PRESS INFORMATION: For immediate release – 26 May 2010Melcrum Social Media Survey 2010 – Detailed FindingsAbout the Study

The Melcrum Social Media Survey was carried out between January and February 2010.Melcrum conducted a global survey across its core audience of internal communicationspractitioners, to identify trends in the use of social media. More than 2,600 internalcommunication professionals responded, with 1,800 from organisations with more than500 employees.

Key Findings

The level of social media expertise and experience among the profession is poor withmore training needed.More than half of global internal communicators say their organisations do not have asocial media policy in place. Those that do cite guideline inconsistency as the biggestproblem.Social media has changed the roles and responsibilities of global internalcommunicators. Practitioners are rapidly changing focus from controlling communicationto influencing colleagues.Leaders are embracing "two-way employee communication" but still rely on email and e-newsletters.The adoption of social media tools and platforms has significantly narrowed thecommunication gap between leaders and employees but increased the fear of loss of control and power at the top of organisations.Global internal communication teams stick to the basics when measuring the success of social media initiatives using website data and analysis or intranet traffic figures.Gaining budget, overcoming IT restrictions and management fearing a loss of controland reputational damage are the biggest barriers preventing communicators fromimplementing social media tools within their organisations.

The global internal communications profession is divided:

The split between thosewho believe there is a clear business case and positive results, and those who areunsure of the business value and results social media can bring within an organisation issplit. 47.6 per cent believe the business case for social media is "very clear" or "clear,while 46 per cent suggest it is "very unclear" or "unclear".

Innovation and ideas bring the biggest benefits:

The biggest benefit for internalcommunicators that have already put together a business case for the use of social

media within their organisations is innovation and idea exchange (41.5 per cent),followed by employee engagement (38.4 per cent) and knowledge management andcollaboration (30.8 per cent). This was backed by the fact that 54.3 per cent of respondents said that "getting employees to talk, share information and collaborate" wasthe "most effective" use of social media within global organisations. Buildingcommunities was second, while connecting to and learning from Generation Yemployees was found to be the third most effective use of social media.

The profession has aspirations of increased engagement:

Out of those internalcommunicators that have yet to make a business case (21.8 per cent) employeeengagement (47.6 per cent), innovation and idea exchange (46 per cent) and knowledgemanagement and collaboration (34.8 per cent) were seen as the three potential benefitsshowing that engagement, collaboration and the search for new ideas are all seen aspotential wins through the use of social media.

How the profession uses social media:

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Severe need for social media internal communication training:

More thantwo-thirds (64 per cent) of all global internal communicators rate their team'ssocial media expertise, on average, as very low or low - between one to five outof 10: The average is three out of 10 (17.3 per cent), while only 13 per cent ratetheir social media skills as 8 to 10 out of 10. In addition, our survey found that 22per cent of global internal communication professionals believe their team lacksthe skills to make social media happen.

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Long way to go but encouraging signs:

Social media is part of 30 per cent of internal communicators' everyday communication strategy plans, however theencouraging sign is that almost half (44 per cent) believe it is here to stay, willplay an important role in the future development of internal communications anddisagree it's a fad.

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Its good to talk:

Getting employees to talk to one another and share informationis the most effective use of social media within respondents' organisations todate.

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The social media effect:

Other than internal communications, marketing (34 per cent) is the one area of the business that social media has helped become moreeffective.

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Video killed the radio star:

Online video was chosen as the most popular "social media" tool with 52.6 per cent, with blogs (51.9 per cent - respondentswere told they could tick all the tools that applied to their use of social media),instant messaging (47 per cent) and social networks, including Twitter, Facebookand Yammer, in fourth place with 37.6 per cent.

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Internal communicators fight for SM implementation:

Internal communicatorsare fighting for social media to be implemented into everyday employee life andworkflows across the globe with more than a third (36.5 per cent) admitting it's"tough" to get budget and 33.7 per cent complaining of tough IT constraints andrestrictions. One fifth (20.9 per cent) said it was "very tough" to get budget,however only a surprisingly low 40 per cent said employee buy-in was "easilyachievable". The majority said senior executive (32.2 per cent) and IT buy-inwere "achievable but not without a fight".

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The main barriers to entry:

The principal barriers preventing internalcommunicators from implementing social media tools within their organisationsinclude management teams fearing the loss of control and reputational damagewith almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of respondents suggesting this as "verytough" or "tough" to get past, legal concerns (58 per cent - very tough or tough)and inadequate metrics (51 per cent - very tough or tough). The easiest win wasseen as improving the lack of research (20.4 per cent) or knowledge on the topic,an area communicators should, in the future, be able to rapidly alter.

Social media "ownership":

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Social media responsibility remains unclear:

Social media has had a hugeimpact on our personal lifestyles and the way we consume and shareinformation, but the internal communications profession is still largely undecidedas to who and which departments should be responsible for its deployment withalmost half (46 per cent) unclear about the role they play. More than a third (37per cent) however, suggested they either agreed or strongly agreed they areclear about the role they play when it comes to social media.

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The opportunity to work together as "one" organisation is there for thetaking:

The majority of companies continue to struggle to agree where socialmedia should "sit" and which department should "own it". This is clearly the casein global internal communication teams, however when asked which one area of the business other than IC social media has helped become more effective our respondents suggested that perhaps its usage could break down departmentalsilos and that separate company divisions should work closer to capitalise on itspotential benefits. More than a third (34 per cent) said it had helped marketingand advertising become more effective, 11 per cent said HR had benefited themost, while 9.9 per cent said recruitment and research and developmentsdepartments. Surprisingly IT came a lowly fifth on the list with only 8.1 per cent.

Internal versus external:

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Blurring the lines:

The impact of "social" media, including Twitter andFacebook, has blurred the lines between people's personal and work lives.People, particularly Generation Y employees, now expect the same tools andtechnologies inside and outside of their organisations. The same can be said for the external and internal communication professions with more than a third (40per cent) of respondents saying they agree that the lines between external andinternal communication have been blurred by the introduction of social media.

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Cultural shift - internal world catching up with the external:

The speed inwhich the external world has embraced social media in the past three years hasbeen phenomenal. As a now famous statistic has shown, if Facebook were acountry, it would be the fourth largest in the world, and it will undoubtedlycontinue to climb higher up the rankings. The adoption inside organisations,however, has been far slower but our findings have uncovered that internalcommunicators are gradually taking the lead with almost one third (27 per cent)of respondents suggesting their company culture is right for social media. The