MUMBAI: While most Indian companies (82 per cent) have registered a presence on at least one of the four social media channels that were surveyed, the activity is largely focused around consumer communication for their products and services.
Linkedin seems to be the most preferred channel on social media with 72 per cent of the companies surveyed having a dedicated page on Linkedin.
As part of its foray in the digital media business, Ketchum Sampark has done a study of 200 Indian corporates and nearly 150 brands in the Indian marketplace to track their digital footprint as well as user engagements. The study covers corporates from across 20 different industries including aviation, BFSI, consulting, Diversified Large Indian Corporates, Healthcare and Pharmaceutical, oil and energy, Software Services and FMCG. The brands covered in the survey are from across 14 categories including apparel, automobile, media and entertainment, personal care and retail.
Though Facebook is the largest social media platform in India with over 38 million followers, it lags behind LinkedIn with only 55 per cent of Indian corporates registering a presence on it. Using video and multimedia to create engagement with consumers, investors, potential employees and other audiences is still not an avenue explored by Indian corporates with barely 6 per cent being very active on YouTube.
More than 50 per cent of corporates despite opening up a channel or registering a page on social media are Inactive. Some Inactive corporates also tend to use the presence on a channel opportunistically during launches and other significant company initiatives.
The agency feels that with the explosion in social media users this will change in 2012. Out of the 150 brands surveyed, 23 per cent did not have any presence on social media platforms while 30 per cent had a presence on only one channel. Only 22 per cent of brands were present on all three social media platforms.
Unlike corporates, Facebook is the clear favourite for brands with 75 per cent of these brands registering a presence on it. YouTube and Twitter followed with 42 per cent and 28 per cent respectively. Also 79 per cent of brands with a presence on Twitter were Very Active / Active on the platform as compared to 69 per cent on YouTube and 63 per cent on Facebook.
