News 2013: Fortune 500 companies increased blog adoption by six percent according to 7th annual benchmarking study

News 2013: Fortune 500 companies increased blog adoption by six percent according to 7th annual benchmarking study
Fortune 500 companies increased blog adoption by six percent according to 7th annual benchmarking study

In the past year, the Fortune 500 have increased their adoption of blogging by six percent, their use of Twitter for corporate communications by four percent, and their use of Facebook pages by four percent. Sixty-nine percent of the 2013 Fortune 500 use YouTube, an increase of seven percent from 2012.

Twitter is used by 77 percent of Fortune 500 companies, making it their first choice tool followed by Facebook and YouTube, according to a study by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research 

In the past year, the Fortune 500 have increased their adoption of blogging by six percent, their use of Twitter for corporate communications by four percent, and their use of Facebook pages by four percent. Sixty-nine percent of the 2013 Fortune 500 use YouTube, an increase of seven percent from 2012.   

These was among the key findings of the latest benchmarking study conducted by Nora Ganim Barnes, Ph.D., senior fellow and research co-chair of the Society for New Communications Research and director of the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. 

A full copy of the new research report as well as an info graphic version of the results can be downloaded at:  http://www.umassd.edu/cmr/studiesresearch/ 

The report is based on a statistically valid study of every company in the 2013 Fortune 500 list, and is designed to quantify the adoption of social media tools and technologies. The report tracks social media usage by this sector, and it is the only statistically valid longitudinal study of its kind. Key findings of this study include: 

* In 2013, 171 companies (34%) had corporate blogs showing the largest increase in use of this tool since the 2008 study of the Fortune 500. 

* Companies blogging include two of the top five corporations (Wal-Mart and Exxon), leaving the other three (Chevron, Phillips 66 and Berkshire Hathaway) without a public-facing blog. 

* Three hundred eighty-seven (77%) of the Fortune 500 have corporate Twitter accounts with a tweet in the past thirty days. This represents a 4% increase since 2012. 

* Facebook, new to the Fortune 500 list, has the highest number of followers on Twitter, followed by Google, Starbucks, Whole Foods Market, Walt Disney, JetBlue Airways and Southwest Airlines. 

* Three hundred forty-eight (70%) of the Fortune 500 are now on Facebook. This represents a 4% increase since 2012. 

* In 2012 one hundred fifteen companies (23%) had neither a Twitter account nor a Facebook account. This year that number has dropped to eighty-four companies (17%). 

* Approximately 40 companies are now using Instagram, Pinterest and/or Foursquare. 

"The adoption of blogs by the Fortune 500 shows interest in thought leadership, creating conversation in some depth and generating original content," stated Barnes.  It is exciting to see this mature tool grabbing hold when many of the newer tools tout brevity and speed as their major features. 

"This is a group that now seems comfortable, and even excited with its newfound ability to engage its vendors, partners, customers and others in ways that could not have been imagined when most of their corporations began." 

For questions or inquiries regarding corporate speaking engagements Barnes can be reached at nbarnes@umassd.edu.