世論 What Japan Thinks

A recent very detailed survey from goo Research, in conjuction with social media consultants Looops Communications, took a look at corporate Twitter accounts.

Demographics

Between the 9th and 12th of July 2010 315 members of the goo Research online monitor group who used a corporate Twitter account as part of their job completed a private internet-based questionnaire. Sex and age demographics were not reported as they were not particularly significant; instead company size and industry was reported. 32.1% worked in companies of under 10 employees, 27.0% between 10 and 99 employees, 21.0% between 100 and 999 employees, 19.0% with 1,000 or more employees, and 1.0% just didn’t know. 22.9% were in manufacturing, 10.2% in distribution or small shops, 5.4% in finance, 55.9% in service industries, and 5.7% other.

Note that although the sample is small, all the respondents were corporate Tweeters, so the accuracy of the data should be high.

My employer just released a new corporate social media hub site, combining Twitter and YouTube feeds. There might also be a blog, but I’ll be surprised if it is anything other than just a press release archive. I don’t think there’s an active mixi account, and there’s certainly no Facebook account for the Japanese side.

Research results

Q1: How long has your employer been using the following? (Sample size=315)

Twitter

Less than a month	23.2%
One to three months	19.4%
Three to six months	21.6%
Six months to a year	10.8%
More than a year	12.1%
Not using it	0.0%
Don’t know	13.0%

Facebook

Less than a month	2.2%
One to three months	4.8%
Three to six months	4.8%
Six months to a year	2.9%
More than a year	6.3%
Not using it	74.9%
Don’t know	4.1%

mixi

Less than a month	5.7%
One to three months	3.8%
Three to six months	5.4%
Six months to a year	4.1%
More than a year	23.8%
Not using it	55.2%
Don’t know	1.9%

YouTube

Less than a month	5.1%
One to three months	3.2%
Three to six months	4.8%
Six months to a year	3.8%
More than a year	21.3%
Not using it	59.4%
Don’t know	2.5%

Official blog

Less than a month	7.0%
One to three months	4.1%
Three to six months	5.1%
Six months to a year	5.4%
More than a year	47.6%
Not using it	29.2%
Don’t know	1.6%

Ustream

Less than a month	2.2%
One to three months	3.8%
Three to six months	4.12%
Six months to a year	3.2%
More than a year	5.7%
Not using it	74.9%
Don’t know	6.0%

Q2: Why did you start using the following services? (Sample size=315, multiple answer)

	Twitter N=315	Facebook N=79	mixi N=141	YouTube N=128	Blog N=223	Ustream N=79
Wanted to increase customer contact points	48.9%	41.8%	41.1%	36.7%	50.2%	31.6%
Could start using for free	46.3%	32.9%	38.3%	39.1%	43.0%	34.2%
Thought it would have an effect of the branding of the promoted product, service	41.0%	34.2%	36.2%	36.7%	42.6%	25.3%
Wanted to try out the new ‘in’ service	31.4%	20.3%	19.9%	14.8%	23.3%	22.8%
Thought it would have an effect of promoting sales	27.3%	17.7%	30.5%	24.2%	34.1%	25.3%
Thought it could reach potential customers	22.9%	15.2%	19.1%	25.8%	26.0%	22.8%
Thought it could be used as part of customer support	16.5%	16.5%	14.9%	14.8%	17.9%	17.7%
Competitors were using it	7.9%	12.7%	9.2%	7.8%	11.7%	10.1%
Other	1.0%	1.3%	0.0%	0.0%	0.4%	0.0%

Q3: What is your company’s total annual budget for social media activities? (Sample size=315)

	All	1-9 staff N=101	10-99 staff N=85	100-999 staff N=66	1,000+ staff N=60
Under 1 million yen	20.3%	18.8%	24.7%	21.2%	16.7%
1-3 million yen	10.2%	1.0%	10.6%	21.2%	13.3%
3-5 million yen	7.0%	1.0%	7.1%	15.2%	8.3%
5-10 million yen	4.4%	0.0%	1.2%	7.6%	13.3%
10 million yen or more	3.5%	0.0%	3.5%	0.0%	13.3%
Zero	43.8%	77.2%	42.4%	25.8%	10.0%
Don’t know	10.8%	2.0%	10.6%	9.1%	25.0%

