latin america corporate social media study

Latin America Corporate Social Media Study 2010

Burson-Marsteller Evidence-Based Communications

Overview

Following Burson-Marsteller’s Fortune

Global 100 Social Media study in

February 2010, the global research

team decided to explore the social

media use of 160 high-revenue

companies in eight Latin American

countries. Results demonstrate a wide

range of companies’ use of Twitter,

Facebook, YouTube and corporate

blogging to communicate with

stakeholders.

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Methodology• Data was collected on social media activity of 20 of the highest-revenue

companies from eight Latin American countries/territories (a total of 160 companies analyzed).

• Social media outlets included Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and corporate blogging.

• Countries/territories include Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Venezuela.

• An account was included in the study if it was considered “active” (i.e., had at least one post in the past three months).

• Data was collected between June 2010 and August 2010 by Burson-Marsteller’s global research team.

• The results of this study are compared to B-M’s April 2010 “Global Social Media Check-up Study” which analyzed the social media presence of companies on the Fortune Global 100 list. Results from the September Latin America study are charted in blue; results from the February global study are charted in green.

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One-Half of Latin American Companies Use At Least One Social Media Platform

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Companies Using at Least One Social Media Platform

Only about one-half (49%) of Latin American companies have any social media account or blog. The highest proportion of Mexican (80%) and Venezuelan (75%) companies use social media; the lowest proportion of Argentine (25%) and Puerto Rican (5%) companies do so. Comparatively, 79% of high-revenue companies globally use social media.

B-M Latin America Social Media Study, Sept 2010B-M Global Social Media Study, Feb 2010


Companies Are Still Building Social Media Presence

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Proportion of Companies with…

In Latin America, Facebook is the most-favored social media tool, with 39% of companies maintaining a Facebook fan page. Twitter falls slightly behind Facebook, with about one-third (32%) of companies engaging via Twitter. While high-revenue Latin American companies are less active in all social media channels, the disparity is greatest for Twitter, which is used by 65% of the global Fortune 100 companies.



Most Corporate Social Media Accounts are Very Active

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Social Media site Frequency of Activity Percent with Activity # of posts

Twitter Past week 86% 26 tweets

Facebook Past week 60% 5 posts

YouTube Past month 50% 5 videos

Frequency and Volume of Social Media Participation by Latin American Companies with Social Media Accounts

Only active accounts (defined as at least one post/comment in the past month) were included in this study. Beyond this baseline level of activity, companies are taking advantage of these channels by engaging heavily with stakeholders with 86% posting on Twitter in the past week. (This average is slightly higher than the global study (82%)). Latin American companies post on Facebook (60%) as frequently as the Fortune Global 100 (59%), but they average more posts per week (4.9) than the global average (3.6 posts). Latin American companies post videos on YouTube (50%) less frequently than companies do globally (68%).

Burson-Marsteller Evidence-Based Communications 7


One-Third in Latin America Have a Twitter Presence

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Companies with Twitter Accounts

Although almost two-thirds of companies globally have Twitter accounts (65%), only 32% of Latin American companies have accounts. Mexico stands out with 60% of companies studied having at least one Twitter account, followed by Brazil (53%) and Chile (43%).

Puerto Rico



Latin American Companies Average 26 Tweets Per Week

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Most Latin American Companies are very active with their Twitter accounts. With an average of 26 tweets per week, Latin American companies on Twitter are on par with the global average (27). Although only 15% of Argentine companies are on Twitter, those with accounts have an extremely high average of 54 tweets per week.

Average Number of Tweets Per Account Per Week

Puerto Rico



Latin American Companies Have Thousands of Followers

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Average Followers Per Account

The average Latin American corporate Twitter account has 2,626 followers, nearly twice the number of followers of global companies (1,489). Brazil (4,206) and Venezuela (4,174) lead the pack in Latin American, boasting almost three times as many followers as the global average.

Puerto Rico



Companies are Also Following Many Stakeholders

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Number of Accounts Companies Follow

Latin American companies follow an average of 880 accounts, somewhat more than the global average (731). Brazilian companies follow the most accounts (1,147) and they are also the most followed (see prior slide). Conversely, although companies in Venezuela are heavily followed, on average they follow only 168 accounts.

Puerto Rico



Stakeholders are Talking About Companies on Twitter

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Companies Being Talked About on Twitter

Companies are being talked about on Twitter whether they have accounts or not. In fact, although only one-third of Latin American companies have accounts, more than one-half of the companies (53%) are being mentioned on Twitter, somewhat higher than the 42% of global companies being discussed on Twitter. In Colombia, only 29% of companies have a Twitter account, but 86% of companies are being discussed on Twitter, suggesting that many companies are being left out of the conversation about themselves.

