Recently at Readex Research, we aggregated the results from some of the studies we have fielded over the last three years. Specifically, our editorial and audience profile studies.
This extensive project included 156 studies and 137,648 survey responses. Some ways in which we measured results were by comparing Association versus Non-Association publications and Print versus Website/Digital Media.
Many of the studies had questions that captured data on social media trends and usage. Some questions asked whether participants were using social media, following the company fielding the survey on social media, and how participants were professionally using social media platforms.
Do you use social media?
In our data, we found that of the 12 studies (with 9,589 responses) that inquired whether participants used social media, 78% stated that they use social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or YouTube.
Professional Social Media Usage
What forms of social media do you use either professionally or for business?
When asked in 33 studies if participants used Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, or another social media outlet in some professional form or capacity such as for marketing or networking, out of 20,011 responses, 61% stated that they use LinkedIn, 48% use Facebook, 23% use Twitter, and 33% use YouTube.
Association media had a higher percentage of professional use when it came to Facebook at 55% compared to non-association media’s score of 46%. However association media had a drastically lower score in terms of LinkedIn usage at 45% when compared to non-association media which scored 66%. Their Twitter and YouTube scores did not vary drastically.
Association Social Media Use
Non-Association Social Media Use
Print and website/digital media varied drastically in almost everything except for YouTube which still varied by 3%. Website/Digital media tended to score drastically higher in terms of professional social media usage. There could be many reasons for this, one of which being that audiences that receive content online or through email may be more inclined to use social media than their print counterparts.
Print Product Social Media Use
Website/Digital Product Social Media Use
Do you follow the publication or association on social media?
Participants were also asked whether they followed the company fielding the survey on social media. This question was in 18 studies, with 17,282 responses. 32% of participants indicated that they followed the company on at least one social media platform with 16% following the company on Facebook, 13% following the company on LinkedIn, 6% following the company on Twitter, and 2% following the company on YouTube.
Association media scored higher than non-association media when it came to following the company fielding the survey on social media. This was especially true when it came to LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube with association media being double or almost double that of non-association media in terms of percentage of participants following the company.
Follow Company On Social Media
How do you use the following social media outlets professionally or for business?
Of the 156 studies, 21 studies asked for specifics on how participants professionally used Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube. The categories given were networking, to get access to industry or general news, finding new business, or some other form of professional usage. The studies found that more respondents used LinkedIn professionally as opposed to Facebook, with 72% or participants indicating that they use LinkedIn for at least one business purpose and 52% indicating that they use Facebook. As for the professional usage of Twitter and YouTube, they were close to each other in terms of being used for at least one business purpose however, 34% of respondents indicated that they use YouTube and 27% indicated that they use Twitter. For a more in-depth overview of the results, please see the charts below.
