PM & Partner Marketing Consulting GmbH The utilization of social-media by economic development organizations

Transcription

1 PM & Partner Marketing Consulting GmbH The utilization of social-media by economic development organizations PM & Partner Marketing Consulting GmbH (PM&P) Frankfurt Munich Berlin

2 02 About PM&Partner PM & Partner Marketing Consulting GmbH (PM&P) is an independent consulting firm, consisting of marketing professionals and marketing research specialists. The company provides strategic and operative marketing and business development support to industrial companies, as well as to investment promotion institutions. PM&P is part of a worldwide network of independent Consulting and Market Research companies.

3 PM&P Preamble 3 Dear reader, Social networks can not be removed from today s media- and communication scenery. About 2/3 of all internet users in Germany are present in different social platforms. This raises the question, if economic development organizations (EDOs) have to face this irresistible trend now or in the future. Within a timeframe of several weeks, we conducted 50 interviews with EDO s that are operating locally, regionally and/or internationally. The goal of these interviews was to obtain a first insight in the different opinions and approaches regarding social-media. We thank every participant and are very pleased to present the result of our survey. With best regards, your PM & Partner Marketing Consulting Team

4 PM&P Preamble 4 The biggest surprise of the study 1. Despite the information overload on Facebook, 64% of all EDOs are using this platform, 48% even as their most important channel to contact their target groups. 2. Though LinkedIn has been established as the number 1 of all business platforms, German EDOs are using the platform Xing more frequently. 3. Only one-third of all interviewed EDOs have an online-marketing-strategy and only 12% work with a fixed budget to execute online marketing actions. for more details have a look at slide 19 and 20.

5 PM&P Agenda 5 1. The participants The significance of social-media for the commercialization of the own location The significance of social-media for the commercialization of the own services Target groups The acceptance of social-media The presence on social platforms The dissemination of services through social-media Target countries Utilization of seminars for the own social-media appearance Online marketing strategies Cooperation with external service providers Conclusion.19

6 PM&P The participants 6 Function in the company Our participants origin General manager 48% Projectmanager 24% Marketing employee 16% Spokesman 12% n=50 Our participants coverage Baden-Württemberg Bavaria Berlin Brandenburg Bremen Hamburg Hesse Mecklenburg Western Lower Saxony 4% 5% 4% Nordrhine-Westphalia Federal level Rhineland-Palatinate 13% States level Saarland Saxony Regional level Saxony-Anhalt 74% Municipal level Schleswig-Holstein Thuringia Area level n=50 n=

7 PM&P The significance of social-media for the commercialization of the own location 7 How important is social-media for the commercialization of your location? What are the reasons? We want to reach a large number of people. We have noticed a trend towards an increasing use of social-media. 50% Due to the demographic chance within the society, social-media will gain more attention, particularly 20% 15% 10% 5% when the young generation will take over leading positions. Our local partners have been using social-media for a long time, that is why we adapted to this evolution.

8 PM&P The significance of social-media for the commercialization of the services 8 How important is social-media for the commercialization of your service? What are the reasons? To raise the overall publicity for our services and target a wide range of people social-media is the best channel to reach our goals. 10% 32% 36% 18% 4% Elderly people tend to be more skeptical facing social-media. This situation makes it difficult to promote our services to this target group. Prospectively social-media will gain more importance, especially due to the entrance of younger generations in the working life.

9 PM&P Target groups of social-media activities 9 Which target group/s do you address directly over social-media? (multiple selections possible) 90% 68% 62% 40% 26% 20% 18% 10% 8% 6% 4% Companies Founders Youth Specialized staff Private persons Investors Political players Incubators The media Unsions No answer given

10 PM&P The acceptance of social-media 10 How strong is the acceptance of social-media within your target group/s? (multiple selections possible) Do you notice particular differences between your target groups? 4% 10% 86% 50% n=50 Yes No answer Nein 10% 15% 20% 5% Very strong Strong Neutral Weak Very weak n=62

11 PM&P The acceptance of social-media 11 Where do these differences occur from? Depending on the seniority Depending on the profession Depending on the function Depending on the size of the company No differences noticed / no answer given 6% 8% 14% 20% 52% What are the reasons? The acceptance of social-media is very strong within the younger generation. Elderly people do not use an accept social-media to the same extend as younger ones, but they are getting used to the trend. Within the start-up-scene, the usage of social-media is very strong. The bigger a company is, the more it is using social-media thereby the acceptance of social-media is higher.

