Social media is alive and thriving for NZ businesses - Social Media Survey Report 2016

Late last year I had a light bulb moment so undertook to conduct New Zealand’s first business social media survey. The aim was to provide a benchmark businesses could measure themselves against. The resulting data was interesting to say the least, and along the lines of what I had expected, below I’ll share with you:

• Key highlights of the survey
• Common objectives and success rates
• Standout results for NZ businesses
• The not so successful
• Six ways you can make use of social media based on comments from those in the survey that were having success.

You can download the full New Zealand Business Social Media Survey Report here.
(For free, and I won't even ask for your email address in return!)

Key highlights 

• 217 New Zealand businesses participated in the survey.
• 93.6 percent use social media for business.
• 98 percent plan on continuing to use it in the future.
• 7 percent actively use Facebook for business.
• 54 percent pay for advertising online and 41 percent find it beneficial for business.

Though we have no previous comparative data, one can speculate that the number of businesses using social media has increased over the years.  And even better than that, they are getting results that are helping to grow their business.

Objectives and success rates for social media in New Zealand
It would appear that businesses are primarily concerned with being found online, building brand awareness and credibility and engaging their audience. And those actively engaging on social media are finding success. 

Promotions, sales and gaining information or data on target audiences are popular objectives and rate second highest for success.

Recruitment was not a main objective, however comments showed that for those who do use it the success rate is high.

Over time, as businesses become more adept at using social media, objectives and results will change, I believe recruitment using social media will be a key area for the future.

Some standout results
As with anything, what one person classes as success another will not, there were a few highlights from the survey for me that I think are pretty standout for New Zealand business:

• Amount of support / engagement when posting about a success
• More than 100 leads from a webinar using LinkedIn advertising
• Around 50,000 views on a video in one week
• Continually growing networks and making connections
• Being discovered on Instagram by a NZ television show and having products featured on it
• Building a fantastic reputation online in just six months
• Having over three million fans on Facebook and fantastic engagement with content
• Significant direct sales from Facebook
• Gaining meaningful connections using the Groups feature on Facebook and LinkedIn
• Having 80 percent of new business come from a self managed LinkedIn Group.

The not so successful results
Many businesses are finding success with social media, yet there is still a small percentage (13 percent) that are not. 

Some of the reasons given were:

• Spending money on advertising and getting no results
• Little engagement with posts
• Social media being a complete mystery
• In the early days of using social media for business
• A lack of understanding or confidence in using social media
• Not enough time to dedicate to using social media
• No resource to manage social media full time
• Being hard to grasp the concept of professionalism and social media.

Here are some easy ways you can make use of social media, based on the results of those having success with social media:

• Recommendations help build credibility - so make use of these, ask your clients to put a review on LinkedIn or Google of your business.  
• Ask for testimonials to go on your website.
• On the day notifications in real time - social media is a fast way to disseminate information to your audience, from events to notices, to news, alerts and more that are of importance to your target audience.  
• Make use of the platforms, location / demographic targeting, and advertising to share important information.
• Brand ambassadors help gain loyal customers and followers - these people will work for your brand, share your message, and cultivate engagement on your content online.
• Time management is crucial - stay ahead with your planning and promoting online, ensure you have built time in each day / week etc (depending on your objectives) to use social media.
• Networking, community, connection - link the online world with real life, and vice versa, it is possible to have the two worlds work together, and work together well for your business. 
• Get some help – don’t give up, there are businesses in New Zealand that offer training in how to use social media and digital marketing to grow your business online (no plug here, but I do too). They can help you, or your staff, learn how manage your digital marketing, and how to use the platforms. Some even manage it for you.

It is apparent some businesses find it difficult to manage an online presence, and others are not online nor even considering it, but social media is here to stay and if you aren’t online you are potentially losing customers. Get in touch with us today if you want help with your digital marketing.