Q4: What guidelines do you have on social media activities? (Sample size=315, multiple answer)

	All	1-9 staff N=101	10-99 staff N=85	100-999 staff N=66	1,000+ staff N=60
What is allowed and forbidden is documented	27.9%	15.8%	25.9%	36.4%	41.7%
There is a manual including communication methods	16.8%	2.0%	9.4%	28.8%	36.7%
There is an educational system	8.3%	1.0%	7.1%	12.1%	16.7%
No systems in place	61.0%	83.2%	65.9%	48.5%	31.7%

Q5: What measures do you have in place for corporate Twitter accounts? (Sample size=315, multiple answer)

Try to get people curious through exploiting the Tweeter’s personality	33.7%
Actively Tweet comments regarding the company’s goods, services	33.3%
Try to have frank interactions with the customer	31.4%
Tweet beneficial information about the industry	25.4%
Tweet links to corporate web sites	22.2%
Tweet links to corporate electronic commerce web sites	15.2%
Monitor Tweets about the company	14.9%
Tweet about sales, campaigns exclusive to Twitter	12.7%
Hold a real event promoted through Twitter	10.8%
Proactively reflect the Tweeting customer’s voice in products, services	89%
Report customers’ Tweets to management level	7.9%
Use Twitter to promote the opening of a corporate web service	7.6%
Actively engage in conversation regarding the company’s goods, services with people with problems	7.6%
Conduct surveys, request opinions regarding new products through Twitter	7.0%
Other	3.2%

Q6: To what extent have you seen each of the following activities as a result of using a corporate Twitter account? (Sample size=315, multiple answer)

	Very much so	To some extent	Not really	Not at all
Enquiries via social media has increased	16.5%	40.0%	17.5%	26.0%
Enquiries via corporate web site, email has increased	14.9%	37.8%	21.3%	26.0%
Enquiries by telephone has increased	8.3%	33.3%	29.5%	28.9%
Relationships with customers through the sales department has improved	12.4%	37.8%	24.4%	25.4%
Accesses to corporate web site has increased	13.7%	45.1%	20.0%	21.3%
Accesses to public blog has increased	18.4%	47.1%	20.6%	13.9%
Customer satisfaction has improved	7.3%	36.2%	30.2%	26.3%
Evalution of the company on the internet has improved	9.5%	33.3%	31.7%	25.4%
Complaints, claims have decreased	7.6%	30.5%	32.7%	29.2%
New customers have increased	11.4%	26.2%	25.7%	26.7%
Repeat customers have increased	9.8%	37.1%	25.4%	27.6%
Value of purchase per customer has increased	9.2%	30.8%	31.4%	28.6%
Number of visitors at our Electronic Commerce site has improved	12.2%	40.1%	30.6%	17.0%
Number of purchasers, purchase per customer at our Electronic Commerce site has improved	9.5%	40.1%	32.0%	18.4%
Number of customers at our bricks and mortar stores has improved	9.6%	39.6%	26.4%	24.4%
Employees awareness of the customer has improved	9.8%	39.0%	24.1%	27.0%
Employees awareness of the company has improved	6.7%	41.3%	25.1%	27.0%
Corporate site’s ranking in search engines has improved	7.9%	37.1%	27.3%	27.6%

Q6A: To what extent have you seen each of the following activities as a result of using a corporate Twitter account? By company size, total for “Very much so” + “To some extent”. (Sample size=315, multiple answer)

