HubSpot recently mentioned a great study conducted by the Center for Marketing Research at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth that I think is worth digging into. 

The study takes a look at how Inc. 500 companies have been using social media over a three year period (2007, 2008 & 2009).  And here are a couple key points that I thought were interesting:

• 75% of participants are familar with social media.  Many of them are facebook and 52% of them are using twitter

• Video is on the decline.  This surprised me.  Last year 45% of them were using video and this year it’s down to 36%. 
• Blogging, twitter and facebook are on the rise.

• 68% of participants are monitoring their brand via social media
• 43% of participants believe a social media strategy is verty important for their business/marketing strategy; 36% somewhat important; 17% somewhat unimportant; 4% very unimportant. 

• For participants that have been using social media, they were 87%92% successful in all areas.  {Success = increased hits to website, comments, leads, or sales}

Are you as surprised by these results as I am?  When meeting with people and talking about social media, I don’t see as much resistance as I did a year ago, but it’s still there.  Majority of the people I talk with are on facebook so they can see pictures of the grandchildren, but I would say about 50% still don’t understand how powerful social media is to connect with your audience. 

This study is a snapshot of Inc. 500 brands and it could be that their marketing personal are on top of things and doing their job– keeping their brands on top and ahead of the curve.  I suggest if you aren’t on social media to start taking a look and considering it.  Here are a couple pointers to get you started.

What do you think?  Do we still have some walls to break down or are we getting there?