• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
4.2 The identity of the survey respondents
In analysing the data, it is a good idea to start with the identity of the respondentsthemselves. As suggested in chapter 3, respondents were given a choice by the
questionnaire’s very first question: to identify themselves in one of the following ways:
 
 
You are a social media consultant and/or involved in some capacity as a social mediaadvisor to your (or any other) organisation
 
You work for an organisation that to a greater or lesser extent uses social media as amarketing toolIf they ticked the first box, respondents were taken to a further 14 questions; if they tickedthe second, a further 20. This sorting device worked well as a reasonably even splitdeveloped: 37 completed the first set of questions, 51 the second, a 42/58% balance. Thequestionnaire asked for respondents to identify themselves by name and by company,although
it was stated that this information was “preferred but not essential”. Despite this,90% gave their names and 88% provided their company’s name.
The questionnaire aimed at organisations included more questions on the nature of thoseorganisations as this information was clearly instructive in terms of the research objectives.
4.2.1 The respondent organisations
The majority of the respondents were private companies based in the UK, although it shouldbe noted that there was an extremely healthy proportion of US respondents. This may atfirst seem odd, given that this was a survey generated by a British student at a British
 
university, but it should really be no surprise given the boundary-ignoring capability of socialmedia (or indeed that the two of the
‘others’ were from New Zealand and Slovenia).
The pie chart showing the public/private split is best considered when placed next to the
data from the similar question in the consultants’ questionnaire. We can th
ereforeappreciate both the sectors worked in by organisations using social media marketing,
and 
 the sectors worked in by the clients of social media consultants. Essentially, the two are thesame thing, although it could be argued that the clients of social media consultants havepotentially invested more seriously in social media in that they are actually paying anoutside agency to advise them on it. Interestingly though, the two pie charts are fairlysimilar, and suggest that the majority of organisations using social media are in the privatesector.
UK57%USA35%Other8%
Figure4.3:Location of organisationsusing social
media
Respondents: Organisations
 
 Digging a bit deeper into the nature of the respondent organisations, the data demonstratesthat a majority provide services (46%) in a business-to-business context (46%), althoughbusinesses targeting consumers do account for 35%. A range of sizes of companies are alsorepresented, everything from very small businesses to multinationals. The final chart showsthat out of 10 employment sectors represented, over a third were in the creative field. This
Public16%Private84%
Respondents: Organisations
Figure 4.4:
Sector of organisationsusing socialmedia
Public12%Private61%Both publicand private27%
Respondents: Consultants
Figure 4.5:Type of organisationsusing socialmediaconsultants
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...