	1,000+ staff N=60	100-999 staff N=66	10-99 staff N=85	1-9 staff N=101
Enquiries via social media has increased	83.3%	77.3%	57.6%	26.7%
Enquiries via corporate web site, email has increased	83.3%	72.7%	51.8%	22.8%
Enquiries by telephone has increased	68.3%	51.5%	43.5%	17.8%
Relationships with customers through the sales department has improved	75.0%	60.6%	52.9%	26.7%
Accesses to corporate web site has increased	80.0%	66.7%	57.6%	42.6%
Accesses to public blog has increased	82.2%	75.0%	66.1%	50.6%
Customer satisfaction has improved	65.0%	57.6%	42.4%	22.8%
Evalution of the company on the internet has improved	68.3%	59.1%	42.4%	17.8%
Complaints, claims have decreased	61.7%	53.0%	34.1%	17.8%
New customers have increased	68.3%	63.6%	47.1%	25.7%
Repeat customers have increased	73.3%	57.6%	50.6%	21.8%
Value of purchase per customer has increased	61.7%	54.5%	37.6%	19.8%
Number of visitors at our Electronic Commerce site has improved	72.7%	51.6%	52.8%	38.6%
Number of purchasers, purchase per customer at our Electronic Commerce site has improved	72.7%	48.4%	50.0%	34.1%
Number of customers at our bricks and mortar stores has improved	70.5%	59.1%	50.0%	22.2%
Employees awareness of the customer has improved	71.7%	66.7%	45.9%	26.7%
Employees awareness of the company has improved	70.0%	65.2%	47.1%	24.8%
Corporate site’s ranking in search engines has improved	70.0%	54.5%	43.5%	27.0%

Q7: What issues do you have regarding using a corporate Twitter account? (Sample size=315, multiple answer)

Difficult to measure effectiveness	40.0%
Cannot see an effect on sales	26.0%
Not enough people to deal with it	22.5%
Don’t know what sort of information should be broadcast	16.5%
Number of followers doesn’t increase	15.6%
Don’t have anything interesting to Tweet	14.6%
Difficult to communicate with users	11.4%
Worried about flame wars	11.4%
Not enough of an operating budget	10.8%
Cannot get cooperation from within the company	10.2%
Don’t know what the issues are	8.6%
Cannot get understanding from boss, top-level management	7.6%
Other	3.5%

Q7: What metrics do you use to measure the effect of using Twitter? (Sample size=315, multiple answer)

	All	1-9 staff N=101	10-99 staff N=85	100-999 staff N=66	1,000+ staff N=60
Degree of interest in company (eg, positive Tweet count)	35.9%	31.7%	34.1%	37.9%	43.3%
Degree of interest in competitors (eg, competitors positive Tweet count)	13.7%	7.9%	10.6%	21.2%	18.3%
Conversation share on Twitter (eg number of Tweets relative to competitors)	22.2%	16.8%	20.0%	24.2%	31.7%
Spread of individual Tweets (eg re-Tweet count)	24.8%	11.9%	24.7%	27.3%	43.3%
Site visit rate (eg click-throughs from Tweets)	21.0%	17.8%	16.5%	24.2%	28.3%
Conversion rate (eg sales, enquiries rates from click-throughs)	13.7%	10.9%	8.2%	21.2%	16.7%
Customer support incident count (eg number of enquiries, problem resolution rate)	13.7%	7.9%	10.6%	13.6%	25.0%
Customer response quality (eg time to reply, resolve problem)	9.8%	5.9%	9.4%	10.6%	15.0%
Service, product satisfaction (eg percentage of positive impressions)	9.5%	4.0%	5.9%	15.2%	15.0%
Service, product usage opinion percentage (eg percentage of constructive opinions in Tweets)	7.9%	2.0%	3.5%	15.2%	15.0%
Customer value change (both physical and online stores)	5.7%	4.0%	3.5%	9.1%	6.7%
Other	0.6%	0.2%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Not collecting any metrics	26.7%	37.6%	31.8%	13.6%	15.0%

Q8: How will your corporate Twitter account usage change in the future? (Sample size=315, two answers)

	Increase	Stay the same	Decrease
Budget	10.5%	82.9%	6.7%
People assigned	12.1%	83.2%	4.8%

Q9: What social media do you want to use in the future? (Sample size=315, multiple answer)

Twitter	74.6%
Blog	59.7%
YouTube	30.8%
mixi	20.6%
Ustream	15.9%
Facebook	15.2%
Other	2.2%