Brand Science Institute, a German think tank specializing in brand management, conducted a study on corporate social media projects during the past 7 months. The research sought to understand why (most) social media projects appear to not meet the expectations for success that were initially anticipated of them. BSI included 560+ marketers in its analysis, representing 52 brands from some of the largest companies across 12 European countries.

While BSI’s end results and observations are recapped in this presentation; we’ve culled some of the key findings below.

• 81% of companies surveyed lacked a clear social media strategy
• 73% of social media projects had to demonstrate their financial return after 12 months
• 72% thought social media must be viral
• 68% had never heard of the 90-9-1 principle, which states that most people online are viewers, vs. participants: 1% of people create content, 9% edit or modify that content, and 90% view the content without contributing
• 84% compare social media performance with standard media measures
• 37% think that social media is a media buy
• Only 11% have social media guidelines

While we don’t believe this to be conclusive, the research simply provides some insights to consider, learning from the hits and misses of other brands.

Brand Science Institute

[via TechCrunch]