12 PM&P The presence on social platforms 12 Which social-media platforms does your organization use and which one is the most important for you? (multiple selections possible) 64% 58% 56% 36% 21% 28% 24% 8% 12% 8% 4% 4% 2% 2% 4% 0% 0% 0% 0% Facebook Xing YouTube LinkedIn Twitter Google+ Instagram WeChat Issuu No answer given Overall usage Main channel 4%

13 PM&P The dissemination of services through social-media 13 For which services do you use social-media and for which ones not? Eventmarketing 94% Start-Up-Services Investment promotion 60% 55% Employee services Company services Customer-relationship-management Direct marketing 40% 35% 33% 21% Regional development B2B-matchmaking 6% 4% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Overall usage No usage

14 PM&P Target countries International 20% 4% 28% 23% 8% European countries 23% 23% 8% 15% Great-Britain Scandinavia Netherlands Szitzerland & Austria n=10 Poland France n=14 48% n=50 European focus Regional focus International focus No answer given

15 PM&P Utilization of seminars for the own socialmedia appearance 15 Did you attain training courses to enhance your social-media appearance? 4% 70 % can imagine to take part in a training seminar or are currently planning to do so 56% 40% 80 % were pleased with the training course they attended n=50 Yes No No answer given

16 PM&P Online marketing strategies 16 n=50 38% Do you have a determined onlinemarketing strategy and a fixed budget? Yes 12% 28% 22% No, but planning within the next two years Online-marketing strategy 34% 66% No and no plans for the future Fixed budget Respondents that do not have a determined strategy named the following reasons: n=17 18% Obstacles for an online marketing strategy 12% 6% 64% Lack of budget Lack of staff Different focus Sceptism

17 PM&P Cooperation with external service providers 17 Did an external service provider assist you in developing a socialmedia-strategy? 36% Would you consider to hire an external service provider to develop your social-media-strategy? 64% 28% n=50 No Yes n=32 Yes 72% No

18 PM&P Conclusion 18 Conclusion (1/2): Three-fourths of all EDOs are performing business development on a regional level, but almost fifty percent are targeting focus groups outside of Germany. Despite the information overload on social-media platforms the necessity of a well structured online-marketing strategy is indispensable. Only one-third of all interviewees have an online-marketing strategy and only 12 % have fixed budget for their social-media activities. This is especially astonishing regarding the aspect that 70 % said social-media is important or very important for the marketing of their location. Remarkably, EDOs are using social-media mainly for the promotion of events, but rarely for customer-relationship-management and direct marketing. Despite the information overload on Facebook 64% of all EDOs are using this platform, 48% even as their most important channel to contact their target groups.

19 PM&P Conclusion 19 Conclusion (2/2): Though LinkedIn has established as the number 1 of all business platforms, German EDOs are using the platform Xing more frequently. Only 21 % of all respondents say that their organization is using social-media to present itself. The satisfaction of trainings whether inhouse or external - for the use of social-media is quite high and many interviewees stated they would recommend it to others in case they may be having troubles or wish to be up to date. The budget for social-media activities or online-marketing in general is a big obstacle, particularly for EDOs that are operating on the municipal or area level. A total of nine different social-media platforms is offering a big variety of marketing options to target one particular focus group. However this variety can be seen as an advantage as well as a disadvantage the more platforms an EDO is using, the more effort he has to put in.

20 PM&Partner Marketing Consulting GmbH 20 PM & Partner Marketing Consulting GmbH (PM&P) Frankfurt Munich Berlin Head Office: Lyoner Straße Frankfurt Germany