Incentives Suppliers Focus on Social Media

A new study from The Advertising Specialty Institute reports that 53% of incentive-product distributors and 48% of suppliers will be increasing the time they spend on social networking in the next two years.

Nearly 90% of respondents said social networks already are or will become a good way to promote their business, but there is no overall consensus about which site is most relevant today.

LINKEDIN is used by about 54% of ASI distributor members and 46% of supplier members, with the majority of those with accounts (93% of the distributors and 85% of the suppliers) using it for business purposes. About 25% of distributors said it is the most relevant social network for the future, ASI noted.

FACEBOOK has the greatest penetration in the industry overall, with 59% of distributors and 62% of suppliers having an account. Among those who use Facebook, however, 65% of distributors and 62% of suppliers say they do so for personal business.

THE STUDY ALSO FOUND

• TWITTER: 75% of distributors and 70% of suppliers have heard of Twitter, but do not have an account. Thirty-five percent of distributors and 44% of suppliers who have Twitter accounts use them for business purposes.

• YOUTUBE is personal. About one-half of distributors and suppliers (49% and 51% respectively) use YouTube, mostly for personal purposes. However, suppliers are posting more videos in general, with 28% having submitted videos or slideshows to social networking sites. — PO