Puerto Rico



How Companies Are Using Twitter to Communicate

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Telcel uses this account to answer customer concerns

and problems.

Telcel lists other corporate accounts that cover different

topics.

Petrobras uses this account to post news

about the company. They recently ran a short

Twitter contest.


Four in Ten Companies in Latin America are on Facebook

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Although the overall percent of Latin American companies with Facebook accounts (39%) is smaller than that of global companies (54%), both Mexico (80%) and Venezuela (75%) have a very large percent of their high-revenue companies online. Conversely, only 5% of Puerto Rican companies surveyed had a Facebook account.

Companies with Facebook Accounts

Puerto Rico



Most Companies on Facebook Actively Participate in Conversation

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Percent of active accounts

Average number of posts in past week

LatAm 60% 4.9

Argentina 40% 2.4

Brazil 100% 5.7

Chile 66% 2.9

Colombia 55% 8.5

Mexico 84% 9.0

Peru 57% 4.4

Puerto Rico 100% 18.0

Venezuela 29% 1.5

Global 59% 3.6

Asia-Pacific 51% 3.8

Europe 82% 5.0

U.S. 46% 2.1

Six in ten (60%) of companies on

Facebook have posted in the past

week. Venezuela and Argentina

are the only two countries in Latin

America with fewer than one-half

of companies actively maintaining

their Facebook pages. Although

not many high-revenue companies

in Puerto Rico are on Facebook, the

one that maintains a page is

extremely active, averaging 18

posts per week.


The Average Facebook Account Has Almost 10,000 “Likes”

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Average Number of Facebook “Likes” Per Account

While Latin American companies’ Facebook pages have a huge number of likes* (9,555), the average is lower than the global average (40,884). Peru stands out with 34,071 likes because of Interbank, which boasts over 230,000 likes.

Puerto Rico


* “likes” are akin to fans or followers


Facebook Users Want to be Part of Conversation

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Percent of Companies with Comments on Wall Posts

More than one-half (55%) of Latin American companies with Facebook pages receive responses from fans on the official company posts, which is a higher level of engagement than stakeholders globally (41%). Fans are particularly responsive when they are asked direct opinion questions or when the company is running a contest that ties into the Facebook page.

Puerto Rico



Popular Facebook Accounts Interact with Fans

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Aerolίneas Argentinas responds to many posts from its 2,200 fans. It

uses its Facebook page to deal with customer service issues.

The Chilean company Entel uses Facebook not just to update

fans with corporate news, but also to gauge fans’ opinions through questions meant to

spark conversation.


One-Quarter of Latin American Companies Have YouTube Accounts

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Companies with YouTube Accounts

Twenty-five percent of Latin American companies have YouTube accounts, led by Chile (43%), Brazil (42%) and Mexico (40%). YouTube is used by a lower proportion of Latin American companies than by companies globally (50%). That being said, major retailers in the region with well-known Latin American brands had some of the most popular YouTube channels, which typically consisted of videos of popular television advertisements.

Puerto Rico



There is Great Variance in Viewership of YouTube Channels

Average views of videos per channel

LatAm 12,462

Argentina 243

Brazil 45,259

Chile 4,358

Colombia 1,783

Mexico 11,249

Peru 1,433

Puerto Rico 55

Venezuela 400

Global 38,958

Asia-Pacific 73,456

Europe 19,912

U.S. 49,027

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In average, videos on Latin American

corporate YouTube channels have been

viewed 12,462 times. Brazilian

companies lead in video viewership,

and the average is driven up by

Petrobras (251,195 views), which has

videos about social, environmental and

community work that the company is

involved in.



Companies with Fun and Creative Videos Attract Views

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Liverpool customized the background of its YouTube

channel page to match store colors and the featured advertisement video.

Liverpool, a large department store chain in Mexico, has content that elicits viewer

comments. They also boast 100 subscribers who are notified

when Liverpool posts new videos.


Corporate blogging is relatively much less popular in Latin America (11% of companies) than the other social media channels explored in this study, and it is less popular than among high-revenue companies globally (33%). Only companies in Brazil (37%) and Chile (29%) have a meaningful proportion of companies with company-sponsored blogs.

B-M Latin America Social Media Study, Sept 2010B-M Global Social Media Study, Feb 2010 25

Companies with Fun and Creative Videos Attract Views


Implications


Implications

• Latin American companies are not fully taking advantage of opportunities to communicate with stakeholders through social media. • About one-half (49%) of high-revenue Latin American companies have a social media account

compared with 79% of companies globally.• The greatest gap is with Twitter, where only 32% of Latin American companies have accounts

compared with 65% of companies globally.• While fewer Latin American companies have Twitter accounts, those that do have more followers

(2,626) than the average global company (1,489).• 55% of Latin American Facebook accounts have posts from fans (compared with only 43%

globally), suggesting that Facebook fans want to engage with companies.• Recommendation: Latin American companies’ stakeholders are actively following companies via

social media. Companies should take advantage of the opportunities to build relationship with stakeholders through these channels.

