to conduct a survey on company’s Social Media Programs, with particular focus on the Hispanic market. The survey was promoted through a coalition of industry organizations and trade media outlets that included the Public Relations Association of America (PRSA), the Hispanic PR Blog, and HispanicAd.com.More information will be released in coming weeks, but preliminary findings include:
- Nearly all companies use Social Media tools to interact with their customers/clients (92%), with both the general market and Hispanic market using the same tools, although the Hispanic market comparatively less (see comparison chart above).
- Hispanic Social Media Programs are viewed equally important when compared to mainstream Social Media Programs (69% for each).
- Hispanic Social Media Programs are viewed as slightly less effective than mainstream Social Media Programs (56% vs. 64% effective respectively).
- Use of Social Media tailored to the Hispanic market remains an area for improvement.
- Less than half (45%) of companies surveyed use a Hispanic Social Media Program tailored to the Hispanic market, although about 2/3 indicated they had an ongoing Hispanic PR Program.
According to the survey, most companies do not formally define any Social Media Programs at the beginning of the fiscal year. In regards to future growth and planning of Social Media Programs:
- Social Media continues to be a growing sector with increases anticipated for the next fiscal year.
- 58% of respondents anticipate their company or business unit’s budget for Social Media will increase for the mainstream market in the next fiscal year; Budget increase anticipations for the Hispanic market are slightly higher at 60%.
Key areas for use of Social Media during the next fiscal year include:
- 88% plan to use social media as a component of their marketing and communications program
- 81% plan to use social media as a component in their Hispanic marketing and communications program
- 68% plan to include outreach to Hispanic market bloggers, compared to 64% for mainstream/general market bloggers
- 56% plan to recruit/hire new talent to work with Social Media
Research Methodology:
Survey.com conducted an online survey to collect data for this study. An email invitation with an embedded survey link was sent to prospective participants. Data was collected from March 22, 2011, to March 30, 2011. A total of 160 survey responses were collected.