Twitter, Facebook Leading Social Media Marketing Tools

The Twitter and Facebook online social networks are neck-in-neck competition to be the most used social media marketing tools by marketers, according to a new survey from SocialMediaExaminer.com.

Almost 9 in 10 Marketers Use Twitter, Facebook
Responses to the “2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report” indicate that 88% of marketers use Twitter and 87% use Facebook. The LinkedIn online professional networking platform follows with 78% usage. Seventy percent of marketers use blogs. All other types of social media marketing tools pale in comparison, with YouTube and other video sites having the next-highest usage rate (46%).

 

An earlier version of this survey released in 2009 indicated that Facebook was in fourth place at 77%, and blogs were in second place at 79%. It would appear that blogs, while still popular, are used less and Facebook is clearly growing in popularity as a marketing tool.

Owners of small businesses were more likely to use LinkedIn than employees working
for a corporation. Another interesting finding was that men were significantly more
likely to use YouTube or other video marketing than women (51.2% of all men compared
to only 42.6% of women).

Newbies Prefer Facebook
For those just getting underway with social media marketing, Facebook is ranked as their
number one choice (80%), followed by Twitter (71%) and LinkedIn (67%). Blogs follow in distant fourth place with 43% usage, and no other form of social media marketing reaches even a one-third usage rate.

 

Recent Vets Use Twitter, Facebook
Marketers who have been using social media marketing for a few months prefer Twitter (92%) and Facebook (88%) even more than the general population of marketers. Other preferences are generally similar to the general marketing population.

 

Experienced Hands Tweet
Among marketers who have been using social media marketing for a few years or more, Twitter usage is nearly universal (96%). Facebook follows with 91%. Social media veterans also use LinkedIn (89%) and blogs (86%) at significantly higher levels than the general marketing population.

 

Interestingly, more than half of long-term social media marketing veterans also use video sites (61%). This segment’s usage of every form of social media except MySpace (11%) is significantly higher than the general population.

Most Marketers Use Social Media, But are Used to It
A majority of marketers are using social media in their marketing efforts, but most have only been using it for a few months or less, according to other survey findings from SocialMediaExaminer.com. Nine in 10 marketers (91%) are currently using social media as part of their marketing efforts.

However, a significant combined 65% of marketers have either just started using social media (22%) or only been using it for a few months (43%). Another 31% have been using social media for a few years, up from 23% in 2009. Tellingly, only 3% of marketers have no experience with social media but plan to use it, while 0% of marketers have no experience with social media and no plans to use it.