• Companies that are engaged in social media are very active.• 86% of Latin American corporate Twitter accounts are actively maintained (updated at least once

in the past week), suggesting that these companies understand the importance of conversing over social media on a regular basis. Updates on Facebook and YouTube were less frequent.

• Recommendation: Creating a social media account is not sufficient. Companies must engage regularly in social media with compelling content to keep followers interested.

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Implications, continued

• Companies are pushing out content via social media, but are not always encouraging a dialogue. • Many companies are posting frequently on their accounts, but they are not always engaging with

stakeholders. While Latin American companies average 2,626 followers, they are following an average of only 880 accounts. The greatest gap is in Venezuela with an average of 4,174 followers and following only 168 accounts.

• Recommendation: By following other accounts, companies can demonstrate that they are also listening to others via social media and not just delivering their own content. Retweeting others’ content and using the “@” symbol to direct comments to other accounts are other ways of signaling true engagement in social media.

• Even if companies do not have established social media channels, there is a good chance that people are already talking about them. • 53% of Latin American companies are being tweeted about, which is many more than the 32% of

companies that have Twitter accounts.• Recommendation: Companies’ reputations are at risk if they are being talked about on social

media and are not part of the dialogue. Monitoring what is being said about a company is a good start to planning a social media strategy. Then, creating an account, posting updates, and responding to stakeholders who are posting about the company are necessary follow-up steps.

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Implications, continued

• Each social media channel can serve a unique purpose for company communications.• Activity on social media accounts varies greatly. For example, Latin American Facebook accounts

have more “likes” (9,555) than Latin American Twitter accounts have followers (2,626), and there is generally much more corporate activity on the Twitter accounts. Both quantity of engagement (followers, posts, comments) and quality of engagement (depth of conversation, ability to interact with stakeholders for customer service, ability to built community) should be considered when developing goals for social media engagement.

• Though some Latin American companies are not very active on Facebook or YouTube, many regions may have their own popular social networks such as Orkut in Brazil, where 80% of Brazilian internet users have a profiles. Regional and local preferences should be considered when developing a social media presence, as well as the fact that social media accounts may attract a broad global audience.

• Recommendations: Investigate where and how the company is already being talked about on social media and learn which social media channels are already being used by stakeholders. Conduct a competitive analysis to see how similar companies may be successfully using social media. This information can help inform a company’s social media strategy, including which channel is most appropriate to generate dialogue, discuss issues, facilitate customer service, etc.

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Contacts

Brazil - Cely Carmo - Lead Digital Strategist, +55 11 3094-2256, [email protected], twitter.com/bmlatam, twitter.com/bm_brasilArgentina - Ignácio Marquez - Digital Strategist, +54 11 4338-1024, [email protected] - Luis Alberto Ovalle - Digital Strategist, +56 2 751-7134, [email protected], twitter.com/BursonChileColombia - Silvia Restrepo - Digital Champion, +57 1 622-6500, [email protected], twitter.com/BM_Colombia Mexico - Itzel Castellanos - Digital Strategist, +52 55 5351-6555, [email protected] Peru - Marjorie Mclauchlan - Digital Champion, +51 1 610-9707, [email protected], twitter.com/BM_Peru Puerto Rico - Sarah Lora - Market Leader, +787 622-6555, [email protected] - Fernanda Ariceta - Office Director, +598 2 623-2870, [email protected] U.S. (Miami) - Jonathan Sánchez - Digital Strategist, +1 305 347-4300, [email protected], twitter.com/BM_MiamiVenezuela - Marcela Vaccaro - Market Leader, +58 212 9023370, [email protected], twitter.com/BMVenezuela

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Coordinated by: Ashley Welde (Strategic Innovation), Felix Leander (Lead Digital Strategist), Ramiro Prudencio (B-M Miami Managing Director/Public Affairs), Santiago Fittipaldi (Public Affairs).

People that contributed in this study: Rafael Freire, Rubia Pria, João Luiz, Clarisse Chalréo, Bruna Souza, Mariana Haddad, Guilherme Soares (B-M Brazil); Lucia Stevens (B-M Chile); Guido Gaona, Silvia Restrepo, Laura Urrea (B-M Colombia); Carolina Ortiz, Marta Matías, Valeria Cuoto, Diego Meléndez y Cristina García (B-M Puerto Rico); Marlene Oechler, Erandi Valdez (B-M México); and B-M team in Argentina, Venezuela, Peru, Uruguay and Miami.

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