PORTLAND, Ore. / PORTLAND, Maine - November 2, 2009 - A study conducted recently by Decipher and The Operandi Group revealed intriguing data on the usage of social media by professionals within the marketing research industry. Information gathered online from 372 respondents over a 17-day period profiled researchers’ adoption of communications platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace, as well as instant messaging and email.
“Clients expect marketing research professionals to advise them on the use of a wide range of marketing tactics, which increasingly includes social media,” said Kristin Luck, president of Decipher. “We felt it was important to understand how and to what extent our own industry has adopted social media for its own marketing purposes.”
A majority of researchers (56%) report using LinkedIn regularly. Only 18% say they use Twitter regularly and only 35% use Facebook regularly. Each of these methods showed robust growth among marketing research professionals in the past year. By comparison, fully 97% use email regularly and three in four (74%) use instant messaging regularly. Only 4% of researchers report using MySpace regularly.
Users of various tools were asked whether they had a positive effect on their business. Half (49%) said LinkedIn has had an “identifiable positive effect.” Forty-five percent indicated the same for Facebook. About a third (36%) felt Twitter has had a positive effect.
“Researchers are curious by nature, so it’s no surprise these new marketing methods are gaining in popularity in our industry. That said, there’s a lot of uncertainty about how to get value from an investment in social media and how to avoid ‘time suck’.” said Dana Stanley, president of The Operandi Group. “Industry professionals will doubtless continue to experiment with social media, and the winners will be those who take hold of these tools in a way that supports their brand.”
Kristin Luck and Dana Stanley will present the full results of the survey on Friday, November 6, at the Marketing Research Association’s First Outlook Conference in San Diego, California. Friday’s presentation will be available for download at www.decipherinc.com and www.operandigroup.com on Monday, November 9.
About Decipher
Founded in 2000, Decipher is a market research services provider specializing in online survey programming, data collection, data processing/reporting, and custom technology development. Utilizing Web-based applications, Decipher integrates state of the art technology with traditional research techniques. In an industry that’s $8.2 billion and growing, Decipher’s online survey tools and data reporting suite provide users with the unique ability to automate post field production, and significantly increasing the accuracy and quality of research reporting for their businesses. You can visit Decipher on the web at: www.decipherinc.com.
About The Operandi Group
The Operandi Group helps research companies get to and stay on top by challenging their modus operandi. The company advises the marketing research industry on a range of vital business issues, putting together customized teams of experts to meet business development, marketing, recruiting and other needs. The company also helps companies with innovative technology and methods understand business opportunities in the marketing research industry. You can visit The Operandi Group on the web at: www.operandigroup.com.
For more information contact:
Jennifer Fields
jennifer@savorcommunications.com
1.503.201.1732